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Rangers split Sunday doubleheader, take a 2-1 series lead over CCU

Mar 13 | By: David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Regis sophomore Braxton Boyle homered twice during Sunday's doubleheader against CCU (File Photo).

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The Regis University baseball team put itself in position to win its first RMAC series of the 2022 campaign on Sunday, splitting a road doubleheader against Colorado Christian University to take a 2-1 series lead into Monday's finale.

Regis (9-11-1 overall, 3-4 RMAC) shook off a 10-4 loss to begin the day against the Cougars (6-13 overall, 4-3 RMAC), battling back to produce a complete performance in a 7-2 victory in Sunday's Game Two.

"It was great for us to win that second game and have the opportunity to go into Monday with some momentum and a chance to win the series," said Regis head baseball coach, Drew LaComb. "In the first game, we had one big inning hurt us and we were just left trying to fight back early on. But I'm proud of our guys for staying in it and they kept playing hard, which had us ready to go right from the start in the second game."

HOW IT HAPPENED (Game Two): The Rangers' offense wasted little time taking control of the nightcap, striking for two runs in the top of the first inning on a RBI double by graduate student Roger Riley, who would score one batter later on a RBI single from fellow grad student, Brevin Owen.

Owen added to his big afternoon in the third inning as he launched a two-run home run to score Riley again and double the Rangers' lead to 4-0. He'd finish the afternoon 2-for-4 with a run scored and three driven in.

The home run was the first of the season for Owen and nineth of his career. It was also one of three home runs hit on the afternoon by the Rangers, with the other two coming courtesy of sophomore second baseman Braxton Boyle.

Boyle, who drilled a two-run homer earlier in the day during Game One, launched another two-run blast in the seventh inning of Game Two, that put the exclamation point on the Rangers' 7-2 victory. He finished the afternoon 3-for-7 with the two homers, two runs score and four driven in.

"We're very confident in Braxton's and Brevin's ability to hit. And we knew it was just a matter of time before they started producing more extra-base hits," LaComb said. "It was really good to see them to do it today because they really helped carry us and you're going to need different players to help carry the team game to game."

The seven runs would be more than enough run support for Regis sophomore Ethan Sloan as the southpaw flourished in his first start of the 2022 season. A converted reliever, Sloan finished the afternoon with 5.2 innings pitched, limiting the Cougars to a pair of runs on four hits while striking out a career-high eight.

"He's a very confident and tough kid with really good stuff," LaComb said of Sloan. "He's been working really hard in the weight room to improve his longevity and endurance, so we knew he could handle multiple innings. He had been our best bullpen arm this year and he just has really great stuff. His fastball and slider are both swing and miss pitches. He's not fun to hit against."

HOW IT HAPPENED (Game One): The Rangers were put behind the 8-ball early in Game One of Sunday's doubleheader as Colorado Christian used a six-run second inning en route to a 10-4 victory.

Regis tried to fight back with two runs in the third, courtesy of a RBI single from sophomore outfielder Levi Padilla and sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman shortstop, Zach Daudet.

Padilla led all Rangers with a 3-for-3 performance in Game One and finished the afternoon a combined 4-for-6 with one RBI and one run scored.

The Rangers added two more runs in the fourth inning on the two-run home run by Boyle, but were unable to make a dent in the early deficit as CCU answered with two runs in the home half of the third and fourth innings, as well.

UP NEXT: Regis will aim to earn its first RMAC series win of the young season when the two teams square off in Game Four, scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday at All Star Park in Lakewood.

"It's going to come down to doing the little things right and setting the tone early in Game Four with our pitching, hitting and defense," LaComb said. "I'm looking forward to that first inning tomorrow and hopefully it'll be a good first inning for our guys so we can capture early momentum. We're confident with Porter (Hardcastle) on the mound and think he's going to give us a really good start tomorrow."

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