NAMPA, Idaho – The No. 24 Colorado Mesa baseball team got back to its winning ways on Friday (Feb. 21) afternoon as the Mavericks swept a doubleheader from the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks at Vail Field.
In game one of the doubleheader, the Mavericks received solid pitching and some timely hitting to snap a three-game losing streak with a 6-2 win over the Nighthawks in the nine-inning affair.
The Mavericks scored first in the game with a bases loaded walk drawn by
Kennedy Hara that forced in
Stevenson Reynolds. But, in the bottom half of the inning the Nighthawks were able to even things up on an RBI single to center field to make it 1-1 after two innings.
Colorado Mesa regained the lead after scoring four unanswered runs.
Joey Blank had an RBI groundout followed by a
Max Valdez RBI single to right field all of which happened in the top half of the fifth inning.
In the sixth inning, third baseman
Josh Romans hit a sharply hit line drive to center field that made the defender slip and fall.
Cameron Cartwright scored on the play and Romans made it all the way around to score on the inside-the-park home run to give the Mavericks a 5-1 lead after six innings of action.
After Northwest Nazarene scored a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 5-2,
Kolby Felix belted his second home run of the season, a no-doubter to left field to get the run back and gave the Mavericks the decisive 6-2 victory.
Starting pitcher
Ethan Voss faced traffic in every inning but was able to work his way out of it. He allowed one run on eight hits, walked two and struck out three in his six innings of work to push his season record to 2-1.
Four relievers kept the Nighthawk bats at bay as they combined to go three innings and allowed one run on two hits, walked three and struck out four.
In the night cap, the Mavericks trailed 4-0 after three innings but completed the comeback and held on for a 6-5 win over Northwest Nazarene.
The comeback trail began in the fourth inning on a
Christos Stefanos single to right field that plated
Kolby Felix.
The Mavericks plated one in the fifth inning on a one-out single up the middle to make it 4-2. They an opportunity to score more but an inning ending double play with the bases loaded thwarted that chance.
In the sixth inning, Colorado Mesa took the lead for the first time on a 3-run jack by
Stevenson Reynolds that brought in
Declan Wiesner and
Max Valdez. The three-run homer came after the first two batters of the inning were retired.
Kolby Felix added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning as he hit his second home run of the day and third of the season to make it 6-4.
Northwest Nazarene gave it a run in the bottom half of the inning. The Nighthawks first two batters of the inning reached base before the Mavericks brought in one of their bullpen aces in
Cayden Clark. The next batter flew out to deep center field and with both runners tagging,
Paul Schoenfeld was able to throw out the runner going from first to second for the unconventional double play.
Clark would allow an RBI single then was able to get the next batter to foul out down the left field line to secure the win.
Gauge Lockhart earned his first win of the season as he pitched three innings of fantastic relief. Lockhart allowed one run on two hits, walked two and struck out four in his second appearance of the season.
Clark picked up his second save of the season as he recorded the final three outs of the game.
The Mavericks and Nighthawks will conclude the series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at Noon.
