The Cougars played a doubleheader at the Regency Athletic Complex of MSU Denver against two different opponents on Thursday February 28. Game one took place at 2:30 pm against the Marauders of the University of Mary while the second forced CU to flip dugouts and take on the Roadrunners of MSU Denver in a non-conference contest. After dropping the first game 3-1 to Marauders the Colorado Christian beat the Roadrunners in dominating fashion 7-0.
GAME ONE – University of Mary 3 – Colorado Christian 1
The first game against the Marauders was a pitchers dual for majority of the game with the University of Mary and CCU starters going six and seven innings respectively. Connor McCullum tossed 109 pitches over his seven innings of work, striking out eight batters, walking just four, but allowing two earned runs which would be enough for the visiting Marauders. They would add one more run in the top of the ninth, where the Cougars would fall short of answering with just a single run in the bottom of the frame.
Though the Cougar bats were working just fine after they totaled eight hits, they left 11 men stranded, twice with the bases loaded.
Matt Kimura and
Scotty Ingle both tallied multiple hits in the game, but it was
Hunter Hays with the lone RBI in the ninth.
GAME TWO – Colorado Christian 7 – MSU Denver 0
The night cap of the triple-header day pitted RMAC foes in a non-conference match-up as the sun began to set behind the mountains. CCU scored early, tacking on four runs in the second inning on the back of an RBI single from
Heath Hays and a pair of Roadrunner errors. CCU added a fifth run in the third inning when Connor Marshall literally took one for the team when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring
Scotty Ingle. The Cougars tacked on two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning when
Hunter Hays knocked a single into center field, scoring
Matt Kimura and
Carter Mossey to close out the scoring for the night.
The true story of game two was the dominant pitching effort by CCU starter
Alex Ginn, who went eight strong innings, striking out 11 Roadrunners, walking just two, and allowing only two hits. The two hits the MSUD managed is a new season low for the Roadrunners. Offensively,
Scotty Ingle led the Cougars on the day, going 5-6 with two runs scored.
QUOTABLE: After the game,
Alex Ginn shared thoughts on his efforts and what the win meant for the Cougars, breaking a six-game losing streak in the process. "I talked to coach before the game started and I told him there is no way we are losing seven straight, and that I would do everything I could to make sure of that. My team gave me a lead in the second inning which was a huge plus for me and I was able to roll with that along with the energy in the dugout. I was able to overcome some adversity during the game, and coming back and pitching well after my last outing against Rogers State is huge moving forward."
WHAT IS NEXT: Today's split brought the Cougars season record to 4-8 with one more game against the University of Mary on Friday March 1, before heading into official RMAC play next week against UCCS. Tomorrow's game is set to start at 2:00 pm in Denver at Regency Athletic Complex.
