GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The No. 2 Colorado Mesa baseball team swept the final two games of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference pod at Suplizio Field with an emphatic 25-1 win over Adams State and a tight 6-3 win over the upstart Regis Rangers in the finale.
The Grizzlies took a 1-0 lead after one inning of play but Colorado Mesa scored 25 unanswered runs in a 25-1 in the first game of the day. Both school's starters were excellent in their outings but once the Grizzlies gave way to the bullpen the Maverick offense took over.
Grizzly starter Matt Bathauer allowed two runs on seven hits, walked two and struck out four in four innings of work. His pitch count was at 89 when he exited but before that, he had the Mavericks off balance and out of rhythm.
Maverick starter
Kannon Handy was fantastic as he allowed one run on four hits, walked four and struck out 11 in seven innings of work. He matched a season-high with the 11 strikeouts to earn his second win of the season.
Colorado Mesa had seven hitters with multiple hits in the game and were led in RBIs by pinch-hitter
Tanner Rempel. The British Columbia native replaced catcher
Caleb Farmer and went 2-for-2 with three runs scored and four runs driven in. Rempel had a three-run double in the bottom of the seventh.
Yesterday's starting pitcher
Trevin Reynolds broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth inning as he stroked a three-run double to put the Mavericks ahead 5-1.
In the night cap, Colorado Mesa got home runs from
Conrad Villafuerte and
Haydn McGeary and they received an outstanding performance out of starting pitcher
Ryan Day in a 6-3 win over the Rangers.
Day pitched his second complete game of the season as he allowed three runs on eight scattered hits, walked one and struck out a career-high 13 in the win. Day improves to 4-0 on the season with a 3.38 ERA.
Villafuerte hit his homer in the bottom of the fourth inning that gave the Mavericks a 3-0 lead at the time. The COVID sophomore finished the game 2-for-4.
McGeary's big blast came in the bottom of the seventh inning and provided the Mavericks all the insurance they would need. McGeary's ninth home run of the season was a two-run homer to right center field and put the Mavericks ahead 6-2 at the time.
Colorado Mesa improved to 16-2 on the season and 13-1 inside the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and currently sit in first place in the standings just ahead of MSU Denver.
The Mavericks will be back in action on Tuesday against Adams State for a pair of seven inning games as part of the makeup from the opening week of the RMAC. Following those two games, the Mavericks will be off until April 9 when they host MSU Denver for Fireworks night as a part of homecoming.
