Colorado Mesa University (CMU) snuck past Colorado Christian on Saturday with a 7-6 win that saw both teams fight for the lead all game long. A key Mavericks seventh inning was the key in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchup.
JJ Carr started the rally with a leadoff single, and two batters later, shortstop Zach McLeod hit a single of his own to move Carr to third. Keenan Eaton gave the Mavericks the lead with a sacrifice squeeze, and Hunter Douglas followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 7-5. Douglas extended his hitting streak to 10 games and reached four times in the ball game, going 1-for-2 with three walks.
“Hitting in the leadoff spot has helped me settle into one defined role,” Douglas said. “I look for my pitch and don’t try to do too much. I just focus on getting on base any way possible and giving the talented line up that follows a chance to get us on the board.”
Reagan Todd received the nod for the series opener and worked around some Maverick errors to pitch 5 ⅔ hard-fought innings and surrendered five runs, two earned, struck out six and walked four.
Todd was pitching with ease through five before finding trouble in the sixth. A leadoff walk, single, CMU error and two doubles chased Todd from the game. Will Dixon came in for Todd and got Hunter Hays to pop out to end the threat.
Head coach Chris Hanks was happy with how his team fought all game but knows the team has some work to do in certain areas.
“The guys played well. We’ve got to clean up some things. We left a lot of runners on base,” Hanks said.
Catcher Tanner Rempel roped a leadoff double down the left side in the bottom of the second. Carr singled through the right side on a 3-2 fastball, moving Rempel to third. Trevin Reynolds drove in his 5th run of the year with a sacrifice fly to right that gave the Mavericks a 1-0 lead.
Colorado Christian found opportunities in the top of the third after a leadoff walk to A Maltby.
After Todd secured two fielder’s choice groundouts that moved Maltby to third, Cooper Gray stroked an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1. An error by first baseman Nick Borowski helped Colorado Christian secure a run in the fourth after Maltby’s RBI double.
The Mavericks showed an extremely disciplined approach at the plate in the fourth and chased starter Scotty Wright from the game. After three walks to Maverick hitters to load the bases, Rempel was issued a free pass that brought in a run. Carr followed with his second hit of the game to score Caleb Farmer.
AJ Landis struck out three and pitched 1 ⅔ innings to secure his third save of the season.
“The team played well,” Douglas said. “Every game is important, especially in the conference so any time you can leave the yard with a win it’s a great day.”
The Mavericks improved their record to 22-8 and 13-4 in the RMAC.
CMU will look to make it two in a row against Colorado Christian on Sunday at 12 p.m. and will play Colorado School of Mines, who are 19-8 and 12-5 in the RMAC, at 3:30 p.m.
