ALAMOSA, Colo. – The Adams State University baseball team looks to play spoiler and even move into a playoff spot with three weekends remaining in the 2022 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Baseball season.
The Grizzlies, who enter this weekend with a 6-28 overall record and 3-17 RMAC record, will open the charge this weekend with a four-game series here at the ASU Baseball Field on Friday against the UCCS Mountain Lions. Friday's series-opener has been moved up from 3:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.in an attempt to avoid the peak of what meteorologists are calling an extreme dangerous fire weather event with strong southerly/southwesterly winds of 25-35 miles per hour gusting as high as 60 miles per hour.
The Mountain Lions enter the weekend sitting in sixth place in the RMAC standings as they hold a 14-24 overall record and a 9-11 RMAC mark. Had the season ended after this weekend, the Mountain Lions would have been the final qualifier for the tournament.
The Mountain Lions are fresh off their first sweep of the 2022 season when they took all four from Colorado Christian University inside Mountain Lion Park. first baseman Caleb Stubbings was tabbed as the RMAC Player of the Week. Stubbings hit .526 (10-for-19) with five home runs, a double, and 17 RBI. The starting first baseman had a home run and at least three RBI in all four games as he boasted a 1.868 OPS behind a 1.368 slugging percentage and 26 total bases. Stubbings started the series by going yard twice for his second straight multi-home run game of the season to tally five RBI. He then followed it up with another 3-for-5 day in game two for a series high six RBI, of which included a two-run home run.
UCCS is currently batting .314 on the season 105 total doubles which ranks second in the RMAC and third in Division II. The team also recorded 33 extra base hits in the series sweep over CCU to bump their slugging percentage to .525 (fourth in RMAC).
The Grizzlies enter the weekend looking to snap a seven-game losing streak as they dropped all four games last weekend to the MSU Denver Roadrunners. ASU is currently batting .289 on the year and are scoring 5.5 runs per game with 9.26 hits per game. Sophomore
Mike Bathauer serves as the one of the top offensive producers in the Grizzlies lineup with a .344 batting average and team leading 42 hits, 10 doubles, and seven home runs for 30 RBI. His twin,
Matt Bathauer sits right behind with a .336 average but holds the team lead in RBI by driving in 31 Grizzlies, including eight RBI in a current eight-game hitting streak.
Both Bathauer brothers along with batting average leader
Cedrick Reynaud (.379) have all recorded 10 multi-hit games with
Matt Bathauer having reached base in 21 consecutive games, and Reynaud holding a 14-game streak of getting on base safely.
The ASU pitching staff has tallied six complete games on the season to tie for the most in the RMAC and 18th most in DII as Grizzly ace
Alfredo Villa has been responsible for four of those complete games. In nine starts and nine appearances, Villa owns five of the team's six wins at a 5-3 record and has struck out 53 batters in 58.2 innings while owning a 4.14 ERA and 1.13 WHIP.
Anthony Bleggi has served as the go-to out of the bullpen with 13 total appearances who has punched out 16 batters in 24.2 innings of work while posting a 13.42 ERA.
The all-time series between Adams State and UCCS falls in favor of the Mountain Lions as they've won the last six games and hold a 12-4 record.
After this weekend's games, the Grizzlies will travel to Golden, Colo. to take on the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers, who are currently fifth in the RMAC standings with a 24-13 overall record and a 9-11 conference mark. They then return home for two doubleheaders against New Mexico Highlands. The Cowboys are currently in seventh place in the conference standings with a record of 15-27 and conference mark of 10-14.
