GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Ava Fugate knew it was gone before she reached first base.
The senior first baseman blasted a two-out, walk-off home run Saturday, thrusting her arm in the air as the ball cleared the fence, to give Colorado Mesa a doubleheader sweep against Colorado School of Mines at Bergman Sports Complex.
Fugate's solo home run to right-center gave the Mavericks a 5-4 victory in the second game of the day after they delivered their coach a milestone victory in the 3-1 win in the opener.
That win gave Mercedes Bohte her 100th RMAC victory in her fourth season as the Mavericks' head coach. CMU improved to 8-4, 6-0 in the RMAC, with the Orediggers falling to 5-7, 2-4 in the conference.
Fugate's first home run of the season allowed the Mavericks to come back after Mines rallied from a 4-0 deficit to tie it at 4-4 with a pair of runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings.
Fugate went 3 for 3, scored twice and drove in two runs in Game 2. Her double in the first inning was followed by a base hit by Ally Distler, who then stole second. Miranda Pruitt worked a walk, and when Chloe Valdez grounded out, Fugate came across with the first run. Emma Roach singled up the middle to score Distler, and the Mavs made it 3-0 in the second inning.With one out, Bella Aragon beat out an infield single and advanced on a throwing error. Myah Arrieta singled to put runners at the corners, and Fugate flied out to right field to get Aragon home.
Valdez doubled and scored in the third, but CMU pitcher Christa Zagala gave up a two-run home run to Kayleigh Kruger in the top of the fourth. Hannah Sattler surrendered four consecutive singles in the fifth, including a two-run single by Sidney Wilson to tie it, before getting out of the jam and leaving the bases loaded.
It stayed 4-4 until the seventh, and Mines was threatening against Marisa Nehm, who issued a leadoff walk. Wilson reached on an error by Arrieta at short, but Nehm fielded a sacrifice bunt to get one out, then, with two runners in scoring position, got a groundout to Arrieta and one to Distler at third to end the threat and set up Fugate's blast.
Preslee Christensen, the reigning RMAC Pitcher of the Week, had another quality start in the openers, scattering eight hits over six innings. She struck out nine and didn't walk a batter, and CMU scored single runs in the second, third and fifth innings. Valdez doubled and came around on a sacrifice bunt by Fugate and a sacrifice fly by Jackie Oster in the second and Bella Aragon singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Pruitt in the third.
Distler, who missed all of last season with an injury, delivered the big shot, a line-drive home run to left in the bottom of the fifth inning. It was the third straight game day that Distler left the yard. She and Valdez each had two hits, and Nehm, who got the win in Game 2, threw a 12-pitch seventh inning for the save. The sophomore out of Fruita Monument High School is 3-0 with one save.
The teams face one another in another doubleheader today, with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m.
