LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Taking on the No. 20-ranked team in Division II, the University of Colorado Colroado Springs softball team lost both games on the road Saturday to Colorado Christian University. The Cougars won both games in five innings by scores of 9-1, 9-1 at All Star Park in Lakewood, Colo.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final Game One: UCCS 1, CCU 9 (Five Innings) | Final Game Two: UCCS 1, CCU 9 (Five Innings)
Records: UCCS (6-13, 3-7 RMAC), #20 CCU (20-2, 10-0 RMAC)
Location: All Star Park | Lakewood, Colo.
All-Time Series: The Cougars lead the all-time series, 17-14, and have won the last four games.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME ONE
- UCCS started the four-game series with the first score of the game in the top half of the opening inning. Down 1-2 in the count, Morgan Hernandez-Belew patiently waited and watched three straight balls go by to draw a walk. Two batters later and two outs on the scoreboard, designated player Courtnie Heller stepped up to the plate and hit a double to left field to bring home Hernandez-Belew from first base.
- In the bottom half of the opening inning, leadoff batter Kenzie Middleton took first base after drawing a walk but was thrown out at second as catcher Paige White threw a dart down to second base to throw out Middleton's steal attempt. With two outs and a runner on first, Logan Menzies went yard over the centerfield fence to give the home team a 2-1 lead after one complete inning.
- CCU plated one run in the second and third innings to extend their lead to 4-1, before adding three more insurance runs in the fourth inning. The Cougars used a two-run home run in the fourth inning to plate two runs before a passed ball put two CCU runners in scoring position. Leah Garcia's sacrifice fly to centerfield brought in the Cougars seventh run of the game and a 6-1 lead.
- Three UCCS errors in the bottom of the fifth inning led to two more runs as the Cougars took game one, 9-1, in five innings. The Mountain Lions only offense came in the first inning as they were held to three-up, three-down in the final four innings.
STATS FROM THE GAME | GAME ONE
- Heller accounted for the Mountain Lions lone hit in game one, but she made it count as it drove in Hernandez-Belew. Hernandez-Belew, who scored the one run for UCCS, also drew the only walk for the Mountain Lions.
- Mackenzie Rutkoff started in the circle and worked the first three and one-thirds inning, surrendering seven earned runs on six hits while fanning one batter. Braelyne Crenshaw entered in relief in the fourth inning, allowing one run on two hits.
- The Cougars Kali Crandall held UCCS to one hit and one run in five complete innings and struck out five batters.
- CCU's offense posted seven hits, three of which were extra-base hits behind two home runs and a double.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME TWO
- After a pair of scoreless innings to start game two and a RBI single by CCU in the first inning, Paige White hit her sixth home run of the season when she sent the ball over the left centerfield fence to knot the game at 1-1.
- The Cougars responded with an offensive explosion in the bottom half of the third inning. Miki Berg's triple broke the 1-1 tie as two more single RBIs extended the home team's lead to four runs, 5-1. CCU added an unearned run from a Mountain Lions error in the middle of the inning that led to a pitching change for UCCS as Autumn Kunze entered the circle to relieve starting pitcher Crenshaw. Kunze's first batter hit a sac fly to bring in the seventh run for CCU, but Kunze closed the inning by striking out the final batter as CCU plated six runs on six hits and two Mountain Lion errors.
- Trailing 7-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning and bases loaded with one out, the Cougars chipped in one run on a passed ball, but the Mountain Lions defense stranded two runners on base forcing back-to-back outs on a pop up to White at third base and a line drive to Sydney King at shortstop to end the inning.
- CCU repeated game one's final score when Middleton led off the bottom half of the fifth inning with a walk off home run to end the game in five innings, 9-1.
STATS FROM THE GAME | GAME TWO
- The Mountain Lions notched six hits in game two as White, Kelsey Bell and Hernandez-Belew combined for all six hits.
- White paced the UCCS offense, going 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and run scored from her third-inning home run.
- First baseman Bell collected two hits on two at bats, while Hernandez-Belew tallied one hit.
- Crenshaw recorded the loss in the circle, working the first two and one-thirds inning that saw seven runs (four earned) scored on seven hits.
- Kunze finished the game for UCCS, surrendering two earned runs on four hits with one strikeout.
- Middleton's' walk-off home run was her only hit of the game, but she added a sacrifice fly, a stolen base and added two runs and two RBI.
- Abrie Castillo charted the win for CCU after holding UCCS to one run and one hit with six strikeouts and five full innings.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- White's home run tied her with Lexi Wagner's team-leading sixth home run this season.
- White's three-hit performance in game two today is her third three-hit game this year.
- The last time UCCS was held to one hit or less was 13 months ago on Feb. 12, 2022 against Oklahoma Baptist (zero hits).
- The 20th-ranked Cougars have now won 20 straight games.
UP NEXT
- Games three and four of the series will begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
SOCIAL
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs
