GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The No. 11 Colorado Mesa baseball team closed out the Leadoff Weekend presented by the Courtyard by Marriott with a 10-2 win over the visiting Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets on Saturday (Feb. 17) afternoon at The Diamond at The Bus Bergman Sports Complex.
 
The Mavericks jumped out to the early 3-0 lead in the bottom half of the first inning as they plated three runs on just one hit. Joey Blank scored on a wild pitch just before Caleb Thomason laced a two-run single to left field that scored Rob Sharrar and Jonathan Gonzalez on the play.
 
Colorado Mesa added one in the second on a RBI single by Gonzalez that brought home Max Berni on the play that made it 4-0.
 
Montana State Billings got two runs back in the top of the fourth inning to make it 4-2.
 
The Mavericks got hose two runs back and then some in the bottom of the fifth. Joey Blank stole third and scored on an errant throw by the MSUB catcher. Later in the inning, Ethan Nunez hammered his first collegiate home run, a no-doubt, two-run shot to left field to make it 7-2 after five complete.
 
They would add on three more runs in the later innings to give themselves extra late inning cushion.
 
Joey Blank, Ethan Nunez, and Caleb Thomason all had multi-hit games for the Mavericks.
 
Colorado Mesa wouldn't need a ton of runs as their pitching was outstanding on the day. Kyle Miller took the ball in the series finale and went six complete innings to earn the win. He allowed two runs on three hits, walked three and struck out six in just 90 pitches. He retired the first nine batters he faced before allowing a single in the fourth inning.
 
He gave way to newcomer Evan Bunevich who was equally impressive. Bunevich pitched the final three innings and retired all nine batters he faced that included two strikeouts to earn the rule book save.
 
The Mavericks will continue their home stand next weekend as they host the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks in a four-game series beginning on Thursday afternoon.