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Softball team
Isaiah J. Downing

PREVIEW | Softball Heads to Grand Junction for RMAC Tournament

5/3/2022 4:00:00 PM

By: Tyler Tvelia, Assistant Sports Information Director
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
  • The University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team (26-22, 24-16 RMAC) is set to make their first postseason appearance since the 2019 season as they earned the No. 5 seed in the 2022 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Softball Tournament. The tournament, which is set to take place May 5-7, will be hosted by top seeded Colorado Mesa University at the CMU Softball Field in Grand Junction, Colo.
  • The Mountain Lions will open the double-elimination tournament with a matchup against No. 4 seed Metropolitan State University Denver on Thursday, May 5 at 12:30 p.m.
GAME COVERAGE RMAC TOURNAMENT BRACKET
  • Colorado Mesa (43-7, 35-3 RMAC) and Colorado Christian University (46-8, 34-4 RMAC) earned the top two seeds in the tournament and will receive a first-round bye.
  • Regis University (34-21, 28-12 RMAC) received the No. 3 seed in the tournament and is slated to play No. 6 seed Fort Lewis College (20-29, 20-20 RMAC) on Thursday at 10 a.m. The winner of the game between the Rangers and Skyhawks will move on to play No. 2 seed Colorado Christian on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m.
  • The Mountain Lions and Roadrunners will compete in the other first round matchup at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday with the winner slated to play No. 1 seed Colorado Mesa at 5:30 p.m. on the same evening.
LAST TIME OUT
  • The Mountain Lions closed their 2022 regular season with a 3-1 series win over Colorado State University Pueblo to bump their overall record to 26-22 and their conference record to 24-16.
  • CSU Pueblo jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first game of the series with a pair of runs in the second inning and another in the third inning, but UCCS managed to battle back to tie the game with three runs in their half of the fifth inning. The ThunderWolves quickly regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and despite a seventh inning solo home run by UCCS catcher Paige White, held on to take the series opener by a score of 5-4.
  • The second game of Friday's doubleheader was another tight one with each team scratching across a pair of runs in the first inning to draw even at two. In their half of the third inning, the Mountain Lions managed to manufacture what turned out to be the game-winning run as Mia Perez drew a lead-off walk and advanced to third on a passed ball and a sacrifice fly before scoring on a wild pitch. UCCS starteing pitcher Lexi Rayburn ran into some heavy traffic in the late innings of the ballgame but managed to strand the bases loaded in the sixth inning and leave two runners on base in the seventh inning to secure a 3-2 win and even up the series at one game apiece.
  • The UCCS offense wasted little time jumping all over CSUP pitcher Katelynn Ralston in the third game of the series as they plated five runs in the first two innings of play to build a comfortable 5-0 lead. CSU Pueblo began chipping away with a pair of runs in the third inning and single runs in each of the final four innings, but an inside the park two-run home run in the fourth inning by Solana Martinez and an RBI double by Sawyer Brewster in the sixth inning gave the Mountain Lions enough cushion to hold on to an 8-6 victory.
  • After a tough start to the series finale that saw the Mountain Lions trailing 5-1 after five innings, the UCCS offense burst to life in the top of the sixth inning to score ten runs on ten hits and take a comfortable 11-5 lead. The two teams continued to score at will over the final two innings of the ballgame, but it was the Mountain Lions who came out on top with a 14-10 victory and a 3-1 series win.
AWARD WINNERS
  • The Mountain Lions had two student-athletes receive RMAC Player of the Week honors during the 2022 regular season.
  • Redshirt junior Sawyer Brewster earned the accolade on March 29 after putting together a huge performance at the plate to lead the Mountain Lions to a 4-2 week, capped by a conference sweep of Adams State University. The infielder posted a remarkable .579 batting average across six games to go along with an on-base percentage of .636 and a slugging percentage of 1.053. Brewster also compiled 20 total bases in her 19 at bats, including three doubles and two home runs, while driving in seven runs. During the Mountain Lion's four-game sweep of Adams State, Brewster reached base in 12 of her 14 plate appearances while hitting an incredible .818 with three doubles, three walks, one home run and four RBIs in the series.
  • Infielder Peyton Reisman became the second Mountain Lion earn weekly conference honors on April 26 after putting forth an impressive effort during the Mountain Lion's four game sweep of the New Mexico Highlands University Cowgirls. In 13 plate appearances against Cowgirl pitching, the redshirt junior recorded an incredible .545 batting average with one triple and two home runs while also being hit by two pitches to boost her on base percentage to .615 for the series. In addition to her 14 total bases and four runs scored, the Fort Collins, Colo., native drove in four runs to add to her team-leading season total of 36 RBIs. On the defensive end, Reisman started all four games in the series at first base and recorded 27 putouts without making an error for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
THE SERIES
  • The Mountain Lions dropped three of four games to MSU Denver during the regular season series and are now 21-34 against the Roadrunners all-time. The last postseason meeting between the two teams came in the 2014 RMAC Tournament when the Mountain Lions fell by a score of 9-7 for a chance to play in the championship game.
SCOUTING MSU DENVER
  • The fourth-seeded Roadrunners finished the regular season with a four-game series sweep over Adams State to push their overall record to 35-20 and conference record to 23-15.
  • MSU Denver performed well offensively throughout the season as they averaged the fourth-most runs per game in the conference with 5.76/game and ranked among the middle of the conference with a .306 team batting average.
  • Freshman infielder Hannah DiFabio started each of the Roadrunner's 55 games this season and finished the year leading the team in most offensive categories, including batting average (.365), hits (66), runs (45), home runs (11) and RBIs (44).
  • Utility player and pitcher Audrey Burt was another freshman that made an immediate impact on this year's MSU Denver squad both on the offensive end and inside the circle. At the plate, Burt took 86 plate appearances and posted a .356 batting average with six home runs and 23 RBIs. She was also a steady presence as a pitcher, recording a 3.60 ERA while tossing the second most innings on the team with 112.1.
  • Burt was joined in the Roadrunner's pitching staff by sophomore Sarah Norton, who led the team with 122.2 innings pitched with a 3.20 ERA and 105 strikeouts. The MSU Denver pitching staff as a team holds the third-lowest ERA in the conference at 3.51.
HOT TAKES
  • The Mountain Lions concluded the 2022 regular season with one of the top offenses in the RMAC as they ranked third in the conference with a .311 team batting average, 53 home runs, and 1.79 doubles per game. UCCS averaged 5.46 runs per game to rank fifth in the conference in scoring.
  • Redshirt junior Sawyer Brewster led the team offensively throughout the season, posting a career-high .397 batting average to go along with 13 home runs, 15 doubles and 38 RBIs. The Burnsville, Minn., native also led the team with her .480 OBP, 37 runs scored, and 112 total bases while ranking second on the team with 58 hits and 19 walks.
  • Shortstop Solana Martinez also had a strong season at the plate for UCCS as she posted the second-best batting average on the team at .364 while adding 34 runs scored, 25 RBIs and 19 extra-base hits.
  • Paige White put together a strong freshman season as she split time at the catcher and designated player positions. White instantly became a strong run-producing presence in the middle of the UCCS lineup as she posted a team-leading 41 RBIs and hit 11 home runs to go with her stellar .348 batting average.
  • Inside the circle, the Mountain Lion pitching staff ended the regular season ranked fourth in the conference with a 4.27 team ERA as they combined to allow 194 earned runs in 318.1 innings pitched.
  • Redshirt junior Braelyne Crenshaw led the staff with 24 appearances (23 starts) and posted a team-best 3.88 ERA across 137.0 innings pitched. Crenshaw ranks third in the conference with 13 complete games and is tied for second with 129 strikeouts.
  • Mackenzie Rutkoff has made 19 pitching appearances in her freshman season and holds a 4.40 ERA and a team-leading 1.41 WHIP across 57.1 innings pitched. The Ramona, Calif., native has recorded 53 strikeouts and just 14 walks for a 3.79 strikeout-to-walk ratio that ranks fifth in the RMAC.
  • Junior Lexi Rayburn was also an important member of the UCCS pitching staff as she ranked second on the team with 92.0 innings pitched and posted a 4.57 ERA and a 9-6 record. In her 21 appearances (18 starts), Rayburn logged eight complete games and struck out 73 batters.
UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH RICKI ROTHBAUER-STUBBS
  • Ricki Rothbauer-Stubbs, who picked up her 200th career Division II victory last season with a 9-7 win over Chadron State on March 8, is currently in her seventh season at the helm of the UCCS softball program during the 2022 season. In her first six seasons as the head coach of the Mountain Lions, Rothbauer-Stubbs has collected 120 wins and made three appearances in the RMAC Tournament.
  • During the 2021 season, Rothbauer-Stubbs coached two players to the All-RMAC team with Brianna Santos receiving First Team honors and Solana Martinez being named as an Honorable Mention. She also led her team to great academic success, as Santos was named to the RMAC All-Academic First Team and 13 more softball student-athletes were named to the Honor Roll.
WEATHER
  • The weather for the opening day of the tournament on Thursday is expected to feature plenty of sunshine with a daytime high temperature of 75 degrees.
  • On Friday and Saturday, the temperatures are expected to rise into the mid-80s with partly cloudy skies and the chance for winds to reach 15-20 miles per hour.
PARKING
  • Due to the ongoing construction projects on campus adjacent to the CMU Softball Stadium, parking is limited.  Fans are encouraged to use lots, CP1, CP3, CP8, CP12 and CP15 found on this parking map. Parking enforcement in those lots only will be relaxed during the tournament. Parking in any other lot is at your own risk for ticketing.
UPCOMING GAMES
  • The winner of the first-round matchup between the Mountain Lions and Roadrunners will advance to play No. 1 seed Colorado Mesa at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. The losing team will play an elimination game on Friday morning at 10 a.m. against the loser of the No. 2 vs No. 3/6 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.  
 
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