This Week's Matchup
UCCS Baseball (10-20, 5-7 RMAC) jumps back into conference play this weekend as the Mountain Lions travel back to Denver, Colo. to visit Regis University in a four-game set. The series is slated to begin Friday, Apr. 8 with a 3 p.m. first pitch with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday at 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Game four between the Mountain Lions and Rangers will be on Sunday, Apr. 10 at 12 p.m. with all four games being played inside Regis Baseball Field.
 
Game Coverage
Live Stream: https://www.rmacnetwork.com/gomountainlions/
Live Stats: https://regisrangers.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
 
Last Time Out

• In last weekend's non-conference RMAC pod the Mountain Lions finished 1-3 with two losses to Colorado School of Mines and a 1-1 record against New Mexico Highlands.
• RMAC pod play began with an 0-2 start on Friday with a 1-8 loss to Mines and 4-17 loss to the Cowboys. But Saturday told a different story with UCCS posting a bounce back 6-4 victory over NMHU as Kit Wigington and Matt Johnson registered two RBI behind a stellar outing from Cole Philip who threw six innings for the win.
• Game four came down to the wire against the Orediggers with the Mountain Lions taking a late 5-4 lead in the top of the eighth after Nate Heflebower executed a squeeze bunt with one out to score Tyler Richardson. In the bottom half of the same inning, Mines got two runs across to retake the lead and record the 6-5 final.

 
RMAC Standings

• Maintaining the top spot in the conference standings is No. 10 Colorado Mesa University (22-6, 9-3 RMAC) as Colorado State University Pueblo (20-14, 11-5 RMAC) remains in second.
• Metropolitan State University of Denver (21-13, 10-6 RMAC) claims third place with Regis University tying the Roadrunners with a 10-6 RMAC record and 21-13 overall record.

 
The Series

• UCCS has a favorable record of 16-7 against Regis with the Mountain Lions winning the most recent matchup on May 19, 2021 at a final score of 17-3 in the RMAC Tournament.

 
Scouting Regis

• Regis (17-16-1, 10-6 RMAC) went 1-3 in an RMAC pod between No. 10 CMU and Adams State last weekend after being outscored 32-25 and claiming a 10-4 win against the Grizzlies in game four.
• The Rangers are currently batting north of .300 at .314 and are averaging 7.8 runs per game. RU has tallied 357 total hits on the season with 77 hits going down as doubles for the fourth most in the RMAC and 15^th most in Division II.
• Junior Matt Marlow is responsible for the second most doubles (13) in the conference with the infielder swinging a .379 batting average that is a result of a league high 50 hits. Marlow also has driven a team high 37 RBI with 10 home runs and 10 multi-RBI games as he ranks fourth in the RMAC in RBI.
• From atop the lineup, catcher Roger Riley has been a consistent bat for the Rangers by batting .436 (second in RMAC) with 20 consecutive games of reaching base safely. Riley sits right behind Marlow with 48 hits and has notched eight doubles along with five home runs for 26 RBI and team high 36 runs scored.
• Currently leading the conference in stolen bases is Chase Colten who has swiped 15 bases in 16 attempts while batting a dangerous .390 with nine doubles, one triple, and two home runs for 25 RBI.
• As a pitching staff, the Rangers are holding a 7.27 ERA and are holding opponents to a .307 batting average. Ethan Sloan boasts the lowest ERA at 4.50 through 32 innings pitched and 11 appearances while working to a 3-1 record. Tied for the most starts with eight is Porter Hardcastle who leads the team with a 4-2 record. Hardcastle has fanned 38 batters and takes on a 6.09 ERA with a 1.74 WHIP through 44.1 innings of work.

 
Hot Takes

• It was a pair of career firsts for two freshmen on the UCCS pitching staff this past weekend with Cole Philip registering his first collegiate win as Brock Weiss claimed his first career save in the black and gold.
• The Mountain Lion pitching staff registered back-to-back-to-back double-digit strikeout games last weekend for the first time in program history.
• Nine different Mountain Lion pitchers have reached double-digit strikeouts this season with graduate student Jonathan Cowles matching his career single game high for the second time this season after registering nine punch outs against Mines.
• UCCS has forced the second most double plays in the conference with 24 and are averaging the most double plays per game in the RMAC (0.80).
• Hitting .302 on the season, the Mountain Lions have continued to churn out doubles and serve as one of the best in the nation to do it by tallying up 82 doubles (fifth in DII) and 2.73 doubles per game for the fourth most in Division II.
• When UCCS has hit four or more doubles in a single game, the Mountain Lions are boasting a 7-4 record.
• Redshirt junior Kiichi Sato continues to lead the team in doubles and is tied for fourth in the RMAC (12) as he's hitting .359 with 25 runs scored and 14 RBI.
• Redshirt freshman Kit Wigington has been swinging a hot bat with five consecutive multi-hit games and a home run in back-to-back games to hit .418 on the year while posting an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 1.127. The Colorado Springs native is also averaging more than an RBI per game (1.09) with 23 RBI in 21 games played.
• Redshirt sophomore Tyler Richardson is hitting an impressive .457 with an OPS of 1.370 in just 14 games played. The catcher has recorded seven doubles and four home runs in that time span with 12 RBI, including a .610 average with five RBI in the last three games.
• In the last six games, Aaron Faragallah has registered at least one hit where he is 11-for-23 with eight RBI and three home runs.

 
UCCS Under Head Coach Dave Hajek

• Dave Hajek, who led UCCS to its first RMAC championship in program history, is in his sixth season as the Head Coach of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball program in 2022. He's coached the only MLB Draft pick in Zach Hall and the only All-Americans in Matt McDermott, Matt Clarke, Jake Anderson, and Evan Richards.
• In six seasons, Hajek holds a .544 winning percentage with a 124-109 overall record that includes, four RMAC Tournament appearances, one RMAC Tournament Championship, a 5-7 RMAC Tournament record, and one NCAA Tournament appearance.

 
Upcoming Games

• The Mountain Lions will host Colorado Christian next week inside Mountain Lion Park with the series slated to begin on Thursday, Apr. 14 at 3 p.m.

 
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.