The Colorado Mesa University (CMU) baseball team opened their season with a loss to the Northwest Nazarene(NNU) Nighthawks 18-6.
With the Mavericks down 16-1 going into the bottom of the eighth inning, junior first baseman Nolan Walker got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded scoring sophomore center fielder Tanner Garner. The bases would then be loaded for junior catcher Spencer Bramwell.
On the first pitch of his at bat Bramwell liked the pitch that he saw and drove it over the left center field wall. This put four more runs on the board for CMU,making it a ten run ball game at 16-6. Bramwell went 1-4 on the day.
Sophomore designated hitter Haydn McGeary reached on a fielding error by the shortstop in the sixth inning that scored Garner.
Garner went 3-4 against the Nighthawks with three singles and two runs. In the sixth inning, Garner singled to second base to get the first hit of the half inning.
Senior catcher Tanner Remple came into the game to pinch hit and made a big impact at the plate.
One a 2-1 count, Remple crushed a ball to left center field and everybody at Suplizio Field thought that one was gone. But that ball stayed in the park and after moments of conversations the umpired ruled that it was a double.
CMU only had seven hits against the NNU pitching staff. Kyle Ethridge finished the day after six and two thirds innings with only giving up one earned run and one walk. He only struck out three Mavericks and threw 88 pitches in his second outing of the season.
The Nighthawks jump on Maverick pitching right away as freshman right-handed pitcher Jared Ure got the start on Thursday afternoon. The leadoff hitter for the Nighthawks, Ryan Dearing, started off the game with a tripe to left center. Haden Keller would then put up NNU’s first run on the board with a double to left field to score Dearing.
Ure had a hard time trying to find his rhythm against NNU but pitched four strong innings until handing off the ball to freshman right-handed pitcher Cade Nicol. Ure finished the day giving up seven hits and four runs. He pitched 65 pitches through those four innings.
Nicol gave up a three run shot to John Gonzalez four hitters into the inning. Nicol was able to get out of the inning by two groundouts to second base.
After Nicol gave up nine runs in two and a third innings before left-handed pitcher Brody McCord came into this game. McCord would be the third pitcher used in this game for the Mavericks.
In the eighth, McCord gave up a three run homerun to Shawn Grandmonth scoring Keller and Dearing.
Junior right-handed pitcher Anthony Durbano came into pitch the last three outs against the Nighthawks.
The Mavericks look to tomorrow where they will play a doubleheader against Montana State University-Billings starting at noon in Grand Junction, Colo.
