GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team's RMAC Tournament run came to an end on Saturday as the Mountain Lions fall to Metropolitan State University of Denver in the RMAC Semifinal at a final score of 3-13.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 3, MSUD 13
Records: UCCS (22-32, 15-17 RMAC), MSUD (34-20, 20-12 RMAC)
Location: Bus Bergman Sports Complex | Grand Junction, Colo.
Series: UCCS holds a losing record of 9-15 against MSU Denver in the 24 all-time matchups between both teams.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The game's first runs belonged to the Roadrunners who plated two runs after a
Dylan Grierson threw a scoreless first. MSU Denver struck first with the help of Grierson who balked with runners on second and third as a wild pitched scored the next Roadrunner to give them a 2-0 lead over the Mountain Lions in the top of the second.
• In the home half of the second, the UCCS bats came alive with
Aaron Faragallah starting a string of Mountain Lion hits by roping a hard-hit single to left field. Then in extra base hit fashion,
Tyler Richardson and
Brad Madison touched up MSU Denver's Cam Ackerfelds with a pair of doubles to square up the ballgame at 2-2.
• With the game all tied, the Roadrunners began to hit an offensive stride by plating runs in four consecutive innings to build a surmountable lead. A three-run homer from Ross Smith put the Roadrunners ahead in the third as they proceeded to swing the bat by putting up two in the fourth, one in the fifth, and four runs off four hits in the sixth to take the 12-2 lead.
• After a Trevor Garner solo shot pushed the Roadrunners ahead another run in the top of the eighth, the Mountain Lions got after Ackerfelds in the bottom half of the inning starting with a
Macully Sehr single to left field.
Caleb Stubbings notched his first hit if the game by sending another to have Faragallah tattoo a double down the left field line to cut the deficit back down to 10-runs, 13-3.
• UCCS'
eighth inning run would to be scored by the Mountain Lions as Ackerfelds held on for the complete game with UCCS falling 3-13.
STATS FROM THE DAY:
• Despite the 10-run loss, the Mountain Lions were just two hits shy of tying the Roadrunners in total hits, 11-13. MSU Denver strung together six extra base hits including four home runs and two doubles.
• Starter
Dylan Grierson receives the loss after allowing five runs on just two hits with five walks and two strikeouts in 2.1 innings.
• Nine different Mountain Lions tallied a hit in the ballgame with
Aaron Faragallah and
Walker Rumsey walking away with multi-hit games. Faragallah finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a double as RUMSEY also ended his day going 2-for-4.
• Brad Madison finishes with a game high two RBI as the freshman goes 1-for-3 with a double.
BEYOND THE BOX:
• The Mountain Lions made their second straight RMAC Semifinal appearance in as many years.
• In the last two seasons, the Mountain Lions have posted an RMAC Tournament record of 6-3.
• UCCS caps off their season with six straight RMAC Tournament appearances as the offense produced the nation's second most doubles (151) while hitting the nation's 18th most home runs with 77. The Mountain Lion pitching staff posted 23 games of allowing single-digit hits as they punched out a season high 15 batters against CSU Pueblo on Apr. 29.
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.
