GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs Mountain Lions come up shy of an RMAC Tournament upset on Wednesday night as No. 14 Colorado Mesa University claims the late-game comeback with a two-out walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth inside a wind-swept Bus Bergman Sports Complex for a final score of 7-6.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 6, #14 CMU 7
Records: UCCS (20-31, 15-17 RMAC), CMU (37-12, 23-9 RMAC)
Location: Bus Bergman Sports Complex | Grand Junction, Colo.
Series: UCCS and CMU have matched up in a total of 27 games in the all-time series with the Mavericks currently winning the series with a 19-8 record.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• RMAC Tournament play marks a new season of baseball and the Mountain Lions seemed to adopt that mindset by going right after the Mavericks with
Jonathan Cowles holding one of the top offenses in the nation to no runs by retiring the first nine batters in order to start the game.
• As Cowles went to work on the CMU lineup, the Mountain Lion offense took to the plate by taking the first lead of the game as All-RMAC First Teamer
Kit Wigington drove in
Luis Samorano on a two-out double to center field in the top of the third to make it 1-0.
• In the bottom of the fourth, CMU plated their first runs with the help of RMAC Player of the Year Haydyn McGeary who homered to deep left field for two runs to swing the Mavericks their first lead, 2-1.
• A half inning later, Sehr led things off for UCCS and got the Mountain Lions back on track with a leadoff double to setup
Caleb Stubbings who burned the left fielder with a double off the base of the wall for an RBI, bringing the game back to even at 2-2. Then with two outs,
Tyler Richardson worked a 2-0 hitter's count by driving the next pitch to left field for two RBI as he swung the lead back in the Mountain Lions' favor, 4-2.
• After Cowles and the UCCS defense contained the Mavericks in the home half of the fifth, Sehr continued to swing a hot bat by notching his third hit of the ballgame with an RBI single to score
Walker Rumsey who drew a walk and placed himself in scoring position by swiping second base to help put UCCS ahead three-runs, 5-2.
• Facing their biggest deficit of the game, the Mavericks came back in the home half of the sixth to get one run back as a Harrison Rodgers double led to a Caleb Farmer RBI single to bring the game back within two runs at 5-3. As CMU worked runners to second and third with two outs and threatening to score, Cowles caused a pop-up and groundout to Samorano over at second base to maintain the two-run lead.
• UCCS wasn't done at the plate as the top of the seventh saw another Mountain Lion run come across to retake the three-run lead as an
Aaron Faragallah walk and
Zac Dammel single were followed up with a
Nate Heflebower RBI single to push UCCS ahead, 6-3.
• With Cowles still on the bump, the graduate student was able to escape another jam in the bottom of the eighth as runners on second and third were stranded once again with Cowles closing the door on Farmer for the third out to keep the 6-3 lead through seven innings.
• Able to get out of CMU scoring opportunities for two straight innings, the Mountain Lions struggled to keep the Mavericks at bay in the eighth as a McGeary double was followed up by four straight singles resulting in two CMU runs to make it a one-run ballgame with bases loaded and one out. Cowles' day would end there as
Joseph Harris came on and came up clutch with a strikeout and lineout to end the inning with a 6-5 lead.
• Still up one-run heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Mavericks started to find their rhythm once again as a leadoff walk and consecutive singles quickly loaded the bases for CMU with no outs. UCCS then went to a change in arms as
Brock Weiss entered to force a flyball to center field that brought one run across to tie the game at 6-6. Weiss held on to that momentum with a strikeout of Chase Hamilton to stand just one out from heading into extra innings. But a walk loaded the bases back up with Julian Boyd flaring a single down the left field line for a CMU walkoff and 7-6 final.
STATS FROM THE DAY:
• UCCS was outhit 15-14 in the ballgame with three extra base hits going each of the teams' way as the Mountain Lions hit three doubles and the Mavericks recorded two doubles and a home run.
• No errors were committed in the game with the Mountain Lions stranding a total of 11 baserunners to CMU's eight.
• Jonathan Cowles threw a gem on Wednesday night by holding the Mavs to five runs on 12 hits with one walk and five strikeouts in 7.1 innings of quality pitching.
• The Mountain Lions got after CMU starter Kannon Handy by plating five runs on nine hits against the left-hander as Handy also gave up five walks while striking out five batters in 5.1 innings on the bump
• Freshman
Macully Sehr did damage out of the leadoff spot with a 4-for-6 night that included an RBI and a double.
• Tyler Richardson ended the night with a team high two RBI after turning in a 3-for-5 night at the dish.
BEYOND THE BOX:
• Jonathan Cowles notched his second longest outing of the season to record his seventh game of five or more strikeouts.
• Macully Sehr becomes the fourth Mountain Lion to claim four hits in a single game this season.
• Kit Wigington extends his hitting streak to 10 games while
Tyler Richardson registers his 11
th consecutive game of reaching base safely.
UP NEXT:
• With Wednesday night's loss, the Mountain Lions will be back on the field tomorrow morning as they matchup with Regis University at 11 a.m. for an elimination game.
SOCIAL:
Twitter - @GoMountainLions
Instagram - @gomountainlions
Facebook – Go Mountain Lions
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.
