UCCS SOFTBALL SEASON IN-REVIEW

• The University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team had a solid season under first-year head coach Dwight Sanders. The young UCCS roster that featured just two seniors produced an overall record of 19-32 and 16-26 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play.
• The Mountain Lions began their season in early February with seven straight games on the road competing at the South Central Regional Crossover in Los Lunas, N.M., and the West Texas A&M Invitational in Canyon, Texas. UCCS went 2-5 in this stretch with wins against the University of Texas Permian Basin and Simon Fraser University.
• The Mountain Lions opened their home schedule with a 6-4 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State University on Feb. 15^th. UCCS then started RMAC competition three days later with a series against New Mexico Highlands University where the Mountain Lions took three out of four games from the Cowgirls.
• UCCS stayed hot beating Black Hills State University three times in four tries on Feb. 24^th and Feb. 25^th, starting conference play with a 6-2 record. After splitting a series 2-2 with Chadron State University on the road on Mar. 2^nd, the Mountain Lions went on their toughest stretch of the season.
• The Mountain Lions lost three straight series from Mar. 10^th through Mar. 23^rd where they dropped 12 straight games. A trio of teams that turned out to be the top three seeds in the conference tournament in Colorado Mesa University, No. 6 Colorado Christian University, and Metropolitan State University Denver were at the helm of these losses.
• UCCS bounced back into the win column with a 1-0 victory over Regis University but went on to drop the final three games of that set, losing the series 3-1. The Mountain Lions earned their first series win since Feb. 25^th with three home wins over Adams State University on Apr. 5^th and 6^th, but followed that by being swept at the hands of Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo.
• After earning a series split with Colorado State University-Pueblo on the road, UCCS finished the season strong at Mountain Lion Field with two wins against Fort Lewis College. The Mountain Lions were selected to finish No. 6 in the RMAC preseason coaches' poll but ended up finishing eighth in the standings, just missing a chance to make the conference tournament.

AWARD WINNERS
The 2024 season came with 11 different Mountain Lions receiving awards and distinctions: 

• Kelsey Bell: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Ella Ebert: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Caydee Farnworth: Week 5 RMAC Softball Pitcher of the Week (Mar. 5)
• Sydney King: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Autumn Kunze: All-RMAC Honorable Mention, RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Gianna Pancost: All-RMAC Honorable Mention, Week 10 RMAC Softball Player of the Week (Apr. 9)
• Jayden Paulsen: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Mia Perez: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Mackenzie Rutkoff: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Maddie Unrein: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Lexi Wagner: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll

STATISTICAL LEADERS

• Freshman Gianna Pancost had a fantastic start to her college career and led the Mountain Lions in numerous offensive categories. The Arizona native had the highest batting average (.394), the highest OPS (1.048), the most doubles (13), runs batted in (28), and total bases (63) by any Mountain Lion this year. The three-hole hitter also had the best slugging percentage (.578) and on base percentage (.470) on the team in 41 games started. The third base player held down the hot corner exceptionally recording 50 putouts and 36 assists with only four errors to hold a fielding percentage of .956. Pancost earned RMAC player of the week after her outstanding performance against Adams State. Pancost was 9-for-12 in that series with three doubles, one home run, and ten RBIs, reaching base 12 times in 15 plate appearances.
• Tying Pancost in total hits at 43 was freshman Jennavieve Goldsworth, who had a great first season with UCCS. Goldsworth started in 50 games this season posting a .303 batting average with seven doubles, a triple, and 12 runs batted in as well as swiping seven bags in eight tries. The second base player recorded 122 putouts and 72 assists with 11 errors for a .946 fielding percentage.
• Another freshman who was a huge contributor to the 2024 Mountain Lions was Jacqueline Berkowitz, who collected 42 hits in 128 at bats to post a .328 batting average in 47 games played. The outfielder drove in 18 runs with seven doubles, scoring the most runs on the team with 29 and tabbing the second most stolen bases with ten.
• The two main sluggers for UCCS this season were freshman Hailey Busshart and sophomore Izzy Giroux. Busshart hit a team high six home runs to go along with 28 hits, three doubles, and a triple to garner a .490 slugging percentage. Busshart was also patient at the plate which earned her a team high 19 walks and the second best on base percentage on the team (.397).
• First base player Giroux smacked four balls over the fence this season to go along with her 22 RBIs. Giroux started every game this season and was the main cleanup hitter throughout the year, tallying a .275 batting average, a .401 slugging percentage, and an on base percentage of .325.
• Freshman Laynee Case and sophomore Alyssa Gutierrez made their marks on the year as they combined for 21 stolen bases with Case swiping eight and Gutierrez taking 13 bases in 13 tries. Case scored the second most runs on the team (25) as well as collecting 35 hits, six doubles, three triples, a home run, and 18 RBIs. Gutierrez nabbed 34 hits, six doubles, and three triples while scoring 22 runs on the season.
• Holding down the pitching staff the whole season was sophomore Autumn Kunze, who threw 136.1 innings in 26 appearances and 25 starts. Carrying a heavy load, Kunze threw 14 complete games including three shutouts. Her 104 strikeouts helped her boast a career-best 3.95 earned run average which contributed to her having an 11-10 win-loss record on the season. Kunze held hitters in check all season allowing opponents to a batting average of .292 as well as staying in the strike zone allowing only 30 walks.
• UCCS' number two starter was sophomore Kailey Bond who threw 103 innings for the Mountain Lions this season throwing six complete games. Her 27 appearances and 14 starts saw an ERA of 5.03 with 53 strikeouts to garner a 7-11 record.
• Sophomore Caydee Farnsworth and junior Mackenzie Rutkoff were the Mountain Lions' two other pitchers that helped them along this season. Farnworth appeared in 18 games, starting 10 of them and throwing 52 total innings. Farnworth's best outing this season came on Mar. 2 versus Chadron State where she threw a complete game shutout, allowing only three hits and a walk while striking out six, earning her RMAC Pitcher of the Week honors in week five of the season. Rutkoff threw 24.1 innings in 16 appearances and two starts.

HOT TAKES

• Kunze's 104 strikeouts this season is the second most strikeouts thrown by any Mountain Lion in their sophomore season. Kunze has 170 strikeouts in her two-year career, and is just 11 away from tying for tenth all-time in program history. Kunze will have an opportunity next season to climb the top-10 in strikeouts. 
• Kunze struck out the fourth most batters in the RMAC with her 104 punchouts. 31 of them were caught looking, which ranks as the fifth-highest in the conference. Her 136.1 innings pitched were the seventh most in the conference and her 11 wins were the ninth most as well. Kunze's 30 walks allowed is tied for the eighth fewest walks allowed for pitchers who qualified in the RMAC.
• Five different Mountain Lions had ten or more multi-hit games this season with those being Berkowitz (13), Pancost (13), Gutierrez (12), Giroux (10), and Goldsworth (10). Busshart was the only UCCS player to have a four-hit game, which she achieved on Mar. 10 versus Colorado Mesa.
• Pancost had the highest hitting streak (9) and reached base streak (12) on the team this year.
• Giroux was extremely consistent at first base this season as she posted the ninth best fielding percentage in the conference at .990 as well as getting the fifth most putouts at 290.
• UCCS had an effective season on the base paths as they tied for the fifth-most stolen bags in the RMAC with 64. The Mountain Lions also tabbed the second-most steals in a single game this year among their conference foes with eight after they did it on Apr. 26 versus Fort Lewis.
• The Mountain Lions had two separate games this season where they turned at least three double plays, which only happened five times in the RMAC this season. UCCS completed the feat against MSU Denver on Mar. 23 as well as against CSU Pueblo on Apr. 19.

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.