The UCCS baseball team opened their RMAC season with a sweep against Colorado Christian.
The series win on the weekend of March 8 came just a week after the Mountain Lions swept Colorado Christian in a 3-game non-conference series on Feb. 28 and March 1. The UCCS baseball team’s record now stands at 14-5 overall and 4-0 in RMAC.
Junior infielder Bryce Peterson led the team’s scoring across the series with 7 runs and a homerun.
UCCS wins game 1 on March 8 (7-6)
The Mountain Lions won the first game in the series on March 8 by a single run, 7-6.
Colorado Christian was the first team on the scoreboard in the top of the third. RBI after RBI, the Cougars stacked 5 points together before going 3 and out. UCCS responded quickly in the bottom of the third as Peterson hit a double to the right, allowing senior outfielder Dillon Vroman to race to home.
A home run by redshirt senior outfielder Kasey Campbell saw him run around the diamond with Peterson from second base, making the score 5-3. UCCS ended the third with senior infielder Caleb Chance striking a single and getting redshirt senior outfielder Hayden Iverson to home, 5-4.
UCCS tied the game in the bottom of the fourth, 5-5, after Iverson hit a double obtaining an RBI as senior Mikey Brinton touched home plate.
Colorado Christian regained the lead at the top of the fifth after scoring 1 run, while UCCS went scoreless in the bottom of the inning. Both teams were scoreless in the sixth and seventh.
Going into the bottom of the eighth inning, the score was still 6-5. Peterson hit a home run that allowed Brinton to pick up a run, 7-6, winning the game after Colorado Christian went scoreless in the ninth.
UCCS wins game 2 on March 9 (9-6)
The Mountain Lions won the first game of March 9’s double header after a rough start in the first inning.
The game started with a crack and an echo as Colorado Christian slammed the ball leftfield for a homerun on the first pitch, which Colorado Christian followed up with a second run. The Mountain Lions were scoreless in the first, 2-0.
The second inning looked much like the second. The Cougars had 2 runs, but this time a missed pass from a Cougars’ catcher to their third basemen allowed for Iverson to get the team’s first run of the game, 4-1.
UCCS went into the third down 3 runs but finally found their spark. Vroman began the inning with a single then subsequently stole a base. Redshirt sophomore outfielder James Harbison earned a walk, leaving two Mountain Lions on base.
Peterson hit a single along with redshirt senior outfielder Kit Wigington for 2 runs to make the score 4-3. Iverson showed the Cougars he could slam it to leftfield, too, gaining a homerun and taking along two runners with him. This gave UCCS the lead, 6-4.
The fourth and fifth innings were scoreless by both teams. In the top of the sixth, the Cougars got 2 runs to tie the game, 6-6.
Vroman and Harbison hit doubles in the bottom of the sixth, making the score 8-6. The Cougars would see their demise as they produced an uncaught pass, leaving the Mountain Lions to pounce on home plate once again to gain a 3 run lead, 9-6. Both teams went scoreless in the final inning with UCCS striking out CCU to secure the win.
UCCS wins game 3 on March 9 (10-9)
The Mountain Lions took the second game on March 9, 10-9, untroubled by what seemed like deja vu from the first.
In the top of the first inning, the Cougars scored a single run. At the bottom, junior outfielder Quinn Medin reached first base. Wigington cracked a double and with Iverson hitting a ground ball it allowed Medin to reach home, tying up the first inning 1-1.
The Cougars replied vigorously at the top of the second inning with 5 runs, 3 being from a homerun. In the bottom of the second, redshirt sophomore infielder Trevor Dale walked to first. Vroman slammed the ball out of the park, crossing home plate with Dale. However, the Cougars still led 6-3.
The Mountain Lions chipped away at the scoreboard in the third, obtaining 2 runs after Chance racked a double, making the score 6-5.
After 2 runs, the Cougars cracked another home run out of the park, gaining a 4-run lead in the fourth, 9-5. Peterson responded with a double in the outfield, helping Medin skip across home plate. Wigington replicated the play, ending the inning 9-7.
UCCS made their mark in the sixth inning after both teams were scoreless in the fifth. Redshirt senior catcher Evan Steinberger secured a walk to first base. Medin came in to swing a double, obtaining a run and a score of 9-8. Peterson swung and cracked the ball far into the outfield, gaining and steadily holding onto a winning score of 10-9 for the rest of the ball game.
UCCS wins final game of series on March 10 (16-7)
The Mountain Lions secured the series going 4-0, beating CCU on Monday 16-7 after scoring 8 runs in the first inning.
It all started with Harbison getting a single. Peterson earned himself a walk, placing Harbison in second. Iverson then cracked a ball to center field, buying himself a single and leaving the bases loaded. Next came graduate student infielder Caleb Stubbings who was walked and gave Harbison a free run to home to put the Mountain Lions on the scoreboard.
Chance grounded out so Peterson could cross home plate, now leading 2-0. Dale then racked a double, and Stubbings and Iverson went home.
A 4-point lead wasn’t enough for UCCS. Graduate student catcher Nolan Ackerman hit a single to right field for Stubbings to take a run. The Mountain Lions took advantage of the momentum to rack up 3 more runs, with Ackerman, Vroman and Iverson crossing home after a triple was sent to right field by Peterson.
In the bottom of the third was when we saw another run from UCCS. Dale sent a rocket over the outfield fence, making the score 9-0. Harbison singled out to left field, leaving Peterson the opportunity to hit a double. Harbison took the run and ended the inning with a score of 10-0.
Colorado Christian finally got on to the scoreboard with 3 runs at the top of the fourth inning, 10-3.
In the bottom of the fifth, Vroman was at first as Harbison hit UCCS’ second home run of the game, bringing the score to 12-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, Chance hit a homerun to give the Mountain Lions a 13-3 lead. Afterward, Ackerman hit a double for the benefit of Dale to gain another run, 14-3.
Colorado Christian scored 4 more runs in the top of the eighth, but the Mountain Lions sliced the momentum when Dale hit a homer and took redshirt freshman infielder Tyler Genrich with him for 2 runs, 16-7.
No runs by Colorado Christian in the ninth confirmed the 16-7 win and series sweep against the Cougars.
The Mountain Lions play next in a 4-game series at Regis from March 14-16.
Joshua Zotto pitches at the top of the sixth. Photo by Josiah Dolan.