CANYON, Texas – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team resumed the West Texas A&M Invitational on Saturday and took a 9-5 victory in their first game against Texas A&M University – Kingsville, and dropped their second game 8-7 to West Texas A&M University
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Game 1: UCCS 9, TAMUK 5 | Game 2: UCCS 7, WTAMU 8
Records: UCCS (5-3, 0-0 RMAC), TAMUK (5-5, 0-0 LSC), WTAMU (8-0, 0-0 LSC)
Location: Schaeffer Park | Canyon, Texas
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions move to 1-2 all-time against Texas A&M University - Kingsville and 0-10 against West Texas A&M University.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME ONE – TEXAS A&M - KINGSVILLE

• UCCS starting pitcher Hannah Hunt ran into some quick trouble in the top of the first inning when the Javelinas' leadoff batter stole second after a base hit to center field. Alexis Soliz then hit a single through the infield to bring the leading runner home to go up by a run. Needing to get out of the inning, Hunt struck out the third batter just before UCCS catcher Katie Steinmetz caught Soliz stealing for a fast response in the form of two outs. The next batter was retired, and the Mountain Lions took a one run deficit into the bottom of the first. In the bottom of the first inning, UCCS loaded the bases with two outs after a walk by Jacqueline Berkowitz, a Gianna Pancost single, and a soft infield hit by Tayler McCombs. In need of a run, Halley Redd worked an RBI walk with a full count to tie the game at one run apiece before ending the first.
• After Hunt made quick work of the Javelinas' middle of the order, some defensive woes plagued TAMUK in the second inning as Jacquelynn Siefken reached safely on a throwing error by the shortstop and Bailey Olerich hit a bunt single down the first base line, but a throw to nobody covering first by the pitcher allowed both runners to move up a base. With one out, Berkowitz hit an RBI ground out to second to give UCCS a 2-1 lead that they took to the third inning.
• After a scoreless third inning, TAMUK began to work their way on base in route to one run in the top of the fourth, doing so on two hits and a walk, tying the game at 2-2. The Mountain Lions responded in the bottom of the fourth after a double steal by Olerich and Mackenzie Scott put runners in scoring position for Berkowitz, who hit a single up the middle of the field that allowed Olerich to score to retake the lead at 3-2 going into the fifth.
• The Javelinas came out hitting in the top of the fifth when a single and a double with one out quickly tied the game back up before a shallow right field double by Lindsey Evans scored another to turn the score to 4-3 in favor of TAMUK. With two outs, Laney Doelitsch hit an RBI single to right center to take a two-run lead to cap off a three-run top of the fifth. The Mountain Lions also had an eventful fifth inning when Steinmetz reached first on a ground ball just out of the reach of the shortstop and Redd did the same on a dropped pop fly by the shortstop. With two runners on, Laynee Case hit an RBI double to right field to make the score 5-4. With two outs, a fielding error by the Javelinas' third baseman allowed Olerich to reach safely while scoring Redd in the process to tie the game. With the score tied at five runs, Scott hit an RBI single to center and moved up to second on the unsuccessful throw to the plate to take a 6-5 lead. Three runs were not enough for UCCS, as Berkowitz reached on an infield single back to the pitcher that scored Olerich, but Scott scored from second as well thanks to some heads up baserunning to take an 8-5 lead into the sixth inning.
• With UCCS pitcher Haisley Leskinen throwing a scoreless top of the sixth, the Mountain Lions looked to increase their lead in the bottom half. Siefken came up to the plate with two outs and two runners on and hit a soft fly ball out of reach of the diving right fielder for a double that scored Redd from second to take a four-run lead into the seventh. Leskinen would go on to retire three of the four batters she faced in the seventh inning to secure a 9-5 win for the Mountain Lions.

STATS FROM GAME ONE – TEXAS A&M - KINGSVILLE

• The Mountain Lions recorded 13 hits and drew three walks in their third game of the weekend.
• Berkowitz had another strong performance in the two-hole as she went 2-3 with a walk and three RBI's. Steinmetz, Case, and Olerich were the three other Mountain Lions with multiple hits.
• Case and Siefken both notched an extra base hit, an RBI, and a run scored during the first game for UCCS on Saturday.
• Hunt (4-0) earned her fourth win of the season after allowing five runs in five innings pitched with three walks and two strikeouts.
• Leskinen had a strong performance pitching the final two innings as she allowed just one hit and no runs to close out the game while recording her first collegiate save.

HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME TWO – WEST TEXAS A&M

• After a scoreless top of the first where the first three batters for UCCS went down in order, Mountain Lions pitcher Autumn Kunze got into trouble early, allowing two quick runs on two hits before escaping with a runner on third and trailing by two. The second inning would go scoreless with Kunze and WTAMU pitcher Emilee Boyer both striking out the side in their respective halves.
• The game turned into a defensive duel in the third and fourth innings as both teams went scoreless. After their first 11 batters were retired, the Mountain Lions' first baserunner came in the top of the fourth when Gianna Pancost walked with a 3-2 count before a ground out by the next batter ended the inning. Kunze would make quick work of the Lady Buffs' five, six, and seven batters, throwing just seven pitches to hold the score at 2-0 in favor of WTAMU.
• The Mountain Lions' first true scoring opportunity came in the top of the fifth inning when Halley Redd broke up Boyer's no-hitter on a hard single up the middle. Redd's hit was followed by another into left field off the bat of Laynee Case to put two runners on with one out. Soon, both runners found themselves on second and third with two outs when Bailey Olerich hit a soft ground ball down the first base line that she beat to the bag that allowed Redd to score to trail by one run going into the bottom of the fifth. The Lady Buffs looked to respond, and did so by loading the bases with two outs off of a single, a walk, and an error. With the bases loaded, Boyer launched a home run to straightaway center field to put WTAMU up 6-1 heading into the sixth inning.
• The Mountain Lions did not reach base safely in the top of the sixth inning and turned the inning over to the WTAMU lineup that was ready to add more runs in the form of a deep shot over the center field wall by Cadence Colborn and a sacrifice fly to right field from Kendall Selitzky to go up 8-1.
• UCCS battled in the top of the seventh inning as they loaded the bases on a fielding error by the shortstop, a single by Case, and a hit batsman. With the bases loaded with one out, Katie Steinmetz hit a ground ball just out of the reach of the shortstop to cut their deficit to six runs. The next batter, Mackenzie Scott, drew a walk on a 3-2 count to make the score 8-3 before Abby Covington was hit by a pitch to make it an 8-4 ball game. In need of a big hit, Pancost delivered with a one out, bases loaded double to score two more Mountain Lions and leave two runners in scoring position. The next UCCS batter, Tayler McCombs, grounded out to first base to score another, and suddenly the Mountain Lions find themselves down by one run with two outs and a runner on third. The next batter struck out on a good pitching sequence by Boyer to end the game at 8-7 in favor of WTAMU.

STATS FROM GAME TWO – WEST TEXAS A&M

• There was a total of 13 hits in the game, with UCCS recording six and WTAMU finishing with seven.
• Redd, Case, Olerich, Steinmetz, and Pancost were the five Mountain Lions to record a hit tonight as Case finished with two.
• Kunze was charged with four earned runs in six innings pitched as the starting pitcher for UCCS. She finished with seven hits allowed, three walks, and six strikeouts.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• With her hit in the first game against TAMUK, Scott extended her hit streak to begin the season to seven games.
• Starting pitcher Autumn Kunze is now tied for the ninth most strikeouts in UCCS history with her six tonight.

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will begin their first home series of the season on Saturday, Feb. 15 against Colorado School of Mines with the first game beginning at 12 p.m. and the second at 2 p.m.

SOCIAL
Twitter – @GoMountainLions  
Instagram – @gomountainlions 
Facebook – GoMountainLions  
  
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.  
  Read Full Article