DENVER, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball split Sunday's doubleheader with Metropolitan State University of Denver to open this weekend's series.
INSIDE THE MATCH UP
- Final Game One: UCCS 5, MSUD 2 | Final Game Two: UCCS 5, MSUD 7
- Records: UCCS (5-17, 2-4 RMAC) | MSUD (11-13, 2-4 RMAC)
- Facility | Location: Assembly Athletic Complex Baseball Field |Denver, Colo.
- All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions have a record of 11-19 vs the Roadrunners.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME ONE
- The Mountain Lions got the scoring started in the third inning with a Hayden Iverson RBI single to knock in Aaron Brakel, breaking the stalemate between starters Marko Sipila and Jack Slominski who only had allowed a baserunner each through the first two innings.
- MSU Denver would strike back with a run of their own in the fifth inning after Jesse Velders launched a ground rule double, was moved to third on a Brody Brown fly out, and then singled home by Gavin Schmeh.
- Both teams then went scoreless in the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth, before UCCS broke open the scoring with four tallies in the sixth. Iverson got the party started with a leadoff triple and came home on the ensuing at bat as Kit Wigington lifted a sacrifice fly. UCCS then got three runs off of back-to-back singles out of Alec Gomez and Caleb Stubbings to set up Kasey Campbell's three run jack to center field. The Roadrunners would retire two out of the next three hitters to end the inning, but UCCS held a comfortable 5-1 lead after six.
- The Roadrunners would grab one more run on an Alec Gomez error allowing Velders to score unearned, but the Mountain Lions and Garret Shriver would shut the door over the final two frames, taking game one by a 5-2 final.
GAME STATISTICS | GAME ONE
- Kasey Cambell blasted his first home run of the season, earning him a season high three RBIs.
- Marko Sipila turned in a second consecutive stellar outing, fanning five Roadrunners while allowing just four hits, and two runs, one earned.
- Sipila (2-3) earns the win for UCCS with Garrett Shiver claiming the save, Jack Slominski (3-3) suffers the loss for MSU Denver.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME TWO
- UCCS came out firing offensively to begin game two, grabbing a run in the first, and two runs in both the second and third innings.
- Hayden Iverson led off the first with a double, then came in on a Caleb Stubbings groundout. In the second, MSU grabbed two runs in the top half of hits from Zach Schuler, Cam Yuran and Cal Walsh, but the Mountain Lions responded with two of their own off hits from Aaron Jenkins, Colton Trudeau, and Kit Wigington to restore their lead at 3-2. In the third, UCCS grabbed two more, as Stubbings scored on a wild pitch, then Trudeau brought in Evan Steinberger on a fielder's choice to push the advantage to 5-2.
- From then on, the Roadrunners offense took over, scoring one in the fifth and one in the sixth, both from sacrifice flies. Then broke out for three runs in the seventh, to put UCCS away 7-5.
GAME STATISTICS | GAME TWO
- Jason Fink threw a season high 4.1 innings to begin game two for UCCS, he gave up just three runs on six hits, but three were doubles.
- Dylan Webber settled things down for MSUD, throwing the final four innings for the Roadrunners, not allowing a run to close the game.
- Webber (3-1) picks up the win for Metropolitan State University of Denver, as Matthew Gonzales (0-2) takes the loss for UCCS.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Marko Sipila has struck out five or more batters in his last three starts, with a total of 17 punchouts in those games.
- The Mountain Lions have now split their last two doubleheaders between games three and four vs Colorado State-Pueblo and games one and two vs MSU Denver.
- Jack Slominski allows five earned runs for the third time this season, previously surrendering five to the University of Sioux Falls, and eight to Montana State Billings.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions and Roadrunners will face off in another double header tomorrow at 12 & 3 p.m. to conclude the series.
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 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
