ALAMOSA, Colo. – Adams State Baseball secured its second series win of the season Sunday afternoon with a 2-0 sweep of Colorado Christian. The day two sweep gave the Grizzlies the 3-1 series win over the Cougars.
The Grizzlies (6-16, 3-5 RMAC) put a total of 14 runs on their home turf and committed just two errors to take down the Cougars (6-15, 1-7 RMAC). In the 2-0 win, the Grizzlies had 17 hits on the day to win both games by three runs.
Game one saw the Grizzlies grab a sizable lead early on to stay lead wire-to-wire against the Cougars. They led 6-0 through two innings and added security runs in in the fourth and eighth inning to secure the 8-5 win.
A one-out single from
Nico Nintze got the hitting stated for the Grizzlies in the first inning. Two batters later on a bases loaded setup,
Orlando Romero plated Ninzte home with a sacrifice fly to center field. It was the only run that Grizzlies managed as they led 1-0 early.
Adams State allowed just two hits in the first two innings to create a groove on defense that set the tone early. The home team then exploded with five unanswered runs in the bottom of the second to lead to 6-1 through two innings of play.
Four base hits in the first five at bats to go along with a stolen base helped the Grizzlies lead 3-0.
Erik Hildebrandt brought in the first run with a RBI single up the middle to score
Patrick Huffaker. Nintze then plated home Jake Abeglopulos to make it a two-run lead.
Jared Gay made it a 4-1 game with RBI groundout to score Hildebrandt. A fielding error on a fly out to left field got
Logan Bistrup on and he advanced to third which scored Ninzte for the unearned run. Romero then hit a RBI single to left field to score the fifth run in Bistrup and give Adams State a 6-0 edge.
The Cougars cut the Grizzlies lead to three runs with a pair of runs in the top of the third to stay within striking distance. The two runs came on a RBI single and double, respectively, along with the help of two stolen bases to help score both runs. The quick surge made it a 6-2 game.
CCU then worked a 1-2-3 frame to end the third and immediately scored a run in the fourth. A leadoff triple got a runner on for the visitors before a RBI groundout plated the run and cut Adams State to just three runs.
The seventh run for the Grizzlies came in the bottom of the fourth. Hildebrandt was walked to leadoff and made it third on a stolen base and a sacrifice bunt. Gay eventually scored Hildebrandt after a 12-pitch at bat ended with Gay hitting a RBI single to left field.
The next run of game one did not come until the seventh inning. The Cougars managed just one run on three hits to stay within three of the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies answered in the bottom of the eighth with an unearned run on a fielding error which helped them secure the win.
The Cougars added their final run of the game in the same fashion as the Grizzlies as a fielding error gave the visitors an unearned run to once again cut the score to three runs. It remained that way as the Grizzlies held on for the 8-5 win.
Nintze led the Grizzlies in game one going 2-3 with two runs scored and a RBI. Romero and Gay both finished 1-3 with two RBI, respectively. Huffaker and Angelopulos also went 1-3 and both scored a run.
Dalton Carleo picked up the win after going 7.1 innings. He struck out three batters as he improved to 1-3.
Connor Marschall was a perfect 4-4 with a run scored to lead CCU. Matthew Kimura went 3-5 with a RBI and two runs scored. Sam Gallegos was 2-5 with a run scored and a RBI. Justin Kiedinger suffered the loss (1-1) after pitching six complete innings. He struck out six batters in the loss.
The second game once again saw the Grizzlies get out to a fast start. The seven-inning match-up went in the Grizzlies favor as they scored early to win by three runs for the second straight game. Four of their six runs came in the first two innings.
A leadoff triple from
Jake Angelopulos in the first got things started. He was immediately plated home on a RBI single from
Erik Hildebrandt. The Grizzlies allowed just two hits by the Cougars in the first innings and added three more runs to grab a 4-0 lead.
The Grizzlies three runs in the second came with the help of two hits and two errors. The combination of offense and miscues by the visitors gave the Grizzlies a solid lead early on. The Cougars ended their drought in the top of the third with a single run on two hits.
CCU worked a 1-2-3 inning to end the third and made things interesting in the fourth with two runs scored to cut Adams State's lead to just one. Helping the visitors score two runs were a pair of base hits and an error by Adams State.
The score remained 4-3 until the sixth inning when the Grizzlies knocked a pair of runs in to bring the score to 6-3 which ended as the final score.
Tyler Erzen plated home the final two runs for the Grizzlies as a pinch hitter. Starter
Troy Gutbub then ended the game with a 1-2-3 seventh inning to end the game.
Angelopulos and
Jared Gay each had two hits to lead Adams State. Angelopulos was a perfect 2-2 with a run scored and a RBI, while Gay was 2-3 with a run scored. On the hill, Gutbub went the full game to improve to 2-2. He fanned four batters in the win.
Connor Marschall had the only multiple hit game for CCU going 2-3 with a run scored. Hunter Hays was 1-3 with a run scored, while Scotty Ingle went 1-2 with a RBI. Evan Fink suffered the loss to move to 0-3. He pitched five complete innings and struck out four batters.
The Grizzlies will return to the diamond this coming weekend as they get set to host the MSU Denver Roadrunners. The four-game series will take place March 22-24 on the ASU Baseball Field.
