ALAMOSA, Colo. – Day Two started off with a pitching duel between Adams State (7-26, 4-15 RMAC) and UC Colorado Springs (20-13, 12-7 RMAC) as
Daniel Brennan for Adams State, and Colin Cicere for UC Colorado Springs both pitched well.
The Mountain Lions scored first as Evan Richards grounded out to the second baseman to drive in the first run of the game.
Both teams remained scoreless until the third inning as UC Colorado Springs scored again off a Matt Berg home run to left center to bring the score to 2-0 in favor of the Mountains Lions.
The bottom of the third was when the Grizzlies got back in it as with
Erik Hildebrandt on base
Nico Nintze crushed a two run home run to right center to tie the game and swing
momentum in Adams State favor.
The score stayed tied as both teams battled back and forth throughout the closely contested game.
The Mountain Lions were able to break the tie in the top of the fifth as Jake Anderson hit a home run to center field, the solo shot put the Mountain Lions up 3-2. That was all that the Mountain Lions could muster and the Grizzlies came to bat in the bottom of the sixth.
The bottom of the sixth inning saw the Grizzlies come out hot as the first two batters got on, they both advanced on a throwing error by the catcher. With two runners in scoring
position
Nico Nintze scored on a wild pitch to tie the game for the Grizzlies. After
Jared Gay was hit by a pitch, senior
Patrick Huffaker singled through the left side to bring in Bistrup and retake the lead for Adams State.
The top of seventh saw
Troy Gutbub come into the game in relief for Adams State and he was able to get a three up three down inning to secure the wild win for Adams State.
Nico Nintze led the team with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored.
Patrick Huffaker drove in the winning run in his only at bat of the day.
Daniel Brennan pitched an amazing game, throwing 6.0 innings, only allowing two runs and striking out four.
Matt Berg led the Mountain Lions with two hits including a home run. Jake Anderson also hit a homerun.
Colin Cicere started the game and threw 5.0 innings while only allowing three runs and striking out three batters.
As with every other game this series the Mountain Lions scored again in the first inning. With a single to center by Cody Norton to score the first run of the game the Mountain Lions.
Jared Gay hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first to bring in Nintze and tie the game. That was all that Adams State was able to come up with.
The second inning was another lead for Mountain Lions and Walker Rumsey hit a sacrifice fly to right field bringing in the second run.
The third inning UC Colorado Springs scored another run on a Cody Norton single to the shortstop.
The Grizzlies got on the board in the fourth as
Noah Befus had an RBI groundout to score
Logan Bistrup and get Adams State back in the game.
The next inning
Josh Billingham continued his powerful weekend with an even farther hit home run to left center field as the second batter of the inning, after a walk the promising inning was shut out by a double play to keep the game tied.
Trent Hughes came into to pitch for Gutbub in the top of the sixth inning looking to keep the game tied and give the offense another chance to take the lead. Hughes walked the first two batters and then after a single, Ryan Schmidt hit a grand slam to left field to firmly retake the lead for the Mountain Lions. A sacrifice fly brought in one more run for UC Colorado Springs.
The 8-3 lead proved too much for Adams State to overcome as the offense could not bring home anymore runs.
Nico Nintze did his best to reignite the team with a Mike Trout like home run robbery in the top of the seventh inning, leaping onto the fence and bringing a definite home run back for one of the best plays of the day.
Logan Bistrup had two hits and a run scored for Adams State,
Josh Billingham had a home run for his second on the weekend.
Jared Gay and
Noah Befus also had RBI for Adams State.
Troy Gutbub started the game after securing the save in the win less than an hour beforehand. He threw 5.0 innings while only allowing two earned runs and striking out two.
Ryan Schmidt delivered the dagger with his grand slam, with four RBI and two hits. Henry Ryan also had two hits and two runs scored. Christian Manmano pitched the entire game with only allowing three runs and striking out six Adams State batters.
The two teams will be back in action tomorrow for the final game of the series with the first pitch at 12 p.m.
