ALAMOSA, CO - The Cougars traveled down south on Friday to continue conference play against the Grizzlies from Adams State University. CCU came out swinging the bats, taking the lead two different times and claiming their first conference win of the season 13-9.
The game started off hot with
Gregory Rangel going yard in his first at bat with a solo home run to give CCU the early 1-0 lead.
Brady Ritzmann took the mound for his sixth start of the season and dealt out a swinging strikeout to shutout the Grizzlies in the first.
CCU managed to get two runners on and back-to-back single RBI from
Nathan Owens and
Ethan Kang scored two more runs for the Cougars. Rangel came back to the plate, sacrificed himself to score Owens, then
Mason Hagel-Pitt drove one to score
Lukas Hinze as the visitors would put five runs on the hosts in the second inning.
ASU didn't back down as they rallied themselves back into the game scoring more runs in the third and fourth. CCU then went to the bullpen to bring
Braxton Davis into the game. After the Grizzlies tied the game with a moonshot solo home run, the Cougars exploded with a plethora of hits and scoring four runs in the seventh inning, with Hagel-Pitt scoring a run from an RBI from
Nathan Mensen and Owens getting a 2 RBI double scoring Mensen and
Cade Lacy making it 10-6 Cougars.
The game got much closer than either team expected towards the end, as a three run lead for CCU going to the ninth with bases loaded with two outs saw
Aidan Welsh take one for the team with a hit by pitch to score Kang. ASU would attempt the ninth inning rally, scoring one run but
Austin DeMello closed out the game giving the Cougars the win 13-9.
CCU tallied 18 total hits on the day, with Rangel and Hagel-Pitt both collecting three hits. Rangel would also lead for RBI with Owens for the Cougars at 3 apiece.
Braxton Davis picked up his first win of the season (1-0) only allowing one hit and one run while on the mound.
The Cougars will return to ASU Baseball Field to continue the series March 14 for a doubleheader with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. MST.
