COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball team's bats caught on fire Sunday afternoon versus Regis University. The Mountain Lions collected 17 hits, five doubles, and three home runs in route to a 14-7 victory.
INSIDE THE MATCH UP
- Final Score: UCCS 14, RU 7
- Records: UCCS (9-23, 6-10 RMAC) | RU (18-15-1, 9-7 RMAC)
- Facility | Location: Mountain Lion Park | Colorado Springs, Colo.
- All-Time Series: UCCS holds a 19-17 advantage over the Rangers all-time.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UCCS Starter Joe McDermott opened Sunday afternoon's game with an efficient nine pitch inning forcing three lazy flyouts. Hayden Iverson led off the back half of the first with a double deep in left center gap, reached third on a pass ball, and was driven home on a Kit Wigington groundout to second to give the Mountain Lions an early 1-0 lead.
- In the top of the second, Regis got themselves on the board after a triple off the center field wall scored a runner from first base. The Rangers added another in the inning and nabbed a 2-1 lead going into the bottom half.
- The Mountain Lions sticks caught fire in the bottom half of the second as Evan Steinberger and Vander Hodges led off with a pair of doubles followed by Colton Trudeau who tripled them both in. After Dillon Vroman reached first on a hit by pitch, Iverson singled in Trudeau. Wigington then came up and drove in Vroman on a single and UCCS headed in to the third inning with a 5-2 advantage.
- RU gave McDermott some trouble in the third, posting two runs, but the sophomore pitcher escaped the traffic up 5-4. The Mountain Lions and Rangers then went scoreless in the fourth inning, but the offense would pick up in the fifth as the Rangers evened things up at 5 apiece.
- The bottom of the fifth inning saw UCCS erupt for four runs as Trudeau and Vroman drove in a pair followed by Iverson who smacked a two-run homer just left of the center field wall. The Mountain Lions would carry a 9-5 lead entering inning number six.
- James Boeree entered the game after five strong innings from McDermott and the Rangers were able to tack on a run to make it 9-6. UCCS third basemen Alec Gomez led off the top of the sixth with a double which was shadowed by Stubbings who hit his fourth homerun of the series to push the UCCS lead to five (11-6).
- Boeree held down the Mountain Lions defense in the seventh with a three-up-three-down effort, but UCCS would mirror the Rangers and retire in order as they headed into the eighth.
- Boeree continued his outstanding relief outing with yet another one-two-three inning in the eighth. Steinberger then provided extra cushion in the bottom of the inning as he hit a three-run opposite field homer to give UCCS a 14-6 lead.
- In his fourth inning of work, Boeree allowed a solo home run, but closed this one out with no drama. The Mountain Lions held onto to split the series and win Sunday's game 14-7.
GAME STATISTICS
- Five different Mountain Lions collected multiple hits Sunday afternoon with those being Iverson (3), Gomez (3), Stubbings (2), Steinberger (3), and Hodges (2).
- Iverson's double and home run contributed greatly to the UCCS offense as he posted three RBIs, two runs scored, and a walk.
- Steinberger had a nice showing going 3-for-5 with three RBIs, three runs, a double, and a home run.
- The UCCS offense was firing on all cylinders today as nine of their 17 hits were extra base hits.
- McDermott had a nice outing for UCCS as he threw five innings, allowing only four earned runs, and four hits. This was McDermott's first win of the season as he sits at 1-0.
- Boeree was stellar in his four innings of work as he allowed just one earned run, one walk, two hits while striking out four. Boeree's performance earned him his first save of the 2024 season.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Stubbing's sixth inning home run was his 33rd career bomb for the Mountain Lions, tying the record for the most home runs in UCCS history. Stubbings ties Zach Hall (2018) and Evan Richards (2021) for first place.
- Wigington's two RBI's today places him at fourth all-time in program history with a total of 109 runs batted in, passing Evan Richards (108).
- There were 26 combined home runs in this series between the Rangers and Mountain Lions.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions travel to Las Vegas, N.M. next weekend to take on New Mexico Highlands University. Game one is slated for a start time of 3 p.m. on Friday, April 12 at NMHU Baseball Field.
SOCIAL
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@GoMountainLions
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@gomountainlions
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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.
