ALAMOSA, Colorado — In the Grizzlies Saturday doubleheader against UCCS, Adams State drops both games. The two losses moved the Grizzlies to a record of 10-19(5-6 RMAC) going into the final game of the series on Sunday.
Game 1
In game one, the UCCS offense came out swinging, collecting 6 runs in the first two innings taking a quick 6-0 lead over the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies were able to respond in the bottom of the second inning with an RBI double by Austin Yi, and an RBI single by Christian Altamirano to make the game 6-2 going into the third. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies were never able to truly slow down the UCCS offense as they came back with two more runs in the third, one in the fourth, three in the fifth, and two more in the sixth giving them 14 runs in the game. The Grizzlies were able to get some scoring of their own while UCCS added to their lead as they scored one in the third with an Isaiah Pruitt RBI single; four in the fourth with an RBI single by Macs Carrillo, an RBI double by Ayden Tauscher, and RBI ground outs by both Osaias Hinojosa and Josh Parks; and finally one final run in the seventh with an RBI ground out by Seth Reker giving the Grizzlies 8 runs and leaving the final score at 14-8 for UCCS.
The difference in today's game was the Grizzlies inability to be effective on the mound, along with a lack of defensive efficiency. With multiple misplays on defense and 9 free passes on the mound UCCS had a multitude of opportunities that the Grizzlies created for them through a lack of execution. With less walks and hit by pitches on the mound and a few defensive plays made the UCCS offense would have had far fewer opportunities to score which would have kept the game within striking distance for a Grizzly offense that is scorching hot. For UCCS, they were able to take advantage of the Grizzly mistakes, scoring almost every single time Adams State gave them a free pass or had a misplay on the defense leading to their 14 runs.
For the Grizzly offense they again had success as they collected 11 hits and 3 walks for 14 total base runners. Of these 11 hits, 8 of them came from Christian Altamirano, Josh Parks, Seth Reker, and Austin Yi who all collected 2 hits in game one. For Altamirano, he finished the day 2 for 3 with an RBI, a walk, and a run scored; for Parks, he finished 2 for 3 with a sacrifice fly, an RBI and a run scored; For Reker, he finished 2 for 4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored; and for Yi, he finished 2 for 3 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI. Overall, the Grizzly offense had 7 of their 9 hitters collect hits in today's game one but unfortunately were unable to come back and hit as effectively as UCCS who finished the day with 15 hits, 6 walks and 3 hit batters for a total of 24 base runners.
Game 2
In game two, the Grizzly offense showed out collecting 20 hits and 16 runs but unfortunately fell just short as the UCCS offense also collected 20 hits while scoring 17 runs to give them the 1 run win over the Grizzlies. For the Grizzlies, the story in game two was very similar to game one as the pitching staff was never able to truly stop the UCCS offense. In game two, UCCS put up an 8 and 6 spot in the third and fourth inning to account for 14 of their 17 runs. If the Grizzlies would have been able to hold UCCS to just a few less runs in these big innings they would have had an outstanding opportunity to bounce back from game one to take game two.
On the mound, the Grizzlies struggled to hold down the best offense in the RMAC again as they surrendered 20 hits, 8 walks, and 3 wild pitches to give the UCCS offense 17 runs on the day. On the mound, the struggles started right away as Grizzly starter Julian Garza struggled going 2 ⅓ innings giving up 9 hits, 10 runs, while walking 5 and collecting 1 strikeout. After Garza came out the Grizzly bullpen was not able to stop UCCS as the first two arms in Dylan Schaefer and CJ Pino combined for 1 ⅓ innings while allowing 7 hits and 6 runs. Thankfully, Ethan Bertke and Daniel Hoodak the two best Grizzly bullpen arms came in to collect 3 ⅓ innings where they only allowed 4 hits and 1 runs to give the Grizzly offense an opportunity to comeback.
For the Grizzly offense they had a multitude of individuals who had career days. For starters, Isaiah Pruitt finished with the cycle as he went 4 for 5 with a single, double, triple, and home run. Pruitt also scored 3 times and collected 2 RBIs for his best day in a Grizzly uniform. Also having a career day was Seth Reker who finished a perfect 5 for 5 with 2 doubles, a home run, 3 runs scored, and 2 RBIs. Following Pruitt and Reker also having outstanding days was Christian Altamirano, Osaias Hinojosa, and Gunner Martinez. For Altamirano who finished the day 3 for 5 with 3 doubles, 2 runs scored, and a walk; For Hinojosa and Martinez, they both finished 2 for 5 with a grand slam and 2 runs scored. Hinojosa also collected 4 RBIs while Martinez finished with 5 to lead the Grizzlies in game two.
Overall, the Grizzlies showed outstanding fight in game two as they came back multiple times including 3 runs in the bottom of the seventh while having the game-tying run at second base. They unfortunately fell just short in the 1 run loss but have a lot of momentum on the offensive side to carry into today's final game of the series. Today's final game will be played at noon MST and will be the final time the Grizzlies play UCCS in the regular season. Adams State will look to bounce back after three tough losses to salvage the series and avoid being swept. Come out to support the Grizzlies as they play their final home game of the weekend.
