COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Playing in their first home game of the season, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team found themselves with an early deficit against the San Francisco State University Gators and were unable to battle all the way back in a 7-5 defeat to open the four-game series.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: UCCS 5, SFSU 7
Records: UCCS (0-5, 0-0 RMAC) | SFSU (1-0, 0-0 CCAA)
Facility | Location: Mountain Lion Park | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions drop to 1-4 all-time against the Gators, with each of the previous four meetings between the two teams coming in a four-game series in San Francisco, Calif., last February.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- It was a shaky start to the top of the first inning for UCCS starting pitcher Evan Reynolds as he hit the leadoff batter and allowed a pair of subsequent singles that brought home the first run of the game and gave the Gators a 1-0 lead. Reynolds would quickly settle down, getting the next SFSU hitter to roll into a double play before ending the inning with another ground ball to second base.
- The offenses for both teams would go quiet until the top of the fourth inning when the Gators loaded the bases with nobody out after a leadoff double was followed by a walk and a single against Reynolds. The next batter to the plate, SFSU second baseman Gavin Haimovitz, would clear the bases with a double to the left center field gap, extending the Gator's advantage to 4-0.
- After a two-out walk in the fourth chased Reynolds from the game, freshman Ryder Mancuso entered the game in relief and promptly hit the first batter he faced before walking the next two hitters to bring in the Gator's fifth and sixth runs of the afternoon. Mancuso would get outfielder Justin Clark to line out to second base to put an end to the inning, keeping the UCCS deficit at 6-0.
- The Mountain Lions began to chip away at their six-run hole in the bottom half of the fourth inning as redshirt sophomore Caleb Stubbings led off the frame with a double and was brought around to score on an RBI single by Kasey Campbell, making it a 5-1 ballgame. After Mancuso kept the Gators without a baserunner in the top of the fifth inning, UCCS continued to work their way back with Stubbings lofting a sacrifice fly to left field that scored freshman Ronan Hella and cut the SFSU lead to 6-2.
- Mancuso found himself in trouble to begin the visitor half of the sixth inning as a double and a single put runners on the corners with nobody out to begin the inning. The Palisade, Colo., native would limit the damage to just one run, however, inducing a double play ball that brought home the runner from third before getting an easy ground ball to second base to end the threat.
- Now trailing 7-2, the UCCS offense went back to work in the bottom half of the sixth inning as a double by Campbell and a single by catcher Tyler Richardson set the Mountain Lions up with runners on second and third base with just one out. Shortstop Macully Sehr would come through in the next at bat with a line drive single up the middle that brought home a pair of runs and pushed UCCS within three runs, 7-4.
- Following some excellent bullpen work from both teams in the late innings, the Mountain Lions came up in the bottom half of the ninth still trailing 7-4 with one final chance at the plate and would add a run on a sacrifice fly from Keegan Sueltz, but it was not enough as SFSU took the first game of the series by a score of 7-5.
GAME STATISTICS
- The Mountain Lions outhit the Gators 13-9 with four players recording multi-hit games, including Stubbings (2-for-4), Brad Madison (2-for-5), Campbell (2-for-3), and Sueltz (2-for-4).
- Sehr led the team with his two RBIs on the day, while Stubbings, Campbell, and Sueltz each recorded one RBI.
- Reynolds made the start on the bump and took his first loss of the season as he allowed six earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched with a pair of strikeouts.
- Mancuso (3.1 IP, 1 ER) and John Hoffman (2.0 IP, 0 ER) followed Reynolds out of the bullpen and combined to notch 5.1 impressive innings, holding the Gators to just one earned run down the stretch.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- With two hits in today's game, Madison notched his fourth consecutive multi-hit game and is currently slashing a team-leading .421 for the season with eight hits in his 19 at-bats.
- The Mountain Lions recorded a trio of doubles against SFSU on Friday afternoon, marking the team's first extra-base hits of the season.
- Following his outing on the mound today, Mancuso has started his collegiate career with a team-leading 1.42 ERA after allowing just one earned run and tallying five strikeouts across his first 6.1 innings pitched.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions will continue their series against the Gators tomorrow morning with a doubleheader at Mountain Lion Park beginning at 11 a.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.
