COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team dropped their first two games of the two-day Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) series as Metropolitan State University of Denver won game one 3-1 and won game two 10-3 at Mountain Lion Field.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final Game One: MSU 3, UCCS 1 | Final Game Two: MSU 10, UCCS 3
Records: UCCS (6-9, 3-3 RMAC), MSU (9-6, 6-0 RMAC)
Location: Mountain Lion Field | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions drop to 21-37 all-time against the Roadrunners.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME ONE
- The Mountain Lions jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against the Roadrunners as sophomore Paige White took Metro State's Audrey Burt deep to right center, her fifth time leaving the yard this season.
- The Roadrunners tied up the game in the top of the first at Mountain Lion Field, as sophomore catcher Jaiden Geist hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Hannah DiFabio.
- The visitors took a lead in the third, adding another run as sophomore outfielder Katie Maney left the yard hitting a home run to left field.
- Metro State would double their lead in the fourth inning, scoring what would be the final run of the game as sophomore Adriana Bueno singled to center, scoring Burt who added a hit and a walk on the offensive side.
STATS FROM THE GAME | GAME ONE
- The Roadrunners tallied six hits to the Mountain Lions three, as UCCS saw offensive action from White, Lexi Wagner and Sydney King.
- Redshirt senior Braelyne Crenshaw (2-6) was marked with the loss in the first game of the doubleheader. Crenshaw threw for four innings as the starting pitcher and went on to allow three earned runs on six hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
- Sophomore Mackenzie Rutkoff took the bump for the final three innings, allowing no runs and no hits with two strikeouts. She threw two 1-2-3 innings.
- White added the only run of the game for the Mountain Lions, going 1-for-3 with a homerun.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME TWO
- Metropolitan State started off hot to begin the second game of the doubleheader as they scored four runs in the top of the first. The game began with junior Kami Grammerstorf sending a double into left center followed by a two-run homerun from junior Shelby Robb. The inning continued with two walks, a single and an error, scoring a third run (unearned). The final run was from a sacrifice grounder, pushing the Roadrunners' lead to four.
- The visitors continued to do damage, scoring a fifth and sixth run in the top of the third inning from a fielder's choice from Adriana Bueno and a single from Katie Maney, respectively.
- After being held in the first three innings, the Mountain Lions fought back as White doubled scoring the first UCCS run. A sacrifice fly from redshirt senior Courtnie Heller drove in a second run to bring the home team within four.
- The Roadrunners quickly repaired the damage, scoring the seventh run on a fielder error. The lead was restored to six after Burt singled and a run was scored on a throwing error for a pair of unearned runs.
- The final offensive action from the game came from Metropolitan State in the top of the seventh inning as Alexia Boring lined a double to right center, allowing two more runs to score to make it 10-2 in favor of the visitors.
STATS FROM THE GAME | GAME TWO
- UCCS notched six hits in game two of the doubleheader, led by Hernandez-Belew (2-for-3) with two hits, White (1-for-3) with an RBI and Heller with an RBI.
- Senior Lexi Rayburn (2-2) was tagged with the loss with 2.1 innings pitched. In that time, the Roadrunners had six runs (four earned) on four hits, three walks with a strikeout.
- Freshman Autumn Kunze was called to the circle for the final 4.2 innings of the game, allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits while striking out two.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- With her homerun to take the lead in game one, White recorded her fifth of the 2023 campaign.
- In her third pitching appearance in 2023, Rutkoff pitched three no-run and no-hit innings which was a first in her two-year career. The last time Rutkoff pitched for three no-run innings was in 2022 against Colorado School of Mines where she allowed only one hit.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions will wrap up their four-game series against the Roadrunners tomorrow morning with another doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. from Mountain Lion Field.
SOCIAL
Twitter – @GoMountainLions
Instagram – @gomountainlions
Facebook – GoMountainLions
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.
