COLORADO SPRINGS, CO- CCU closed their series at UCCS with a single nine-inning contest on Monday afternoon. The Mountain Lions jumped ahead early and never looked back en route to dealing the Cougars a 16-7 defeat. 

The hosts surged ahead early, scoring eight runs in the first inning to take a commanding lead. Two more runs in the third made it 10-0 before the Cougars scored. Lukas Hinze got his team on the board with a big three-run homer in the fourth to trim the lead to 10-3. 

UCCS responded with four runs across the fifth and sixth innings to put the score at 14-3, but a two-run single from Nathan Owens put CCU down 14-5. Hinze tacked on another RBI with a groundout, and one more run crossed the plate to make it 14-7. The hosts pushed two more runs across in their half of the eighth as they went on to take the game by a final score of 16-7. 

Hinze led the offense with four RBI followed by Owens with two. Trevor Mathis, Bennet Manley and Dillon Dahlgren all saw action on the mound. 

The Cougars will return home for a four-game series with Adams State at All Star Park beginning March 14 at 2 p.m. MST.