ALAMOSA — Needing one win to secure its 12th consecutive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference baseball championship outright, Colorado Mesa left no doubt Friday, claiming a 36-6 runaway victory over Adams State in the first game of a doubleheader.
The Mavericks didn't stop there, scoring nine runs in the first inning of the second game on the way to a 24-7 win. Colorado Mesa scored in all but one inning of the doubleheader.
On a breezy day in the San Luis Valley, the No. 11 Mavericks (34-15, 24-7 RMAC) took advantage of the wind blowing out, hitting 10 home runs in the first game, tying the conference record and only two off the Division II national mark. They led 20-1 after two innings.
Braden Winget had a career day, going 4 for 5 with three home runs and a triple, driving in nine runs to tie the CMU and RMAC record for RBI in a single game. Paul Schoenfeld and Robert Sharrar also had productive at-bats at the top of the lineup, with six RBI each.
Both hit a pair of home runs and Schoenfeld added two doubles and two singles, finishing a 6-for-7 game and scoring six runs. Sharrar went 3 for 6 with a walk and scored four runs. TJ Rheem had four hits and scored five runs and Max Valdez drove in three runs.
Tyler Glowacki came off the bench and hit two home runs in three at-bats, and Kolby Felix also went deep. All but one starter hit safely and seven Mavs recorded multiple-hit games.
They sent 18 men to the plate in the second inning, scoring 14 runs. Winget drove in five of those runs with a two-run home run and a bases-loaded triple. Of CMU's 30 hits, 17 were for extra bases — six doubles, one triple and the 10 home runs.
Cole Seward (8-1) took the mound with a 6-0 lead, and although he gave up six runs on 11 hits in six innings, he was never in trouble because of the Mavs' offense. Four of the Grizzlies' runs came in the fifth inning after the Mavericks had built an insurmountable 25-2 lead.
CMU came up shy of the program and RMAC record for runs scored (41 vs. Colorado Christian, 2008) and Schoenfeld's six runs scored tied the program and RMAC mark.
Winget was one round-tripper off the school and conference record shared by several players, including two-time national player of the year Haydn McGeary. Felix also hit three home runs in a game earlier this season.
Felix, who went 5 for 5 and drove in four runs, hit for the cycle — in order — to highlight the second game. He was hit by a pitch and beat out an infield single in the first inning, added a single in the second, an RBI double in the third, tripled in a run in the fourth, and completed the cycle with a two-run home run in the sixth. Felix is the second Maverick to hit for the cycle this season, joining Schoenfeld, who did it in Febuary against Northwest Nazarene.
The big first inning saw 15 batters go to the plate and the Mavs scoring nine runs on six hits — Jonathan Gonzalez had the big hit, a grand slam to start his 4-for-6 game with a double and eight RBI. Derek Shaver, who went 4 for 6, hit a two-run shot in the first. Six more runs came across in the second and five in the third to put CMU ahead 20-0.
Shoenfeld and Felix added triples in CMU's 24-hit attack to give Caleb Ruter plenty of run support. Ruter (4-0) allowed two runs on six hits through five innings, striking out six and walking four. Jacob Rhoades finished up, allowing five runs on six hits with three strikeouts.
The teams will wrap up the four-game series and the regular season Saturday with a 9-inning game at noon. The six-team RMAC Tournament begins Wednesday, May 8 at The Diamond at Bus Bergman Sports Complex.
