UCCS 2024 BASEBALL SEASON IN REVIEW

• University of Colorado Colorado Springs baseball endured a tough 2024 campaign, finishing the season with a 16-32 record and going 13-19 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.
• The Mountain Lions opened the season on the road against Southeastern Oklahoma State University February 1^st and 2^nd, where they dropped all three games, however, nearly earning their first win in game two, falling by a narrow 5-4 final.
• UCCS opened their home schedule the following weekend when they welcomed the University of Minnesota-Crookston, where the squad hit the ground running, taking two of three games on home soil to move to 2-4 on the year.
• The Mountain Lions then embarked on their toughest stretch of the season, facing Colorado State-Pueblo, then No. 8 ranked Point Loma Nazarene, St. Cloud State, and University of Mary. UCCS went just 1-9 over the ten non-conference games against those foes, as they turned their focus to the conference schedule with a 3-13 record after the first month of play.
• UCCS Baseball drew the first weekend to RMAC play as their bye week, which game them a chance to regroup before facing then 16^th ranked CSU Pueblo as their first conference matchup. Though UCCS only took one of four from the ThunderWolves, with them finding the same conclusion dropping three of four to Metropolitan State University of Denver the following weekend, UCCS looked much more competitive with six of the eight games decided by three runs or less.
• Set to face Colorado Christian, Regis, and New Mexico Highlands over the next three weekends, the Mountain Lions embarked on their strongest run of the season going 8-4 in those series, including a road sweep of the Cowboys in New Mexico.
• As the Mountain Lions prepared for the final three series of the year, they sat on the outside looking in of the RMAC postseason tournament, but were well within striking distance as two home series versus the mighty Colorado Mesa University, and the surging Adams State University loomed, UCCS had their work cut out for them down the stretch. With a road set at the always staunch Colorado School of Mines Orediggers waited to end the season, UCCS knew they needed to take care of business at home.
• As the two final home series played out, UCCS was in position to have success in many of the eight contests, having led in five of the eight games, critical mistakes sank the Mountain Lions as they took just two games as wins, one out of each series.
• Despite the struggles the Mountain Lions still had a chance to qualify for the postseason heading into the last weekend, but once again could only take one of three games against Colorado School of Mines, being eliminated from the postseason on the final weekend of the season for the second straight year.

• Aaron Brakel: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Kasey Campbell: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Alec Gomez: First Team All-RMAC
• Ronan Hella: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Vander Hodges: RMAC Gold Glove Shortstop, RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Hayden Iverson: All-RMAC Honorable Mention
• Brady Lachemann: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Ryder Mancuso: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Joe McDermott: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Hunter Owens: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Cole Philip: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Evan Reynolds: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Tyler Richardson: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Garrett Shriver: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Marko Sipila: RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
• Kit Wigington: 2024 UCCS Male Student Athlete of the Year, RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll

• Hayden Iverson paced Mountain Lion Baseball in attendance on the year, playing and starting in all but one game. He also lead the team with 195 at bats, 56 runs scored, 74 hits, 14 doubles (tied for most), three triples, 121 total bases, 19 walks, and nine stolen bases. Iverson also completed the third cycle in UCCS baseball history on February 9^th at move versus Minnesota-Crookston.
• Alec Gomez made a splash in his first season at UCCS as he quickly made a name for himself with this bat, proving to be a reliable source of offense in the order. In 45 games, Gomez led the team with 47 RBIs (next most was 37) and 10 home runs. Gomez was the only UCCS batter that hit double digit big flies in 2024.
• For the second straight year, Kasey Campbell brings home the team title for most consistent hitting, leading the team with a .393 average, the same mark he finished with a season ago. Not only was Campbell's bat the best at finding holes in the defense, but it was also the most powerful as he slugged a team best .667, with an on-base percentage of .490 which also led the squad. Campbell had the sixth-most hits on the roster, despite ranking tenth on the team for at bats.
• Iverson, Gomez, and Kit Wigington all tied for the most doubles on the team, each slashing 14 on the year, with Iverson adding three triples, and Gomez adding one triple. The three finished with 24 homers, with Iverson having 9, Gomez with 10, and Wiginton launching 5.
• Defensively, ten Mountain Lions finished the year with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, with Aaron Brakel having the most chances out of the group with 13. Of the next group, 14 defenders had a percentage of 90% or higher led by Caleb Stubbings, who earned a .992 mark making just two errors in 257 chances.
• On the mound, Jason Fink paced the Mountain Lions with a team best 5.96 ERA, pitching 48.1 innings with a 3-5 record which tied Marko Sipila for most wins on the staff.
• Of UCCS pitchers who threw 20+ innings on the year, James Boeree earned the lowest ERA, finishing the year with a 5.46 average.
• As a team, UCCS scored a season-high of 15 runs in a single game twice, once against Minnesota-Crookston to earn their first win on February 8, doing so again against Colorado School of Mines on May 4, earning their final win of the year.

• Caleb Stubbings continues to move up the all-time ranks for UCCS Baseball, finishing the season third all-time with 505 at bats, fifth all-time with a career .360 average, second all-time with 182 hits, second all-time with 129 runs scored, second all-time with 44 doubles, and took over the top spot hitting 37 home runs for most in program history.
• Kasey Campbell finished the season with the seventh best batting average in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at .393, he was the only Mountain Lion to finish in the top 25 averages in the conference. He also finished 10^th with his .667 slugging percentage, and third with his .500 on-base percentage.
• Hayden Iverson finished in the top 10 in the conference for hits (fifth-75), runs scored (10^th-57), and triples (T-ninth-3). Iverson also checked in ninth in the RMAC with 122 total bases on the year. All other top 10 players in those categories played for teams that qualified for the RMAC postseason tournament.
• Both Jason Fink (fifth) and Marko Sipila (eighth) slotted into the top 10 for earned run average inside the RMAC. The feat marks the first time a UCCS pitcher has finished in the top 10 for conference earned run average since Daniel Silva in 2021. It also marks the first full season that two UCCS hurlers finished in the top 10 since the programs inception in 2017, (Silva and Jonathan Cowles finished ninth and sixth in the 2020 COVID-19 shortened season).
• Marko Sipila struck out the sixth most batters in the conference with 60 punch outs, locking up 16  of those hitters looking which was good for eighth most in the conference. His 56 runs allowed was ninth fewest in the RMAC, with teammate Jason Fink topping that mark with just 49 allowed which was third fewest in the league. Both Fink and Sipila also were among the fewest allowed earned runs, with Fink checking in second fewest with just 35, seeing Sipila finish fifth fewest with 44. The pair was also among the toughest against extra base hits, both tying for fewest triples allowed giving up just one each, while Fink finished sixth fewest in home runs allowed, with Sipila surrendering only one more to finish with the eighth fewest allowed.

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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.