GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – UCCS Baseball survives and advances as the Mountain Lions handle Regis University at a final score of 8-4 in game four of the RMAC Tournament on Thursday. Freshman
Evan Langston holds the Rangers to just three hits as reliever
Jon Sotto came on to close it out with a three-inning relief appearance that included no runs and not hits allowed to help solidify the win.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 8, Regis 4
Records: UCCS (21-31, 15-17 RMAC), Regis (27-24-1, 20-12 RMAC)
Location: Bus Bergman Sports Complex | Grand Junction, Colo.
Series: UCCS holds a winning record over the Rangers at 17-11.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• After nearly pulling off the upset last night, the Mountain Lions showed no signs of slowing down in Thursday's elimination game with the Rangers as
Walker Rumsey made sure to put UCCS on the board first with an RBI single for the early 1-0 lead in the top of the second.
• The following half inning saw a pair of UCCS miscues as an infield error gave Roger Riley a free pass to start the inning with the Ranger eventually scoring on an
Evan Langston wild pitch to give Riley the last 90 feet, making it 1-1.
• With a new ballgame hanging in the balance, the Mountain Lions went back to work on the Rangers as
Aaron Faragallah got the fourth inning started by finding the outfield gap for his second double of the day to put UCCS in business.
Tyler Richardson then added an extra base hit of his own by sending a two-run missile over the left field fence for two RBI and a 3-1 lead. After
Zac Dammel drew a walk and advanced to second on a
Nate Heflebower sacrifice bunt, UCCS was back in scoring position and brought in their third run off some help from the Regis infield who couldn't handle a
Macully Sehr grounder and resulted in UCCS' third run of the inning. The Mountain Lions were not yet finished as
Luis Samorano drove in Sehr on an RBI single to have
Kit Wigington come up and blast a deep two-run homer to center for a 7-1 Mountain Lion lead.
• Allowing juts one hit and one run through three innings of work, Langston and the UCCS defense cruised through the Rangers' lineup in the fourth and fifth innings. Before Langston retired Regis in order through the fifth, Faragallah kept swinging a hot bat by belting a solo home run to center field for a Mountain Lion insurance run, making it 8-1.
• In the bottom of the sixth, Regis found some life as back-to-back walks gave the Rangers two on with one out as Roger Riley sent a three-run home run over the left field fence to cut into the UCCS deficit, 8-4. Langston was able to get one last out before his day came to an end as reliever
Jon Sotto took the mound to keep the Rangers in check.
• Sotto fanned Reagan Guthrie to get out of the sixth inning as the 6-foot-3 right-hander carried on to silence the Rangers through the next three innings to knock Regis out of the tournament and give UCCS the 8-4 win.
STATS FROM THE DAY:
• UCCS more than triple Regis' hits by outhitting the Rangers 12-3 as the Mountain Lions garnered four double and three home runs.
• Senior
Aaron Faragallah was responsible for two doubles and one home run as the outfielder finished the day 3-for-4 with an RBI and a game high three runs scored.
• Seven Mountain Lions notched a hit in Thursday's win with four of them recording multi-hit games.
• Both
Kit Wigington and
Tyler Richardson drove in a team high two RBI as Wigington finished 2-for-4 with a home run and Richardson going 2-for-3 with a double.
• Evan Langston was stellar in the win as the freshman allowed four runs (three earned) on just three hits while collecting five strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
• Jon Sotto was even more impressive coming on in relief by allowing no runs and no hits with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work.
BEYOND THE BOX:
• Evan Langston registers his fourth collegiate win and currently holds a team low .282 batting average against.
• Jon Sotto produced his best career relief appearance by marking just the second time in his career of not allowing any runs or hits (SFSU, Feb. 13, 2022).
• The UCCS pitching staff allowed single-digit hits for the 22
nd time this season, marking the third time that the Mountain Lions have allowed three hits or less.
UP NEXT:
• The Mountain Lions are set to play tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. where they await the winner between MSU Denver and Colorado School of Mines who are slated to play at 7 p.m.
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.
