AZUSA, Calif. – The No. 12 Colorado Mesa baseball team opened a mini two-game series with the Azusa Pacific Cougars on Monday (Feb. 26) afternoon. The Mavericks fell to the Cougars 7-6 in the opener.
The Cougars plated two runs in the bottom of the first inning, but that lead would be short lived as the Mavericks would answer in the top half of the next inning.
Declan Wiesner led off the top of the second inning with a single to center field. After a fly out,
Brent Renteria doubled down the left field line to give the Mavericks two runners in scoring position with just one out.
Rob Sharrar came up and delivered a two-run single up the middle that scored both Wiesner and Renteria to tie the game at 2-2.
APU would answer back in the bottom half of the second inning with two more runs to take a 4-2 lead. Two innings later, they would tack on two more runs for a 6-2 advantage.
Sharrar would lead off the top of the fifth inning would drill a solo home run into the netting above the right field wall. It was his first home run of the season and cut into the Cougar lead but that wouldn't be all the Mavericks get in the inning.
Braden Winget would reach on a single followed by a single by
Max Valdez would put runners on first and second.
Ethan Ezor would have a check swing, single that brought Winget around to score and would get Valdez over to third with two outs.
A pitching change and a walk brought
Derek Shaver to the plate in the top of the sixth inning and he would draw a bases loaded walk to make it 6-5 after five and a half innings.
Azusa Pacific responded by getting one back on a sacrifice fly in the next half inning and led 7-5 after six complete innings.
Colorado Mesa got one back in the top of the seventh after a bases loaded walk to
Brent Renteria to make it 7-6. One batter later, Rob Sharrar lifted a short fly ball into right field and
Ethan Ezor tagged up from third, trying to be the game-tying run but was thrown out at the plate and the score would remain.
Sharrar finished the game with three hits and three runs driven in while
Max Valdez added two hits
Jacob Rhoades took the loss on the mound as he earned the midweek start.
Spye Turnbeaugh and
Ethan Voss combined to pitch three and a third innings with of shutout baseball in relief.
The two teams will play the second and final game of the series tomorrow afternoon at 2:00pm mountain time.
