Jake Richardson/Criterion

When it comes to baseball in the Grand Valley, nobody made a bigger impact than “Bus” Bergman.
Bergman, who passed away March 28, was responsible for bringing the Junior College World Series to the city and brought success to the Mesa State’s athletic programs in their earliest years.
Over the weekend, the Mesa State baseball team honored its former coach by wearing cream colored throwback uniforms for three out of the four games over the weekend. While the team lost the Friday opener, the Mavericks eventually turned their game around to take three of four from seventh ranked New Mexico Highlands University.
“I think ol’ Busser would (be pleased),” Mesa State coach Chris Hanks said after beating Highlands 12-9 in the final game of the series Sunday. “The thing about Bus is that he always kept a great attitude. I think our guys kept the attitude he would have kept after losing the first game of the series.”
The opening game of the series wasn’t exactly what the Mavericks wanted to see when they lost 15-8 on Friday as part of the Little League/Bus Bergman memorial night.
The Maverick pitchers had trouble containing the Highlands hitters. While Mesa was able to hold its own for the first five innings, after which the team trailed 9-7, the team gave up six runs in the final three innings. In those final three innings Highlands pitchers David Saiz and Derek Grieve limited Mesa State to five hits and a single run.
The win also cemented the Cowboys’ Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season championship, breaking Mesa’s streak of five straight. While the emotional aspect of of losing the chance at a RMAC regular season championship could theoretically bring a team down, Hanks felt like it played in his team’s favor.
“I’ve been on that same side when we’ve wrapped up the league fairly early,” Hanks said. “It’s hard to get refocused the next day.”
Whether or not the Cowboys got refocused was up for grabs, but for the next three games, the unranked Mavericks made a statement, winning the final three to close out the series. Much of the success was from simply getting an early lead.
In all three games that Mesa won, the team left Highlands playing catch up.
In Saturday’s first game the Mavericks had a five hit pitching performance from Kyle Davis, who only allowed three runs, all of which came in the final three innings to help give the Mavericks a 5-3 win. In the second game, the Mavericks won 9-7 after scoring seven runs in the first four innings.
The final game of the series took place Sunday and was the only game of the series in which the Mavericks didn’t sport the throwback uniforms.
The Mavericks were able to get ahead 3-0 after the first inning, but in the top of the second, Highlands was able to tie it up, prompting the early exit of pitcher Ryan Gorzitze. Derek Riley came in as a reliever and pitched nearly five innings, allowing only two runs.
While Highlands continuously tried making comeback attempts, Mesa’s early offensive power led to an early 10-4 lead and a two-run home run by Chase Moore kept Highlands from getting too close, despite scoring five runs in the final three innings.
“We answered anything they did nicely,” Hanks said. “Every inning they scored, we answered with a score and that’s what you want to do in big games.”
The Mavericks finish their home schedule today and tomorrow with double headers against Dixie State. Today’s games start at 3:30 and tomorrow’s will start at noon. The regular season will be finished this weekend with a series at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood.