COLORADO SPRINGS — Outlasting two lengthy delays, the No. 11 Colorado Mesa baseball team claimed a 12-6 victory Saturday over CU-Colorado Springs.
In the first game of what was scheduled to be a doubleheader, cold temperatures pushed the first pitch back 90 minutes. After the Mavericks (28-12, 18-4 RMAC) erupted for 10 runs in the top of the first inning, snow started to lightly fall in the top of the third. By the time the third inning ended, snow was sticking to the artificial turf at Mountain Lion Park and Pulpit Rock, which stands beyond the center field fence, was barely visible. Play was delayed for more than 30 minutes.
Once the snow stopped, the Mountain Lions chipped away at the Mavericks' 10-1 lead, cutting it to 10-5 against starter Cole Seward (7-0), who returned to pitch the fourth inning despite the weather delay. He allowed four runs in the fourth but worked out of a bases-loaded jam, and Cade Nicols picked up a save with three quality innings of relief.
The 10-run first inning saw 12 Mavericks come to the plate, combining for nine hits, including three doubles and two home runs. Robert Sharrar and Paul Schoenfeld each had a pair of hits in the inning, a single and double apiece.
Christos Stefanos and Caleb Thomason each hit two-run home runs in the first inning to stake the Mavs to their big lead. Schoenfeld had three RBI in the inning, an RBI single after Sharrar doubled to lead off the game, then a two-run single to put Mesa up 9-0.
After his base hit, Schoenfeld stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch for the 10th run of the inning. He finished the game 4 for 4 with four RBI to lead CMU's 11-hit attack.
The snow delay caused the game to stretch over 3 hours, 15 minutes, and because Mountain Lion Park does not have lights, the second game of the doubleheader was postponed until Sunday. The teams are set to play Sunday's regularly scheduled nine-inning game at noon, followed by a seven-inning game, the one postponed from Saturday.
The win gave CMU a 4 1/2-game lead on Adams State atop the conference standings. The Grizzlies split a doubleheader at CSU Pueblo to fall to 14-9 in conference play.
After the Mountain Lions (13-25, 10-12 RMAC) cut the lead to 10-5, CMU added a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. One run came home on a groundout by Sharrar after Thomason walked and Braden Winget reached on a fielding error. Schoenfeld followed with another RBI single for a 12-5 lead.
Seward gave up five runs on seven hits and struck out four in his start, with Nicol allowing one run on three hits over the final three innings with three strikeouts. All but two batters in the Mavs' starting lineup had at least one hit.
