While a 13-game win streak has seen its end, Maverick baseball is still in the driver’s seat for the RMAC regular season championship.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) split the series with the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs (UCCS) Mountain Lions, and took both games of an abbreviated series away from the Regis University (Regis) Rangers.
In the split against UCCS, CMU couldn’t find a way to score runs early, and saw themselves fall behind by a 8-0 margin. UCCS cruised the rest of the way, and handily defeated the Mavericks 14-8. Pitching struggled early on in both the opening and final series. Junior righty Gauge Lockhart and senior right handed pitcher Jordan Pace combined for 3.2 innings allowing 11 hits, 11 earned runs, two walks and just one strikeout. Relief pitching did fair better for CMU, with the relievers limiting damage on the hill.
“The depth is really cool to see this year. It’s definitely one of our strengths as a team. It’s really fun to have so many guys in the bullpen,” said senior right handed pitcher Ethan Voss.
Voss did struggle a bit in his start in game three of the series, conceding five hits and four earned runs in his lone inning of work, but the Maverick bats backed him up, winning that one 21-8. Game two was a different story, having junior right hander Sage Ferguson go 4.1 giving up only one earned run. The Maverick bats were doing well in the higher elevation of Colorado Springs. Junior left fielder Cameron Cartwright hit .625 during the series while driving in eight runs and striking out only once.
“[UCCS is] a good club. They’re better than their record appears. They don’t have a bad record, but I think they’re even better than that. They play well at home and they’ve always played us tough,” said head coach Chris Hanks.
While the following series against Regis was slated for four games, the common Colorado spring snowstorm hit the front range, so only two games were played. The pair of games saw the Mavs win in both possible fashions with a massive comeback and an absolute thrashing of a Ranger squad that was receiving votes in the national polls.
Game one saw a 16-15 win for CMU. The win was not stress free for the Mavs, as they found themselves down 5-0 in the first inning and trailing 13-5 in the bottom of the fifth. The comeback started with a Cartwright homer in the sixth, which led to an avalanche of offense, seeing the Mavs score 10 unanswered from the fourth to the sixth inning.
Regis put up a two spot in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game, but CMU used their small ball identity to win the ball game. Redshirt senior first baseman Stevenson Reynolds hit a single to put senior outfielder Brent Renteria in to run. Renteria advanced from first to home without a single Maverick notching a hit.
Redshirt senior third baseman Ethan Ezor got hit by a pitch, junior shortstop Kennedy Hara hit a sacrifice fly and the Rangers’ catcher let a pitch blow by him that allowed the go ahead run to come across. Senior left handed pitcher Tyler Glowacki finished the game in relief with a three up, three down bottom of the ninth, and CMU somehow pulled off the victory. Game two saw the Mavericks win 14-1.
Following this pair of road contests, CMU finally gets to come home for a non-conference three game slate against Rollins College. First pitch is this Friday, April 25 at The Diamond at the Bus Bergman Sports Complex, as part of the ballpark naming night.