Colorado Christian came in to this weekend's series against the Mountain Lions from UCCS with a record of 8-10 (3-5 RMAC) aiming to climb to the top of and over mount .500 with the next four games in Lakewood. Those plans were halted Friday afternoon when the Cougars were unable to hold onto a five run lead and dropped the opening game of the four game series by a score of 11-8.

The Cougars jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when an Austin Atkerson fielder's choice knock brought in Jerry Gallegos. That score would stand until the top of the fourth inning when UCCS would drive in a pair of unearned runs to bring the score to 1-2 in favor of the Mountain Lions. Colorado Springs would tack on another run in the top of the fifth inning on a 1-out home run to increase their lead to 3-1.

The bottom of the fifth inning would see the Cougar bat through their lineup, starting and ending the inning with shortstop JC Barrios. The Cougars would score seven runs on four hits, highlighted by a 2-out, bases loaded triple for Luke Bote, followed by Austin Maltby's team leading fourth home run of the season.  The Cougars would take what would look to be a commanding 8-3 into the top of the sixth inning.

The Mountain Lions would respond quickly taking back a pair of runs they lost, taking advantage of two walks to start the inning and an error later on, and added two more runs to their score before making the third out. The bottom of the sixth inning was quick, seeing three Cougars step into the batter's box, and seeing all three retired with just 10 pitches.

In the top of the eighth inning the Mountain Lions would do their best Cougar impression and also bat through their order, scoring three more runs in the inning to tie it up at 8-8.

The Mountain Lions continued their hot streak into the top of the ninth inning and quickly loaded the bases within their first four hitters. UCCS would score three more runs on a pair of hits, a pair of walks, one of which was intentional, and a batter who was hit by a pitch. This brought the score to 8-11 in favor of UCCS heading into the final frame of play. While Cooper Gray managed to start off the bottom of the ninth with a lead-off double, a double play and fly out would end the Cougars hopes of coming back after the comeback.

The short story of this game was the Cougars cold bats in the second half. CCU managed just three hits in their final four half-innings at the plate. That, along with five errors, made it difficult for the Cougars to hold onto their lead.

Offensively the Cougars had four players get multiple hits in the game, of them only Gray had multiple RBI's and Gallegos had multiple runs. Each also had two doubles in the game. Luke Bote led the team in RBI's today with three, all three coming at once with his fifth inning triple.

Starting on the mound for the Cougars was Joey Loranger who left the game after six innings with five strike outs and just two earned runs allowed (five runs total). Loranger would receive his third No Decision of the year after the Cougars lost their lead. Overall five pitchers would throw for the Cougars, tallying eight total strikeouts and 11 runs, the final six of which were earned.

The Cougars return to All Star Park on Saturday, March 24^th, hoping to claim a pair of wins when they host an RMAC double-header against the same Mountain Lions at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.