COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team overcomes an early deficit in game two of a Friday doubleheader to split games with the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers, keeping the Mountain Lions in contention for the playoffs with two games remaining in the regular season.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Game 1: UCCS 5, CSM 8 | Game 2: UCCS 12, CSM 9
Records: UCCS (20-28, 15-15 RMAC), CCU (30-17, 15-15 RMAC)
Facility: Mountain Lion Park | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: Each team grabbed a win against each other today, bringing the Mountain Lions record against the Orediggers to 9-14 all-time.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME 1
- The Orediggers came out the gates ready to play as each of their first four batters reached base, resulting in the first run of the game going to CSM. They kept finding the gaps in the infield and continued to collect singles on their way to a 3-0 lead by the end of the top half of the first inning.
- It wouldn't take long for the Mountain LIons to chip away at the lead with Macully Sehr leading off the game with a double to the left-center gap. He would score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Mason Pastorello which brought Kit Wigington to the plate who cut the deficit to one with a solo blast to left field.
- Another lead-off double, this time from Kasey Campbell, got the Mountain Lions offense rolling in the second inning. He would score on a sacrifice fly hit to deep center field by Walker Rumsey to tie the game at three apiece.
- Jonathan Cowles would settle in and toss three scoreless innings which kept the game tied at 3-3 going into the bottom of the fourth. Aaron Faragallah would then hit a towering homerun to left field to give the Mountain Lions the 4-3 lead.
- A pair of solo homeruns in the top of the fifth put the Orediggers back out in front, but the lead would not last long as Caleb Stubbings hit a solo shot of his own to tie the game yet again, this time at five runs.
- Dylan Grierson would come in to relieve Jonathan Cowles after five innings of work. With a runner in scoring position and two outs, the Oredigger right fielder lined a ball to center that threatened to drop and score the go-ahead run, but a last second dive from Walker Rumsey retired the batter and kept the tie intact going into the bottom of the sixth inning.
- With the Mountain Lions unable to manufacture any runs in the following innings, the Orediggers took advantage and jumped out to a three run lead in the eighth. They would hold the lead into the ninth and the Mountain Lions would drop game one by a score of 8-5.
STATS FROM THE GAME | GAME 1
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME 2
- Another hot start for the Orediggers gave them an early lead in game two courtesy of a three-run homerun, a two-run triple, and an RBI single to give CSM a 6-0 advantage.
- After grabbing a run in the bottom of the first, the Mountain Lions would add six more in the bottom of the second. Walker Rumsey would reach on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded that brought home Kasey Campbell to start the rally. Macully Sehr would then poke one through the left side to score Tyler Richardson.
- Kit Wigington hit a sharp groundball just out of reach of the diving Oredigger first baseman to plate Sehr to further cut into the CSM lead. Caleb Stubbings would continue to keep the line moving as he roped a double into the left-center gap to tie the game at six.
- The hit parade would continue as Aaron Faragallah lined one into left field to bring Stubbings around and take the lead 7-6 going into the third inning.
- The Mountain Lions would add another run in the bottom of the third. After a scoreless frame in the fourth for both sides, the Orediggers would score a run in the top of the fifth. Kasey Campbell and Tyler Richardson helped to get the run back in the bottom half of the fifth as they would tally back-to-back doubles.
- Not long after, Macully Sehr would drive in Richardson from third on a base hit to right to go up 10-7 with two innings left to play.
- Every effort the Orediggers made to chip away at the Mountain Lion lead would be unsuccessful as UCCS would match every run CSM would score in the late innings of the ballgame. The sixth inning would feature a Kit Wigington homerun and a Tyler Richardson RBI single to extend the lead to four going into the final frame.
- Joseph Harris trotted back out to the mound for the seventh and would hold off the Orediggers to secure the 12-9 win.
STATS FROM THE GAME | GAME 2
- Macully Sehr and Caleb Stubbings tied for the team lead in RBI for the game with each of the two infielders driving in three runs.
- Tyler Richardson batted a perfect 1.000 in game two as he went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI.
- Kit WIgington also collected a three-hit game and added a homerun to an impressive day at the plate.
- Jon Sotto was strong out of the bullpen to keep the Oredigger offense at bay. His final line read 4.1 innings pitched while allowing only two runs on seven hits and striking out three batters.
- The Mountain Lions did a fantastic job of controlling the strike zone at the plate as they only struck out four times as a team.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- With at least one hit in each game today, Macully Sehr extends his hitting streak to six games.
- Kit Wigington continues to swing a hot bat as he brings his hitting streak to eight games. In that span, he has hit eight homeruns, five doubles, and has driven in 17 runs.
- In a streak of seven games with a hit, Tyler Richardson has six multi-hit games and has totaled 17 hits in that span, improving his batting average to .414.
- Caleb Stubbings took a pitcher deep for the 15th time in game one of today's doubleheader and now leads the team in homeruns.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions close out the regular season tomorrow at home with another doubleheader against the Orediggers. First pitch in game one is scheduled for 12:00 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.