The Mountain Lions baseball team is aiming for a winning 2024 season after welcoming 19 new players to the team. Four freshmen and 15 transfers are now on the Mountain Lion roster for the 2024 season.
UCCS’ baseball team was picked sixth in RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll, which earned the team 31 points heading into the 2024 season. This is voted on by all nine head coaches in the league.
Caleb Stubbings held the highest batting average last season for UCCS with .387 followed by seniors Brad Madison with .384 and Hayden Iverson with .383. Ronan Hella rounds out the top four with a .336 average in 2023. Overall, Stubbings recorded team-highs with a 1.119 in OPS, 194 ABs and 58 RBIs.
After the 2023 season, the Mountain Lions have two graduate students, Keegan Sueltz and Jon Sotto, and three seniors not returning as graduate students: Dylan Morace, Luis Samorano and Brad Madison.
Other players not returning are Macully Sehr, Brennen Meyers, Brady Lachemann, Brandon Bagon, Will Gabriel, Cam Kennedy, Christopher Bryant, Oliver McGibben, Hayden Zweig, John Hoffman and Zach Cody.
Below is a list of returning Mountain Lions, as well as transfer students and incoming freshmen who will be debuting for UCCS:
Transfer pitcher Kyler Carpenter played with Stubbings at Legend High School and now the teammates are together again playing for the Mountain Lions. Carpenter transferred to UCCS from Tyler Junior College in Texas.
The UCCS baseball team will start their 2024 season on Feb. 1 in Durant, Oklahoma against Southeastern Oklahoma State and compete against them in a double header going into Feb. 2. Their home opener will be played against Minnesota Crookston on Feb. 9 at Mountain Lion Park.
UCCS softball heads into 2024 season with new coaching staff and players
The Mountain Lions softball team is heading into the 2024 season with a new coaching staff and new players.
It was announced on July 10 that Dwight Sanders, who coached at Fort Lewis College for two seasons, will be the new head coach for UCCS and Sam Woodley will take over as the assistant coach alongside Sanders.
UCCS’ softball team finished off the 2023 season with an overall record of 14-37 and an RMAC record of 11-31. The softball program looks to improve their record in 2024 under Sanders.
UCCS’ softball team was selected sixth in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll. They earned 61 points from the conference’s 12 head coaches that gave the Mountain Lions a vote.
Courtnie Heller, who graduated in 2023, finished with the highest batting average of .306 in 121 ABs driving in 32 runs and drawing 28 walks.
The Mountain Lions said goodbye to five seniors not returning as graduate students at the end of the 2023 season, including Heller, Lexi Rayburn, Solana Martinez, Peyton Reisman and Braelyne Crenshaw.
Additionally, Morgan Hernandez-Belew, Paige White, Briana Mattos, Makena Geist, Brianna Jennings and Elizabeth Browning will not be returning.
The 2024 season brings 12 returning athletes and 18 new players consisting of freshmen and transfer students.
Returning junior Lexi Wagner follows in second with a batting average of .263 in 152 AB, 34 RBIs and 13 walks, Maddie Unrein is third with a batting average of .232 in 164 ABs, 20 RBIs and 5 walks.
Below is a list of returning Mountain Lions, as well as transfer students and incoming freshmen who will be debuting for UCCS:
The Mountain Lions will begin their season on Feb. 2 in Los Lunas, New Mexico, against UT-Permian Basin followed by Eastern New Mexico. They will play two games on Feb. 3, one against fourth-ranked West Texas A&M and Simon Fraser. Their home opener will be a double header against Northwestern Oklahoma State on Feb. 15.
#20 Cassidy Hubner during the 2022-2023 softball season. Photo via The Scribe Archive.