LAKEWOOD, CO- The Cougars hosted UCCS on Thursday at All Star Park as they opened RMAC play with a doubleheader against the Mountain Lions. After the first contest got away from CCU in a 14-5 defeat, the two teams battled into the eleventh inning of the originally scheduled seven inning game two as the visitors eventually claimed a 6-5 victory. 

GAME ONE 
Lukas Hinze got the Cougars off to a hot start as he led off the game with a towering home run to left field for the 1-0 lead. UCCS responded with three runs across the second and third innings to go ahead, and the pitching locked in front here until the sixth inning to allow no runs for several frames. 

The Mountain Lions claimed a 4-1 lead in the sixth off an RBI single, but Cade Lacy brought the run back as he followed a Nathan Mensen double with a double of his own to make it 4-2. Several unfortunate errors the next few innings allowed UCCs to pull away as they piled on nine runs in the eighth and ninth inning to take a commanding 14-2 lead. Aidan Welsh blasted a two-run homer in the ninth, while Mensen blasted a solo bomb, but it was not enough in a 14-5 setback. 

Brady Ritzmann threw 5.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts in a tough luck loss, while Welsh powered the offense with his homer. Landry Hamm went an impressive 3-4 at the plate in game one. 

GAME TWO
The second game of the day was set to be a seven-inning contest, but a pitchers duel sent the game to four extra frames in a battle of wills between the two teams. Mason Hagel-Pitt put his team on top early as Hinze led off with a triple this time, scoring on the sac fly from Mason in the first. UCCS responded with three runs in the second, but CCU punched right back with an RBI double from Hamm and a run-scoring single from Brandon de Hondol to tie the game at 3-3.

The pitching would settle in and toss a combined six scoreless frames from there as the score remained 3-3 heading to the sixth. The visitors used a sac fly to take a 4-3 advantage, but once again the Cougars responded via a Jordin Albertson RBI single, his first run-scoring knock at CCU. 

Austin DeMello came in and quieted the powerful Mountain Lion bats, and Dylan Novotny followed with 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball. After the sixth, the teams remained deadlocked at 4-4 until the 11th when UCCS finally broke through. A sac fly and bases loaded walk put them ahead 6-4 as CCU looked to rally in the bottom of the 11th. They quickly put a runner in scoring position as Ethan Kang smacked a leadoff double down the left field line, and Albertson advanced him to third on a flyout. Hinze came inches away from a game tying home run to right field, but his blast hit off the top part of the fence and came back into the field of play for an RBI double. Unfortunately the Cougars could not bring him home as they fell 6-5 in 11 innings in a marathon affair that saw many innings of good pitching and timely hitting from both squads.

Cody Hill was not in the decision after he left with a 3-3 tie after three innings pitched. Braxton Davis was stellar with 2.1 innings pitched and just one run allowed, while DeMello, Novotny and Ben Crandall combined for 3.2 scoreless innings in a strong game for the bullpen. A balanced offense saw 5 different Cougars post RBI and 7 different players collect hits. 

Due to impending weather in Colorado on Friday, the series closing doubleheader has been moved to Saturday March 7 at Mountain Lion Park in Colorado Springs. Pitch times are set for 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. MST.