COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The No. 2 Colorado Mesa baseball team swept a doubleheader from the No. 14 UCCS Mountain Lions on Saturday in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.
In game one of the day, the Mavericks 3-0 lead and extended it to 7-2 before having to hold on for the 7-6 win over the Mountain Lions.
UCCS had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the seventh and final inning. Reliever
Frankie Fitzgerald struck out Aaron Faragallah with the runners stealing on the pitch. Maverick catcher
Spencer Bramwell was able to throw out the trail runner on the play to end the game with the strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play.
The Mavericks struck first in the top half of the first inning on a RBI double by
Matthew Turner followed by a two-run home run by
Haydn McGeary to give them a 3-0 lead. UCCS got two runs back in the bottom half of the inning to make it 3-2.
Colorado Mesa got a two-run single in the top of the second from
Spencer Bramwell and a two-run home run from
Chase Hamilton to build a 7-2 lead after two and a half innings of play.
The Mountain Lions chipped away and got it to 7-6 before the final events took place.
Ryan Day was credited with the win to improve to 3-0 on the season. Day allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits, walked one and struck out six in five innings of work.
Frankie Fitzgerald earned his first save of the season after pitching the final two innings in shutout fashion.
In the night cap, it was a game of big innings as both teams combined to score in six half innings with five of those going for more than one run, but it was the one run by the Mavericks in the top of the seventh inning that made the difference in a 15-14 win over the Mountain Lions to ensure the series win.
There were 32 hits in the game with 16 extra base hits including nine home runs combined for the two teams in the second half of the doubleheader.
The biggest home run of the game came off the bat of
Tyler Parker in the top of the seventh inning. Parker, a replacement in the game for
Matthew Turner, hammered a 1-2 pitch from the Mountain Lions over the fence in center field to give the Mavericks the lead for good.
Colorado Mesa scored nine runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 9-6 lead in the game. In the inning, they had eight of their runs come off three home runs.
Spencer Bramwell's RBI single to start the scoring off in the inning and the only run that didn't come off a home run.
Jordan Stubbings had a three-run home run in the inning while
Conrad Villafuerte hit a two-run home run to left field just two batters later.
Matthew Turner finished off the scoring with a three-run home run of his own to right field.
While McGeary didn't have a home run in the game, he did lead the Mavericks with a 4-for-4 performance with two runs scored with two doubles.
Colorado Mesa's win streak is run to 12 games and improves to 12-1 on the season and 9-0 in the conference.
The Mavericks will be playing at a new time tomorrow. The two teams will be playing the final game of the series at 11am from Mountain Lion Park.
