Make it nine in a row.
Colorado Mesa University pushed their winning streak to nine after defeating Colorado School of Mines in two-seven inning games Saturday afternoon. Power pitching and clutch hitting helped the Mavericks win 4-3 in the first game while home runs and a dominant start from Garrett Hutson gave them an 11-0 win in game two.
CMU was down 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, but you can never count out a dangerous team that has a knack for the comeback hit. Walter Pennington was able to retire two Mavericks to begin the inning, but it was all he would get before being pulled from the inning.
Dominic DeMarco pinch hit for Spencer Bramwell and singled up the middle to start the rally. Tanner Garner pinch ran for DeMarco, and the comeback was on. Matthew Turner laced an RBI double to right that scored Garner to knot the score at 3-3. Sam Slusser came in relief of Pennington and immediately gave up a walk-off RBI single to Chase Hamilton, CMU’s second baseman who hit a walk-off the last time CMU played at Suplizio.
In a game where the Mavericks struggled to put together rallies through the first six innings, it was better late than never. Caleb Farmer’s RBI single in the second and Trevin Reynold’s RBI double in the fourth were CMU’s lone runs of the contest until the seventh.
John Beaudrie got the nod in game won and fared well against the Oredigger lineup. The righty went 4.0 innings and gave up two runs on four hits with one walk. He found trouble in just the first and third innings when Matt Gangwish and Jace Selsor hit RBI singles separately in both innings.
AJ Landis pitched well in relief and picked up his third win on the year. The senior kept the Mavericks in the ballgame with 3.0 innings of one-run ball and struck out three.
Game two featured a barrage of home runs and a power performance on the mound by Hutson. It was the perfect combination for a team that feeds off big hits and strong outings from the staff.
The Mavericks belted four home runs against the Orediggers. First up was Hunter Douglas, who went lift off on a 1-2 count to start the fourth inning. Mines starter Drew Hill could only look up and watch as the dugout roared and Douglas trotted around the bases to take the lead.
Two batters later, Jordan stubbings saw a pitch he liked and went yard on a 2-2 pitch. The sophomore’s swing is starting to round into form as he leads the team in batting average and is displaying his power with a strong gap-to-gap approach.
Will Dixon joined in on the fun and lifted a two-run shot to left field in the fifth. Later in the inning, Hamilton scored on a wild pitch that gave CMU a 5-0 lead. That would be all for Hill on the day as he was pulled before the start of the sixth. He gave up three home runs in 5.0 innings of work but did strike out 10 Mavericks.
Hutson continued to match JR McDermott’s strong work atop the rotation. Hutson matched Hill in the strikeout department with 10 strikeouts in a complete game shutout where he gave up just three hits. It’s Hutson’s third outing with double-digit strikeouts and the performance lowered his earned run average to 1.78.
Hutson needed 102 pitches to complete the outing but did have four innings where he shut down the Orediggers in order.
CMU added six more runs to their 5-0 lead in the sixth. Bramwell hit CMU’s fourth home run of the day with a two-run shot to left. Josh Shapiro drilled a two-run triple to right field that brought Hamilton and Dixon home.
Stubbings, who lead off the sixth, was back at the plate and hit a dribbler to shortstop Derek Daly but the latter had trouble with the play and threw the ball away which allowed Douglas and Shapiro to score and pushed CMU’s lead to 11-0.
Toby Scoles gave up five runs (two earned) in 0.2 innings for Mines while Nate Giefer walked three, allowed one run and failed to record an out after facing four hitters.
