The baseball team won two games and lost one game during their home opening weekend after the games got delayed a day due to inclement weather.
Left-fielder senior Hayden Iverson has played on the team for four years, and he said while he is used to the weather, it never gets easier. “It’s definitely not the easiest when it’s sub 30 [degrees], right? We get out here anyways and do what we can do,” Iverson said.
Baseball wins against Adam State, 13-6
In their home opener against the Adam State Grizzlies on Feb. 22, the Mountain Lions took the victory. The game began strong for starting pitcher junior Jason Fink as he pitched two clean innings in a row. The Mountain Lions put up one run in each of the first three innings. After Fink pitched a clean top of the fourth, the Mountain Lions strung together a series of hits to score four runs in the bottom of the inning, heading into the fifth with a 7-0 lead.
The Grizzlies put some runs on the board in the next two innings with one run in the fifth and a two-run homerun in the sixth, narrowing the Mountain Lion lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, 7-3. The Mountain Lions responded by putting up three runs of their own, extending their lead back to 7 points, 10-3.
In the seventh, redshirt sophomore James Harbison went in to pitch for Fink and retired the side in the seventh and eighth with no runs put on the board from the Grizzlies. After putting up one run in the seventh, the Mountain Lions recorded two runs in the eighth after a home run from senior utility Mikey Brinton and a double from third-baseman junior Bryce Peterson, going into the ninth with a 10-point lead, 13-3
In the top of the ninth, senior Colton Trudeau subbed in to pitch for Harbison and allowed the Grizzlies to put three runs on the board, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap, and the Mountain Lions ended the game at the top of the ninth, 13-6.
Baseball wins first game against Mines, 13-8
The Mountain Lions won their first game against the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers on Feb. 23. After a back-and-forth start to the game. 4-4, the Mountain Lions held the Orediggers to four runs for the next five innings while the Mountain Lions continued to score.
The Mountain Lions headed into the ninth with a 13-4 lead, but the Orediggers were able to put four runs on the board. Junior Benjamin Ruckman was subbed in as pitcher and retired the side, ending the game in the top of the ninth, 13-8.
Baseball loses second game against Mines, 8-7
After holding the lead for most of the game, the Mountain Lions fell to the Orediggers on Feb. 24 after a late inning rally.
Pitcher junior Joe McDermott allowed 1 run from the Orediggers in the top of the first, and the Mountain Lions put up no points in the bottom of the inning. After the first inning, McDermott hit a stride, only allowing the Orediggers 1 run in the next four innings as the Mountain Lions put up 5 runs.
At the top of the sixth, sophomore Joshua Zotto subbed in for McDermott and allowed 4 hits but retired the side before the Orediggers could score, going into the seventh with a 5-2 lead. After a scoreless bottom of the sixth, the Orediggers rallied to put 6 runs up across the seventh and eighth to the Mountain Lions’ 1, taking the lead going into the ninth, 8-6.
Senior pitcher Joe Plise, who took over for Zotto part way through the eighth, quickly retired the side in the top of the ninth. The Mountain Lions got close to tying the game in the bottom of the inning after a solo home run from shortstop redshirt sophomore Trevor Dale, but the Oredigger’s pitcher shut them out and ended the game with a loss for the Mountain Lions, 8-7.
“It was a tough loss at the end there, but I thought we showed a good fight,” Iverson said.
Despite losing the last game of the weekend, Iverson said he thought the team played well across the three games. “Overall, [I] feel great about our performance. There’s still things that need to be done … as a team, just not compounding mistakes and not getting in our head when we do make a mistake,” he said.
The Mountain Lions hit the road this weekend to play a four-game series against Colorado Christian. RMAC conference play starts March 7.