With high expectations for the season, the CMU baseball team looked to live up to its hype against the Titans of UC San Diego.

“We got swept last year, so we were hoping to sweep them this year,” first baseman Dustin Fackerell said.

The Mavs didn’t sweep the Titans, but they did win three out of four games on the weekend. After winning the first three games by scores of 14-4, 6-4, and 3-2, they lost their last game of the series 11-7.

In the first game, the Mavs were quiet until the fifth inning when they exploded for eight runs off of six hits. To cap it off, the Mavs scored four runs on six hits in the eighth to seal the win 14-4.

Junior pitcher Nolan Snell notched his second win of the year. Senior Tim Moore came in to relieve Snell in the sixth inning for his first save of the year. CMU compiled 18 hits and scored 14 runs for the weekend opener.

“Our chemistry is great as a team, we all get along,” Fackrell said.

In Saturday’s first game, UC-San Diego scored four runs off of four hits in the sixth inning. Down four runs, the Mavs took the momentum back and scored five in the bottom of the sixth. The Mavs didn’t look back, holding San Diego scoreless for the rest of the game. Senior Derek Benham came in to pitch in the eighth to pick up his second save of the year. Colton Little was 2-4 with three RBIs. Jared Christensen earned his first win of the season, allowing four hits in six innings.

The winning continued in Saturday’s second game when the Mavericks squeezed by with a 3-2 win. Dylan Evans started on the mound for CMU and pitched into the eighth inning.

Evans struck out seven before giving the ball to Benham. San Diego held the Mavs scoreless in the eighth, which took the game into the ninth tied 2-2. Benham shut down UCSD, leaving the Mavs one more chance in the bottom of the ninth. Senior Jeff Popick hit a single scoring Senior Bobby Cozine to win.

Sunday was a different story for the Mavs, losing 11-7 to the Titans. The game was calm until the third inning when San Diego put up five runs in the third and five more in the fourth. Trying to string some hits, the Mavs managed to load the bases. However, Fackrell grounded into a double play, shutting down the Mavs rally. The Mavs were able to put runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh, but only managed to get two runs in to shave the lead 11-7.

“We had a chance to sweep today and I was just disappointed that they (San Diego) came out hungrier than we were,” coach Chris Hanks said. “We found out a lot about our club and I thought we still fought today.”