During a dominant weekend for CMU teams playing at home this past weekend, the baseball team started its season off with a five-run first inning en route to a four-game sweep of Dixie State.

After opening weekend was cancelled, Coach Hanks explained that the team’s eagerness to take the field was enough motivation to perform at a high level.

“It was hard, but I know the guys were just chomping at the bit to play this weekend,” Hanks said. “There was no need to fire them up.”

Jordan Liester and Colton Schoelkopf started the offensive force for the Mavs in the first matchup as Liester hit an RBI double to right field that brought in Nate Robertson and Garrett Carpenter, followed by a three-RBI double by Schoelkopf. Schoelkopf also brought two more runs in the fifth inning with a single up the middle to push the lead to 7-3 heading into the fourth inning. Dixie State found their groove in the next three innings, stringing together hits and capitalizing on CMU errors to tie the game at 7-7 in the sixth inning. With Sergio Valenzuela on second base, Carpenter added an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead, and Robertson followed suit with another sac fly for the go-ahead run. Preseason All-RMAC pitcher Kyle Davis started the game for the Mavs and pitched 3.2 innings, giving up three runs on 10 hits while striking out one. Ryan Reno (1-0) picked up the win in relief, and Carpenter earned his first save of the season.

Saturday’s doubleheader featured two low-scoring games but fantastic pitching from both clubs. The first game belonged to CMU pitchers Nevin Wilson and Matt Allen. Wilson started the game, went 4.2 innings without giving up a single hit and struck out four batters. Allen (1-0) gave up the first hits of the game in the fourth inning but left two base runners stranded in scoring position and struck out three batters in the remaining 4.1 innings of the game. Tony Audino, the only Maverick with multiple hits in the game, drove in the first run in the second inning, and Robertson recorded his first home run of the season, a solo shot in the third inning over the left-field wall.

The Mavs continued to struggle putting runs on the board in the second game, producing just four hits during the entire game. The only run scored came from a solo home run off the bat of Kennedy Kinkade that soared over left center field in the fifth inning. Dixie State outhit CMU by one and had plenty of scoring opportunities throughout the game. Joey Danner (1-0) kept the Red Storm from getting a clean hit with runners in scoring position, and the Maverick defense did the rest. Dakota Behr earned his first save of the season with a perfect seventh inning to close out the doubleheader. Hanks credited Dixie State on their pitching and explained the importance of having a strong pitching unit.

“I think some of our lack of hitting was because of their pitching,” Hanks said. “I think they pitched pretty well. It all starts on the mound. That and your defense are where you need to be tough first.”

The final matchup on Sunday was the first time CMU had trailed the Red Storm all weekend. After a solo home run by Austin Kaiser and a double by Audino made the score 4-0, Dixie State rattled off five straight runs to make the score 5-4 in the top of the sixth inning. However, an early display of poise by the Mavericks quickly got them out of trouble as Carpenter drove in two runs with a single and Robertson added an RBI groundout to retake the lead in the seventh. According to Robertson, he and his teammates never wavered their confidence while they were trailing.

“With this team we are so deadly,” Robertson said. “I don’t think there was ever a moment of doubt in our team. We all stuck together and were able to get some runs when we needed to.”

mfreter@mavs.coloradomesa.edu