LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Mountain Lion Baseball dominates a 13-1 performance to give the University of Colorado Colorado Springs the mercy rule Sunday win and series victory over New Mexico Highlands University.
INSIDE THE MATCH-UP
- Final: UCCS 13, NMHU 1
- Records: UCCS (18-13, 7-8 RMAC) | NMHU (9-19, 1-11)
- Facility | Location: Brandt Baseball Field | Las Vegas, N.M.
- All-Time Series: UCCS improves on their lead in the all-time series against the Cowboys, now leading 31-8.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Two hits in the first inning were all UCCS needed to open the scoring in game four, having done so in all four games of the series. Bryce Peterson doubled down the left field line with one out, as Kit Wigington followed with a single through the right side to bring Peterson around, as UCCS took the 1-0 lead.
- A double to right by Bryant O'Neil was the only hit in the bottom of the first by the Cowboys, with all other hitters failing to reach safely.
- UCCS added to their lead in the second inning, with lead off hitter Caleb Chance finding his way on from a Cowboys error at short, with Tyler Genrich earning a walk behind Chance to put two on with no outs. A wild pitch to Trevor Dale moved both baserunners into scoring position before Dale was caught looking, but Tyler Buchman picked up his teammate with a single to center to score both Chance and Genrich. On the play, Buchman would move all the way to third on another mishandle in center field, the third of its kind by the Cowboys in the series. With one gone and Buchman at third, Mikey Brinton delivered a productive out to allow Buchman to tag up and score from third. Now with two outs, Bryce Peterson continued to cause damage with his sixth homer of the year, a solo shot to make it a 5-0 lead for the Mountain Lions. That would be all for UCCS as Hayden Iverson grounded to shortstop to end the inning, but four runs in the inning game UCCS a nice early inning cushion.
- In the bottom of the second, Richie Amavizca slashed the Cowboy's second double of the game, but again, none of his teammates were able to find a way on base, as Amavizca was stranded as the only baserunner of the home half of the second.
- UCCS found two more runs in the top of the third inning, doing so on a walk and two singles. Dillon Vroman earned the walk to lead off, with Caleb Chance poking a base hit to left to put runners on first and second. Tyler Genrich struck out on a bunt attempt, but the ball got away behind the plate to move Vroman and Chance up to second and third, as UCCS had two in scoring position with one out. Trevor Dale then grounded to short, but Dillon Vroman did come home on the play, with Tyler Buchman returning a single to center field to score Caleb Chance for the final run of the away half of the third.
- After a quiet bottom of the third from NMHU, UCCS returned to offense in the fourth to add an eighth run to their total. Bryce Peterson led off with a single to left, then moved up to second on Kit Wigington's groundout to third. Another Cowboy passed ball allowed Peterson to third, with Hayden Iverson grounding to short to bring home Peterson. The run was the only one in the inning for UCCS, with the Mountain Lions commanding a 8-0 lead after three and a half innings.
- In the home half of the fifth, the Cowboys would get on the board with a Ryan Callanan lead off double to the left field corner, with the Cowboy third baseman advancing to third on a sacrifice from Lubby Marrujo. The sacrifice would pay dividends with Gael Bernal lifting a sacrifice of their own on a fly out to right to bring the score to 8-1 in favor of UCCS.
- The Mountain Lions tallied two more runs in the sixth off a lead off walk to Mikey Brinton setting up Kit Wigington's fifth homer of the year, a two-run shot to right to give UCCS the nine run lead at 10-1.
- The Cowboys went quietly in their half of the sixth, with UCCS again picking up where they left off offensively to start the seventh. Tyler Genrich, Trevor Dale, and Tyler Buchman were due to the plate for UCCS, with the trio going fly out, walk, strikeout to start the inning. With two out and a man on first, UCCS then earned a Mikey Brinton RBI double, a Bryce Peterson walk, a Kit Wigington walk, and a Hayden Iverson single that scored two more. Dillon Vroman was then struck by a pitch to load the bases, but Caleb Chance would fly out to right to end the threat, with UCCS needing three outs to secure the mercy rule victory.
- A walk to Ryan Callanan created the only baserunner in the inning for New Mexico Highlands, with UCCS earning the 13-1 mercy rule victory to take the series three games to one in New Mexico.
GAME STATISTICS
- Ryder Mancuso was very good on the mound for UCCS, tossing 84 pitches across seven complete innings. Mancuso allowed just one run on five hits with two walks, while fanning five Cowboys. 55 of Mancuso's 84 pitches were strikes (65%).
- Four UCCS hitters turned in multi-hit performances, as both Bryce Peterson and Kit Wigington had three hits including a home run.
- Mancuso (3-1) earns the win in a very strong outing to lead the Mountain Lions, as Andrew Rodriguez (1-6) is pinned with the loss for the Cowboys.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Ryder Mancuso throws his second complete game of the season (first on 2/14 at Northeastern State), with himself and Jason Fink (Friday vs New Mexico Highlands) having the only two seven inning performances on the year.
- After struggling last weekend defensively against Adams State, UCCS turned things around, committing just two errors this weekend in New Mexico, after committing a season-high nine errors last weekend against ASU.
UP NEXT
- UCCS remains on the road this week, heading to Hays, Kansas to take on #23 Fort Hays State with the three-game series beginning on Saturday at 12 p.m.
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.
