NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene used a pair of big innings to close out a series win over Colorado Mesa baseball, taking the fourth game of the series by an 8-5 score.

Robert Sharrar and Caleb Thomasen each homered for the Mavericks, but the CMU offense was held to just one run in the final seven innings. David Craig, Jared Ure and Anthony Durbano all had hitless relief appearances for the Mavs.

Neither team was very sharp defensively, as the two teams combined for eight errors and only four of the 13 runs scored in the game were earned, two by each team. The Mavericks jumped out to a 4-0 lead early, with Sharrar's homer and a Kennedy Hara triple leading off the inning. Declan Wiesner reached on an error to score Hara, then with two outs, Thomasen hit his first home run as a Maverick to push the lead to four.

The Nighthawks would answer with one in the bottom of the inning and then a four-spot of their own in the third. Starter Jacob Rhoades pitched three innings in his third start of the year, allowing five runs (two earned) on six hits with a walk and a pair of strikeouts.

The Mavericks seemed to be right in the game after David Craig (two innings) and Jared Ure (one) shut Northwest Nazarene down while CMU tied the score in the top of the sixth on an RBI groundout from Paul Schoenfeld that scored Hara. But the Nighthawks scored three in the bottom of the seventh inning when two errors extended the frame and the Mavs walked or hit a batter three consecutive times with two forcing in runs.

After going 2-5 over the series with NNU and the unexpected road trip to Chico State, the Mavericks sit at 6-5 overall ahead of their final series before RMAC play begins. Montana State Billings will come to The Diamond for four games from March 2-4, where CMU is 4-0 so far this season.

First pitch on Thursday, March 2 is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., followed by a noon/3 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and a noon matinee on Saturday.