LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The No. 5 seeded University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team opened the 2025 RMAC Softball Tournament on Wednesday with a convincing 9-3 victory over No. 4 seeded Colorado State University Pueblo before falling in the quarterfinal round of the winner's bracket by a score of 5-3 against top-seeded Colorado Christian University.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Game 1: (5) UCCS 9, (4) CSUP 3 | Game 2: (5) UCCS 3, (1) CCU 5
Records: UCCS (31-23, 24-17 RMAC), CSUP (27-25, 26-18 RMAC), CCU (41-14, 36-8 RMAC)
Location: All Star Park | Lakewood, Colo.
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions improve to 61-66 all-time against the ThunderWolves and fall to 14-28 against Colorado Christian.
HOW IT HAPPENED | (5) UCCS VS (4) CSU PUEBLO
- The Mountain Lions opened their first tournament game with some quick momentum as Jennavieve Goldsworth and Jacqueline Berkowitz led off the top of the first inning with back-to-back singles before three-hole hitter Gianna Pancost cashed in a run with an RBI double into the right center field gap. Cleanup hitter Katie Steinmetz followed with an RBI single through the right side that pushed the UCCS lead to 2-0, but CSU Pueblo's starting pitcher McKenna James managed to induce infield ground balls against the next three Mountain Lion hitters to escape the inning without any additional damage.
- Junior Kailey Bond drew the start inside the circle for UCCS and was masterful across the first three innings of play as she kept the ThunderWolves scoreless while allowing just a walk and a single. She received some more run support in the top of the fourth inning as a leadoff double by Edyn Lopez and a single by Bailey Olerich put runners on the corners. A single from Goldsworth brought Lopez into score and pushed the UCCS lead to 3-0 before a sacrifice bunt from Berkowitz moved the runners to second and third base with just one out. After the sac bunt, a single up the middle off the bat of Pancost brought home another run and ended the day for James as CSU Pueblo made a change inside the circle with Mia Sanchez coming on to pitch with her team trailing 4-0. Steinmetz gave Sanchez a rude welcome upon entering the ballgame as she lined a single into left field that brought home another run and pushed the UCCS advantage to 5-0, although the CSU Pueblo hurler secured the final two outs of the inning after that without allowing any further harm.
- After both teams went scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings, the Mountain Lions added to their lead in the top of the seventh as Laynee Case sent a two-run home run deep over the left field fence to push the game to 7-0. After Case's bomb, UCCS kept things rolling with Halley Redd hitting a double down the left field line, Lopez drawing a walk, and Olerich reaching base on a fielder's choice to load the bases with nobody out. With the lineup flipping to the top of the order, Goldsworth plated a run on a ground ball to second base before pinch-hitter Jacquelynn Siefken lined an RBI single up the middle to extend the advantage to 9-0.
- Bond headed into the bottom of the seventh frame with a two-hit shutout intact but quickly ran into some trouble as she attempted to finish the game with the first two hitters of the inning reaching base on a walk and an error. The ThunderWolves managed to plate three runs in the inning as they added a pair of singles and drew a pair of walks throughout the remainder of the frame, but Bond ultimately managed to work out of the jam to finish the game with UCCS earning a 9-3 win and advancing to the quarterfinal round of the winner's bracket.
STATS FROM THE GAME | (5) UCCS VS (4) CSU PUEBLO
- The Mountain Lions had their bats firing on all cylinders as they recorded 13 hits and drew five walks against the CSU Pueblo pitching staff. Each of the team's nine starters recorded at least one hit, with Goldsworth, Pancost, and Steinmetz recording two-hit performances.
- Goldsworth, Pancost, and Steinmetz also posted two RBIs apiece with Case also knocking home a pair of runs and Siefken driving home one.
- Case extended her team lead in home runs as she launched her tenth of the season in the seventh inning. The Mountain Lions also hit four doubles in the contest with Pancost, Tayler McCombs, Redd, and Lopez each notching one.
- UCCS was active on the basepaths against CSU Pueblo as they swiped four bags, including one apiece from Berkowitz, Alyssa Gutierrez, Redd, and Lopez.
- Bond (10-6) came through with a clutch pitching performance for UCCS as she limited the ThunderWolves to just three runs (two earned) across seven complete innings to secure her 10th win of the season. The junior hurler tossed an even 100 pitches in her outing as she allowed four hits and five walks while striking out four hitters.
HOW IT HAPPENED | (5) UCCS VS (1) COLORADO CHRISTIAN
- After the Mountain Lions were quickly set down in the top of the first inning, the No. 1 seeded Cougars found themselves with an opportunity for an early lead in the bottom half of the frame as a walk, a hit batter, and a single against UCCS starting pitcher Autumn Kunze gave them a bases loaded situation with two outs in the frame. Fortunately for UCCS, Kunze was able to induce a ground ball on the first base side that was scooped up by McCombs and taken to the base for the final out in the inning.
- The scoreboard continued to display zeroes in the run column through the next two innings of play despite Colorado Christian threatening to put a crooked number up with runners getting into scoring position in the second and third frames. In the top of the fourth inning, UCCS put together their first scoring threat of the day as Goldsworth led off the frame with the Mountain Lions' first hit of the game on a hard liner through the left side of the infield. After a sacrifice bunt and a fly out moved Goldsworth to third base, lifted a high fly ball into short left field that was dropped by the Cougars' left fielder, allowing Goldsworth to score the first run of the game. Case was the next batter to come to the plate and she made Colorado Christian pay for the defensive error even further as she hit a ground-rule double to left center field that brought McCombs across to score for a 2-0 UCCS lead.
- Holding her first lead of the game, Kunze pitched an extremely quick bottom of the fourth as she got three consecutive ground balls to set the Cougars down in order and get the bats back to the plate. Following the quick inning by Kunze, the Mountain Lions put together a small rally in the top of the fifth frame with a single by Kilgore, a hit-by-pitch of Goldsworth, and an infield single by Berkowitz loading the bases for Pancost with two outs in the inning. CCU starting pitcher Emma Duncan got Pancost to hit a dribbler back to the circle on the first pitch, however, to avoid allowing her team's deficit to balloon.
- In the bottom half of the frame, Kunze got a ground ball out to open the inning but found herself in a bevy of trouble after that as she surrendered five consecutive singles that resulted in three runs for the Cougars. The hit barrage forced UCCS head coach Dwight Sanders to make a move to the bullpen as freshman Hannah Hunt entered the game and promptly got the final two outs of the inning to keep the Mountain Lions' deficit at 3-2.
- The Cougars added on in the bottom half of the sixth inning with a pair of two-out runs as an RBI double by recently named RMAC Player of the Year Elyse McMullin and an RBI single by Rachel Williams extended their lead to 5-2.
- Now chasing three runs, UCCS had a promising start to the top half of the seventh frame as two of the first three hitters in the inning reached base safely to put runners on first and second with one out. Following a fielder's choice groundout by Goldsworth, Steinmetz entered the game as a pinch-hitter with hopes of extending the game with a hit. During Steinmetz's at-bat, Duncan unleashed a pair of wild pitches that allowed a run to score and put a runner of third with the Mountain Lions now down by just two, but Duncan eventually got Steinmetz to hit a fly ball to deep left field that was caught at the fence by the left fielder to end the inning with the Cougars taking a 5-3 victory.
STATS FROM THE GAME | (5) UCCS VS (1) COLORADO CHRISTIAN
- The Mountain Lions had a tough task in the batter's box in their matchup against Duncan, who opened the day by being named to the All-RMAC First Team with a 1.58 ERA on the season. Despite the matchup, UCCS recorded five hits in the game and had multiple other hard-hit balls that were knocked down by the wind.
- Case posted the lone extra-base hit of the ballgame with her RBI double in the fourth inning.
- In the circle, Kunze (7-8) tossed 4.1 innings and allowed three earned runs on 10 hits and a walk while striking out one hitter. Hunt pitched the final 1.2 innings for UCCS as she surrendered two earned runs and struck out two batters.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Mountain Lions' victory against CSU Pueblo marked their first conference playoff victory since earning a win over Regis in the 2022 RMAC Tournament.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions will now move to the first round of the consolation bracket and will take on No. 6 Black Hills State University tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
SOCIAL
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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.
