GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The No. 12 Colorado Mesa baseball team is headed to Championship Saturday after defeating the UCCS Mountain Lions 6-4 on Friday (May 11) afternoon at Suplizio Field in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
The Mavericks took the lead 3-0 in the second inning thanks in large part to a 2-run triple to left center field by catcher Tyler Sandoval. It was Sandoval's team-leading fourth triple of the season.
 
The Mountain Lions answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning to make it 3-2 in favor of Colorado Mesa.
 
Dominic DeMarco belted a solo home run on the top of the third inning. The homer was his fifth of the season.
 
CMU added a run in the top of the fourth on a solo home run off the bat of Hunter Douglas. The home run was Douglas' seventh of the season. The junior finished the game 3-for-6 with a run scored the run driven in.
 
The Mavericks tacked one on in the top half of the sixth inning on a sac fly by third baseman Garrett Ball.
 
UCCS got two back in the bottom half of the frame but that was all the closer they would get.
 
Johnny Carr and John Ballard each had two hits as well.
 
Chris Ramirez earned the win on the mound. Ramirez (6-3) allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits, walked one and struck out seven in seven innings of work. He threw just 99 pitches in those seven innings.
 
Freshman Frankie Fitzgerald came in and earned his first collegiate save, pitching the final two innings of action. The Las Vegas, Nev. native allowed just one hit, walked one and struck out three.
 
Colorado Mesa moves their record to 38-14 on the season and moved their home record to 20-2. This is their 13^th of the last 16 seasons winning 20 or more games at Suplizio Field.
 
The Mavericks will take on the Colorado School of Mines tomorrow at 1pm regardless of the outcome of tonight's contest between the Orediggers and ThunderWolves.