ALAMOSA, Colorado — In a Saturday doubleheader the Grizzlies walk-off CCU in both games to secure a doubleheader sweep and take a strong lead on the season series 2-1 with one final game remaining. The two wins moved the Grizzlies to a record of 9-16(4-3 RMAC) with the final game of the CCU home series being played tomorrow.
Game 1
In game one today the CCU offense came out swinging, scoring a quick 5 runs in the first two innings. The CCU three batter came up clutch for the CCU offense as he collected three of the five CCU RBIs in the first two innings. After the completion of the second inning, Grizzly starter Jacob Janata got into a groove which allowed the Adams State offense to start slowly chipping away at the CCU lead.
The Grizzlies first cut the CCU lead when Kade Poteet-Herrera hit his second home run of the season, scoring himself and Josh Parks to move the score to 5-2. The Grizzlies then cut the lead to 1 and took the lead in the fourth inning with an Osaias Hinojosa 2-run double, and a 2-run home run for Christian Altamirano. After a 4-run fourth inning the Grizzlies took the 6-5 lead that unfortunately did not last long as CCU responded immediately with 2 in the fifth, and another one in the sixth to make the score 8-6. Fortunately, Freshman Andrew Carrillo came up with his first career home run, with a game-tying 2-run shot to right field to tie the game at 8 going into the final inning.
In the seventh inning, Grizzly closer Daniel Hoodak came in and shut down the CCU offense to give the Grizzlies an opportunity to collect their first walk-off of the day. Adams State's walk-off win came after Ayden Tauscher led the inning off with a single and was then quickly followed by a sac bunt by Austin Yi that led to a CCU error allowing Tauscher to score the game winning run, giving the Grizzlies the win by a final score of 9-8.
Individually in game one, the Grizzlies were led by a strong offense and clutch pitching from their bullpen. In game one, the Grizzly bullpen of Ethan Bertke and Daniel Hoodak threw 1 ⅔ innings without allowing a hit or run, while collecting 1 strikeout. These scoreless innings were huge as the Grizzly offense was able to use the moment from defense and make a strong comeback in the late innings.
The Grizzly comeback was led by Christian Altamirano, Andrew Carrillo, Kade Poteet-Herrera, and Osaias Hinojosa. These four individuals all collected 2 RBIs for the Grizzlies, while all also collecting at least one extra-base hit. For Altamirano, Carrillo, and Poteet-Herrera, they all finished their day with a home run, while Hinojosa finished his day with a double. Overall, the Grizzly offense collected 10 hits, 4 walks, and 3 hit batters for a total of 17 base runners on their way to 9 runs in game ones victory.
Game 2
In game two, the CCU offense came out swinging yet again taking the early lead by scoring the first run of the game on an RBI double from their four batter. After the first inning, just like Janata in game one, the Grizzly starter Julian Garza settled into a nice rhythm not surrendering another run until the fourth inning. By putting up back-to-back zeros for the Grizzlies, the Adams State offense was able to respond and take the lead, scoring two runs in the third inning giving them a 2-1 lead. The Grizzlies scored their runs on Ayden Tauscher's first home run of the season and an RBI ground out by Senior outfielder Isaiah Pruitt.
Following the third inning is when the scoring for both teams truly took off. In the fourth inning alone there were 10 runs scored between the two teams with CCU scoring 6, and the Grizzlies scoring 4. After a crazy fourth inning the score was 7-6 CCU going into the final three innings of the ball game.
In the final three innings of today's ball game there was a lot of dramatics as CCU was able to extend their lead to 10-6 going into the bottom of the seventh inning before the Grizzlies rallied to a 6-run seventh inning that ended in a walk-off for the Grizzlies. In the seventh, the Grizzlies started their rally by scoring their seventh run of the ball game on an RBI double by Seth Reker. This was then followed by an RBI single by Austin Yi, and a game-tying 2-run double for Christian Altamirano. The game-tying hit by Altamirano then brought up Senior outfielder Ayden Tauscher who followed the game-tying hit with a walk-off hit, hitting a 2-run walk-off home run for the Grizzlies sealing the game for them 12-10.
The story of the Grizzlies second walk-off win was very similar to game one as timely bullpen pitching and huge production from the Adams State offense led to the win. Coming out of the bullpen for the Grizzlies in game two was the same duo as game one in Ethan Bertke and Daniel Hoodak. In game two the combination of Bertke and Hoodak combined for 3 ⅓ innings where they only allowed three runs(two earned) while also collecting five of the Grizzlies eight strikeouts on the day. Hoodak collecting the final outs in the seventh inning collected the win in game two, giving him a record of 4-1 on the season.
On the offensive side, the Grizzlies were led by Christian Altamirano, Ayden Tauscher, Osaias Hinojosa, and Gunner Martinez. Between the four individuals they finished with eight of the Grizzlies 12 runs, 10 of the Grizzlies 14 hits, and 8 of the Grizzlies 12 RBIs. For Altamirano, Tauscher, and Hinojosa, they truly led the way at the top of the order as Altamirano finished the day 3 for 4 with three RBIs, a walk, and two runs scored; Tauscher finished 3 for 5 with two home runs, three RBIs, and two runs scored; while Hinojosa finished 2 for 2, with two RBIs, two runs scored, a double, a walk, and a hit by pitch to reach base all four times he stepped to the plate. For Martinez, he finished the day 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored on the day.
Looking at what is next for the Grizzlies, their next game will be tomorrow at 11 AM MST at their home ballpark here in Alamosa, Colorado. Tomorrow's game will finish Adams State's series with CCU as the Grizzlies will look to finish with a series win and some momentum going into next weekend's home series against UCCS. Come out and support the Grizzlies tomorrow as they will be looking for a series win in game four of their four-game series.
