LOS LUNAS, N.M. – Senior pitcher
Autumn Kunze put together an exceptional performance inside the circle to lift the University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team to a 7-4 victory over Western New Mexico University to start Saturday's action before the Mountain Lions suffered their first loss of the season in a 6-0 defeat against No. 8 nationally ranked West Texas A&M University later in the afternoon.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Game 1: UCCS 7, WNMU 4 | Game 2: UCCS 0, #8 WTAMU 6
Records: UCCS (3-1, 0-0 RMAC), WNMU (2-1, 0-0 LSC), WTAMU (3-0, 0-0 LSC)
Game 1 Location: Los Lunas Sports Complex – Field 1 | Los Lunas, N.M.
Game 2 Location: Daniel Fernandez Park – Field 3 | Los Lunas, N.M.
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions improve to 7-5 all-time against the Mustangs and fall to 0-11 all-time against the Lady Buffs.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME ONE – WESTERN NEW MEXICO
- The Mountain Lions got the scoring started in the top of the second inning as Tayler McCombs got hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and immediately came around to score on a two-run home run by Laynee Case. After the offense gave her a two-run lead, UCCS starting pitcher Autumn Kunze ran into some trouble in the bottom half of the second as the Mustangs loaded the bases with just one out, but Kunze managed to get a strikeout and a fly ball to escape the inning unscathed and keep the Mountain Lions' lead at 2-0.
- In the top of the third inning, UCCS added two more runs to their tally as a single from Mackenzie Scott and a walk by Gianna Pancost to start the frame set up Halley Redd for a two-out, two-RBI double that pushed the advantage to 4-0.
- UCCS continued to add on to their lead as the game progressed as they scored single runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings while Kunze kept the Mustangs in check with six scoreless innings before turning the ball over to freshman Janessa Giugliano in the bottom of the seventh. After retiring two of the first three hitters she faced in the seventh frame, Giugliano fell victim to the long ball as she surrendered a three-run home run and a solo home run that cut the Mountain Lions' lead to 7-4. With the cushion being whittled down to three runs, UCCS head coach Dwight Sanders re-entered Kunze into the circle and she managed to record the final out of the contest to secure the Mountain Lions' third straight victory to open the season.
STATS FROM GAME ONE – WESTERN NEW MEXICO
- The Mountain Lions recorded 13 hits and drew five walks against Mustang pitching in the first game of the day. UCCS also had zero strikeouts in the ballgame.
- Goldsworth did a nice job setting the table at the top of the lineup with a 3-for-5 performance that included a double and two runs scored.
- Case (2-for-4) and Redd (2-for-4) also recorded multi-hit games and drove in a pair of runs each, with Case also launching her first home run of the season.
- Kunze (1-0) was masterful inside the circle for UCCS as she tossed six scoreless innings to begin the game before returning to the rubber to secure the final out of the contest. In 6.1 total innings pitched, the senior pitcher allowed three hits and walked five batters while striking out four.
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME TWO – #8 WEST TEXAS A&M
- Mountain Lion starting pitcher Charlee Hoover quickly found herself in hot water against the eighth-ranked team in the nation as the Lady Buffs recorded back-to-back singles to open the top of the first frame before moving the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. The next batter, Cadence Colborn, cashed in both runners as she laced a two-run double to center field, but Hoover managed to stop the damage right there as she induced a ground ball double play against the next WTAMU hitter to end the inning.
- The Lady Buffs added to their advantage in the top of the second inning as they used a trio of RBI doubles to push their lead to 5-0. In the bottom half of the frame, the Mountain Lions got their leadoff batter on base for the second straight inning but again failed to score, which kept the deficit at five runs after two full frames.
- Following her rocky start to the game, Hoover settled down in the third inning and held the Lady Buffs off the scoreboard before turning the ball over to senior Abby Hayes in the top of the fourth frame. Hayes did an excellent job in relief of Hoover as she limited the Lady Buffs to just a single earned run across four innings of work, but the UCCS offense never found its footing against WTAMU starting pitcher Brooke Janning, who tossed a two-hit complete game shutout to send the Mountain Lions to a 6-0 defeat.
STATS FROM GAME TWO – #8 WEST TEXAS A&M
- The Mountain Lions were able to muster just two hits against Janning, with both of them coming off the bat of Goldsworth.
- Jaramillo was the only other UCCS student-athlete to reach base against Janning as she drew a walk in the second inning.
- Hoover (0-1) started the game inside the circle for the Mountain Lions and went on to surrender five earned runs in 3.0 innings pitched.
- Hayes tossed 4.0 innings in relief of Hoover, allowing just three hits and one earned run while striking out two hitters.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- With six strikeouts across a pair of outings to start the season, Kunze passed Stephanie Chitkowski for No. 6 all-time in program history with 254 strikeouts in her career.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions will wrap up the South Central Regional Crossover tournament tomorrow morning with a matchup against Sul Ross State University at 10 a.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.
