After winning the first two games of their series against the 14^th ranked Orediggers, the CCU Cougars dropped the final two games on Sunday by scores of 7-10 and 3-13. The losses drop the Cougars record to 16-22 overall (11-17).
 
Game 1:
 
The first of the two games started off as exciting as possible, with Austin Atkerson sending the first pitch he saw on the day over the right field wall to put the Cougars up 1-0. The Orediggers would respond in kind though in the bottom of the same inning with a solo shot of their own. Mines would take the lead in the bottom of the third inning with a grand slam, putting the pressure on CCU to close the gap quickly in the seven-inning game.
 
In the top of the 4^th inning Hunter Hays would single up the middle, scoring Atkerson, and getting the Cougars a little closer on the scoreboard. However, Mines would plate three more runs in the bottom of the 5^th inning to take an 8-2 lead with just two more innings for the Cougars to make up the difference.
 
CCU would rally in the top of the 6^th inning scoring five runs on four hits and taking advantage of three walks in the inning. With the game back within reach for the Cougars at 7-8 in the bottom of the 6^th inning, Colorado School of Mines would tack on two more insurance runs on a single and two doubles to build their lead to 10-7, ultimately the final score of the game.
 
Austin Atkerson did a lot of the heavy lifting in game one for the Cougars, batting 3-4 with two RBI's and two runs scored. Cooper Gray and Hunter Hays each had two hits in the game with Hays adding a pair of RBI's and a run and Gray tacked on a run.
 
Game 2:
 
The final game of the series was all Orediggers for the first five innings. They put up 11 runs before the Cougars were able to get their second hit which came in the top of the 6^th inning. The Cougars would score their first two runs in that inning after Jerry Gallegos took a pitch off his foot but stayed in the game despite the obvious pain. The next batter, Austin Atkerson, sent a double to left field putting Gallegos on third. Following that hit, Dillon Mctague hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Gallegos easily. Hunter Hays was up next for the Cougs and he hit a single up the middle, scoring Atkerson.
 
The Cougars would score one more run in the top of the 7^th inning when Scotty Wright scored off a Dakota Bayles fielder's choice, bringing the score to its final tally at 3-13.
 
Atkerson had himself a weekend against the top team in the RMAC, finishing the series going 9-17 (.529 BA) with six runs, three RBI's, four doubles, and a homerun to lead the Cougars in the series split. Starting pitchers Evan Fink and Joey Loranger claimed the two wins on the weekend as well, combining for 10 strikeouts and allowing just 13 hits, holding the Orediggers to a batting average of just .213 in the first two games.
 
The Cougars have a single game on their schedule against the Falcons from the Air Force Academy on Tuesday, April 24, but potential weather may force a rescheduling of that game, so be sure to check ccucougars.com for up to date information regarding the day and time of the game.