LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team closed their weekend series against No. 20 nationally ranked Colorado Christian University with 7-0 and 12-7 setbacks as the Cougars completed a sweep of the weekend series.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final Game One: UCCS 0, #20 CCU 7 | Final Game Two: UCCS 7, #20 CCU 12
Records: UCCS (6-15, 3-9 RMAC), CCU (22-2, 12-0 RMAC)
Location: All Star Park | Lakewood, Colo.
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions fall to 14-19 in the all-time series against the Cougars.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME ONE
- After both teams went down in order in the first inning, the Cougars found their way onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the second as Logan Menzies led off the frame with a four-pitch walk and was promptly brought in to score on a two-run home run from Miki Berg. CCU would manufacture another run before the end of the inning with Kayla Middleton recording a one-out single and moving up to third base on a stolen base with a throwing error before coming in to score on an RBI groundout from Savannah Tourville.
- The Cougars would continue to stretch their advantage in the third and fourth innings as Kenzie Middleton led off the third frame with a solo home run that made it a 4-0 ballgame and then came back in the fourth inning to launch her second home run of the ballgame, a two-run shot this time, that pushed the game to 6-0
- Another CCU run would cross the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning and the UCCS bats were unable to solve CCU pitchers Kali Crandall (5 IP) and Samaria Roope (2 IP) as the Cougars claimed a 7-0 shutout victory in game three of the series.
STATS FROM THE GAME | GAME ONE
- The Mountain Lions managed to tally just four hits in the game, with Mia Perez, Morgan Hernandez-Belew, Courtnie Heller, and Lexi Wagner each recording one.
- Hernandez-Belew notched the lone extra-base hit of the ballgame with her ground-rule double in the top of the sixth inning.
- Senior Lexi Rayburn (2-3) got the start inside the circle for UCCS and wound up taking her third loss of the season after allowing four earned runs across 2.1 innings pitched.
- Sophomore Mackenzie Rutkoff toed the rubber the rest of the way as she surrendered three runs (two earned) over 3.2 innings pitched.
- Kenzie Middleton drove in three of the Cougars seven runs in the game while also tallying a pair of home runs.
- Crandall threw five shutout innings for CCU to win her ninth decision of the season as she allowed just two hits and struck out eight batters. Roope tossed the final two frames for Colorado Christian and allowed no runs on two hits with one strikeout.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME TWO
- Coming off the shutout in the first game of the day, UCCS opened game two with a different narrative as a leadoff double by Perez and a subsequent two-run home run from Paige White put the Mountain Lions on the board with a 2-0 first inning lead.
- Although the Cougars scratched across a pair of runs in the bottom half of the first and another run in the third inning to take a 3-2 lead, the Mountain Lion bats sprung back to life in the top of the fourth inning as a pair of walks to White and Heller set the stage for Maddie Unrein to unleash a three-run home run to left center field that helped UCCS regain a 5-3 advantage.
- The Cougars once again found a quick response in the bottom half of the fourth inning as they strung together four hits in the frame to bring across a pair of runs and bring the game even at five runs apiece. CCU would break the tie in the bottom of the fifth frame, putting together a six-run inning that gave them an 11-5 advantage.
- After the Cougars added another run in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it a 12-5 game, Hernandez-Belew cut the UCCS deficit back to five runs with a two-RBI triple in the top of the seventh inning. The next two batters would be retired, however, as CCU finished off a 12-7 win to complete the four-game sweep of the series.
STATS FROM THE GAME | GAME TWO
- UCCS recorded six hits in the final game of the series, with four of the six hits registering as extra-base hits.
- Unrein put together a 1-for-3 line while also notching her second home run of the season and a team-leading three RBIs.
- White crushed her team-leading seventh home run of the season as she had a 1-for-2 ballgame with two RBIs and two walks.
- Hernandez-Belew also added a pair of RBIs with a 1-for-4 line at the plate including her first triple of the season.
- Redshirt senior Braelyne Crenshaw made the start on the rubber for UCCS and went on to allow nine runs (six earned) in 4.1 innings pitched.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Perez's multi-hit performance in game two of Sunday's doubleheader marked her tenth game this season in which she has recorded at least two hits. In 21 games played this season, Perez sits second on the team with 24 total hits and a .333 batting average.
- The Mountain Lions have been swept in consecutive conference series for the first time since 2018.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions return home next weekend to continue their conference schedule with a four-game set against Regis University on March 11-12 at 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.
