The 2019 CCU baseball season came to an end on Saturday evening as the Cougars fell to the Regis Rangers 1-5. The loss brings this season's final record to 13-36 and 8-28 in RMAC play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
The game began as senior Zach Haning got the start in what would be his final game. And even though he was not playing at full strength, Haning managed to retire the single batter he faced by inducing a pop fly to second base. Having completed his planned outing, fellow senior pitcher Evan Fink came out to retrieve his mound mate one last time, and bring in Alex Ginn, the third and final senior to pitch in the series.
 
After the switch, the game continued as normal, with Ginn throwing strikes in his normal manner. The Rangers would plate a pair of runs in the 2nd innings to take an early lead in the game. The Cougars were able to plate a run in the 4th inning off of a Matt Kimura sacrifice fly, but it would be their only run of the day. CCU would threaten a handful of time throughout the day, including a base runner getting snagged at home from a relayed throw from right field and leaving six runners in scoring position. Senior Scotty Ingle came close to notching his first homerun of the season only to see a marvelous leaping grab from the Regis right fielder steal that chance.
 
SEASON IN REVIEW:
 
Though the final numbers on the season were not the anticipated totals expected in February, there were still milestones and accomplishments to celebrate, including the conclusion of five magnificent senior careers. The team who had the second most errors in the conference last with 100, cut that number nearly in half with 57, giving them the 4th best fielding percentage in the RMAC.
 
The five seniors honored today were Evan Fink, Joel Manzano, Scotty Ingle, Zach Haning, and Alex Ginn. Each had a pre-game spotlight where they received personalized wood bats, a framed jersey, and catching a first pitch from their fathers.
 

• #7 Evan Fink, a 4-year senior, will be graduating later this month with a degree in Health Sciences. He made 53 appearances, including 39 starts for the Cougars during his time at CCU, and concluded his career as Colorado Christian's all-time wins leader with 13. He currently ranks second all-time in career strikeouts with 145. Evan also ranks third all-time in innings pitched with 203.1 as well as total starts. Evan was recently named the CCU Athlete of the Year. After graduation, Evan plans on attending Physical Therapy school.

 

• #13 Joel Manzano will be graduating later this month with a degree in Biology. Joel has made 77 starts, primarily as a catcher, for the Cougars. He concluded his career with a .290 average, 6 home runs, 40 runs scored, and 37 runs batted in. Joel had a career game earlier this year against Rogers State when he went 4-for-4 at the plate with 5 runs scored, 5 runs batted in, hitting two doubles, a triple, a homerun in that game. Joel plans on coaching baseball this summer with assistant coach Joe Gimbel.

 

• #17 Scotty Ingle will be graduating later this month with a degree in Business Administration. Scotty made 83 career starts in two years for the Cougars, spread between the outfield, shortstop, third and first base. Scotty concludes his career with a .300 batting average, having started 61 straight games dating back to last season. He came into the final series tied for the most multi-hit games this season with fellow senior Joel Manzano. After graduation Scotty will be attending the Denver Police Academy.

 

• #19 Zach Haning will be graduating later this month with a degree in Business with a emphasis in Marketing. In two years at CCU Zach has made 42 appearances for the Cougars. He concluded his career as the all-time saves leader with six. Highlighting those saves was his 2 ⅓ innings effort against #1 Colorado Mesa earlier this year. He allowed just 1 hit during that outing and struck out two. Zach is currently interviewing with several local organizations in regard to a job after graduation.

 

• #25 Alex Ginn, also a 4-year senior, will be graduating later this month with a degree in in Communications. Alex has made 69 pitching appearances and 93 appearances in the field for the Cougars. He concludes his career with the second most pitching appearances all-time, and currently stands third all-time in career strikeouts with 141. Alex set a single game school record earlier this year with 11 strikeouts against MSU Denver in 8 shutout innings on his way to being named the RMAC Pitcher of the Week. After graduation, Alex will begin his job as an Outside Sales Rep. with United Rentals.