The Colorado Mesa baseball team won its sixth straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title this past weekend with a four game sweep of the Adams State Grizzlies.
The latest conference title brings their all-time total to 23 conference championships and their 11th in the last 13 years.
The Mavericks continued their dominance this past weekend as they improved their win streak to 21 games on the year. They improved to 34-8 (26-2 RMAC) this spring.
In game one on Friday, RMAC Academic Player of the Year, Kyle Leahy continued his dominant form in 2017 as he pitched a complete game shutout over the Grizzlies for his third complete game of the season.
The sophomore sensation improved to a conference leading 9-0 on the year and lowered his ERA to a miniscule 0.78.
The Mavericks struck immediately in game one after Matt Haggerty singled home JJ Carr who reached base via being hit and advanced to second after a Kyle Serrano walk.
Leahy surrendered six hits over the course of his 9.0 innings. He retired 12 straight from the 4th inning to the 7th inning.
The Mavericks added another run in the 2nd inning as Carr doubled home PJ Gonzalez. In the 3rd inning it was Haggerty again who singled that scored Bligh Madris on a throwing error from the left fielder. Madris added an RBI single in the 7th inning to increase the Mavericks lead to 4-0 and eventually the end result of the first game.
On Saturday, the Mavericks had a chance to clinch the aforementioned sixth straight title and took full advantage. The offense put up 18 runs of support in a doubleheader for starting pitchers Chris Ramirez and JR McDermott.
In the first game Lane LaCrone doubled home Keenan Eaton in the top half of the 2nd to get the Mavericks on the board first. Gonzalez singled a pitch later and drove home Eaton and LaCrone to extend the early lead to 3-0.
Adams State responded with their lone run of the game in the bottom half of the 2nd when Nick Hill doubled home Grant Templin. That would the only run Ramirez would surrender as he only gave up five hits, and only two after the 2nd inning.
In the 4th inning the Mavericks added five runs to increase their lead to 8-1. Eaton lead the inning off with his second homerun of the year.. After a LaCrone groundout, Gonzalez singled to left. Carr walked behind him. After a double steal, Serrano singled to right field and drove in both Gonzalez and Carr. Madris followed up the single with his 10th home run of the season.In the 5th inning Eaton hit his second home run of the game, and his third on the year, to extend the lead to 9-1. The Mavericks added their last run in the top of the 6th with a Madris RBI single that scored Serrano.
Trevin Reynolds finished out the game for the Mavericks as he went 2.0 innings and surrendered two hits and struck out one to seal game one for the Mavericks.
McDermott took the hill for game three and he followed up Ramirez’s 5.0 innings of work with 5.0 innings of work himself.
McDermott struck out eight while surrendering three hits and giving up one earned run. McDermott improved to 6-0 on the season and increasing his strikeout count to 67 on the year.
Madris carried his success from game one to game two as he lead the 4th inning off with his 11th home run of the year. It sparked an eruption of the offense as the Mavericks tagged starting pitcher Brett Aker for seven earned runs. Reynolds followed with a single and advanced to second after Andrew Contreras grounded into a fielder’s choice. The Mavericks stringed together six straight singles driving in five more runs before Aker was pulled from the game. Madris added his second RBI of the inning after he drove in Gonzalez on a sacrifice fly to cap the seven run inning.
Adams State scored it’s only run of the second game in the 4th inning when Tony Stanich doubled home Michael Downs. The Grizzlies would only add one more hit after the 4th inning as Jett Wodiuk and Tyler Day came in for the Mavericks and retired the last six batters of the game.
Game four was decided on Sunday afternoon in another 9-inning affair.
The Mavericks put up 16 runs en route to their 22nd straight win and sweep of Adams State.
Taking the mound for Colorado Mesa was Jake Mielock. The right hander went 3.1 innings while striking out five. Mielock suffered four earned runs on three hits before being relieved by AJ Landis.
The Grizzlies struck first as they got on the board in the 1st inning when Downs scored on a wild pitch.
The Mavericks responded in the top of the 3rd with a run of their own as LaCrone singled home Gonzalez to tie the game. The Mavericks opened the game up in the 4th inning as they put six runs up on the board to take a 7-1 lead. Eaton lead the inning of with a single and advanced to second on a Tanner Rempel sacrifice bunt. Will Dixon singled and Greg Reynolds walked to load the bases for Josh Shapiro. Shapiro also drew a walk that scored Eaton. Dixon scored on a wild pitch before Gonzalez lined out. LaCrone singled home Reynolds and Serrano walked on four straight pitches. Madris cleared the bases with a double bring the lead to 7-1.
The Grizzlies responded in the bottom half with back-to-back home runs from Dylan April and Ryne Niemi putting three runs up on the board cutting the Mavericks’ lead to 7-4.
In the top of the 5th Rempel lead the inning of with his second home run of the year. Dixon proceeded to walk and Reynolds singled to put two runners on. Both advanced on a wild pitch and came around to score on a Shapiro two run single. LaCrone singled to center and Serrano walked. Madris hit his 12th home run of the year adding three more runs to the lead. After five innings the Mavericks lead 13-4.
The Mavericks would add three more runs before the game was over.
Picking up the win for the Mavericks was Landis who improve to 2-1 on the year. Colorado Mesa outscored Adams State 38-7 over the weekend while improving to 34-8 (26-2 RMAC).
The Mavericks return home this weekend as they welcome Colorado School of Mines for a four game set. Game one is slated for Friday night at 6:05 p.m. as Colorado Mesa hosts their annual Fireworks Night scheduled for afterwards.
