Colorado Mesa University (CMU) began another road trip on Thursday afternoon, this time facing New Mexico Highlands. Once again, the Mavericks did what they have been doing all season long, and captured a 6-1 victory over the Cowboys.
Chris Ramirez got the start in game one and delivered a fine performance, limiting the Cowboys to four hits across eight innings of work. Ramirez allowed one run and struck out four, moving to 2-1 on the season.
“Chris [Ramirez] is just a good pitcher. He locates his fastball, he’s got a very good changeup, very good curveball and he mixes them and keeps hitters off balance,” Head coach Chris Hanks said.
Reagan Todd put the Mavericks on the board with a long double to left center that scored Caleb Farmer in the first. With two out in the fifth inning, Hunter Douglas delivered a go-ahead home run to put the Mavericks up 2-1. It was all the support Ramirez needed as he dialed it up from the left side, continuing his clutch pitching as he left runners stranded in multiple innings.
CMU broke it open in the seventh inning. Tyler Sandoval singled to left center to bring in Zach McLeod, who extended his hitting streak to five games after going 2-for-4 on the day. Four batters later, Sandoval scored on a wild pitch and John Ballard scored on another wild pitch to push the Maverick lead to 5-1.
Sandoval roped his second RBI single of the game in the eighth to extend the lead to 6-1, scoring Todd who was on second after a McLeod single.
Will Dixon, in his first appearance on the mound this season, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to preserve the win for the Mavericks. CMU did not commit an error in the contest, continuing their streak of great defensive play.
The Mavericks have been laser focused during their road trip, winning five of their last six on the road.
“Being on the road’s tough. We still have some other teams left, but the guys have done a good job locking in,” Hanks said.
The win moves the Mavericks to 20-6 on the season and 11-2 in the RMAC.
The two teams will play a doubleheader on Friday with the first game starting at 12 p.m. Reagan Todd gets the nod for game one while Kyle Leahy gets the start in the second game.
