The conference-leading Colorado Mesa Mavericks faced off against New Mexico Highlands on Friday in a doubleheader where the teams split the games with the Cowboys taking game one 5-4 and the Mavericks capturing the second game 7-1.
The Cowboys sprinted out of the dugout and mobbed around Garrett Hammer at first base as the Mavericks took the slow walk back to the dugout after CMU was unable to hold the lead in the first game, losing on a walk-off RBI single to lift the Cowboys to their ninth win of the season. Reagan Todd was going for the complete game in the seventh when he surrendered a game-tying solo home run to Justin DeHoog that tied the game at 4-4.
AJ Landis came in for Todd, attempting to send the game into extras but couldn’t get the last out of the inning before the walk-off hit.
The Mavericks found themselves in a hole early after four consecutive Cowboy hitters got on base with two leadoff walks and two singles, one of those an RBI single. Codie Simmons punched a triple to right center to give the Cowboys a 3-0 lead after the first.
CMU clawed back in the fourth and fifth innings. Caleb Farmer led off the inning with a single to right field and later came in on a Hunter Douglas sacrifice fly. Douglas kept the rally going in the fifth inning, singling to the shortstop, moving John Ballard to third. Dominic Demarco and Farmer laced consecutive singles to tie the game at 3-3.
The Mavericks took a brief lead in the top of the seventh when Tyler Sandoval walked with the bases loaded and two outs to bring the score to 4-3.
Todd allowed four runs through six innings and struck out five Cowboys. Farmer led the Mavericks offensively, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a double.
Kyle Leahy helped the Mavericks bounce back from the walk-off loss, tossing six innings of one-run ball and scattering seven hits, moving to 4-0 on the season. For the first time this season, Leahy did not record a strikeout, and the second time he didn’t surrender a free pass to first base.
Jordan Stubbings made sure the Mavericks struck first in game two, belting a solo shot in the second inning to give CMU a 1-0 lead. Like Friday night, the Cowboys tied the game at 1-1 with a Jared Brown RBI single, but pitching and timely hitting allowed the Mavericks to pull away in this one.
Farmer put the Mavericks in front for good with a two-run double to left that scored Douglas and Tanner Nieslanik. One batter later, Jordan Stubbings singled to center, bringing in two, increasing the Mavericks’ lead to 5-1.
Dominic DeMarco gave the Mavericks their third home run of the series with a blast to right field in the fifth.
The Mavericks move to 21-7 and 12-3 in the RMAC and will look to take the series against the Cowboys with a win on Saturday.
