POMONA, Calif. – The Colorado Mesa baseball team used the long ball and continued its string of good pitching to pick up the first series win of the season after a 6-4 win over the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos on Saturday (Feb. 8) at Scolinos Field.
 
After trailing 2-0 after the first inning, the Mavericks got their first home run of the season off the bat of Stevenson Reynolds on the first pitch he saw in the second inning. Later in the inning, Kennedy Hara hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Christos Stefanos from third to tie the game at two apiece.
 
The Broncos would gain their final lead of the game in the bottom half of the second to make it 3-2.
 
The Mavericks took the lead for good in the fourth inning as they scored a pair of runs in the inning. Hara drove in his second run of the game on an RBI single to right field followed by an RBI single by Ethan Ezor that scored Joey Blank on the play to make it 4-3.
 
Kolby Felix extended the lead in the top of the fifth inning with his first home run of he season. He sent a 1-1 pitch over the fence in left center field to give the Mavericks a 5-3 lead.
 
After the Broncos cut the lead to one in the sixth inning on a home run, Paul Schoenfeld gave the Mavericks an insurance run in the top half of the eighth inning when he sent a 0-1 pitch over the wall in right field to make it 6-4 in favor of Colorado Mesa.
 
Schoenfeld, Felix, and Hara all finished with two hits while Christos Stefanos finished with three hits and two runs scored. Second baseman Joey Blank finished the game 4-for-5 with a run scored to lead the Mavericks at the plate.
 
Senior David Craig got the start on the mound in the series finale and pitched the first three innings of the game but did not factor into the decision.
 
Fellow senior Jordan Pace relieved Craig and pitched the next three and two-thirds innings to earn his first win of the season. Pace allowed one run on three hits and struck out two in 49 pitches during his first appearance of the season.
 
Newcomer Cayden Clark closed the game out as he pitched the final two and a third innings to earn his first save in a Maverick uniform. Clark allowed just one hit and struck out two in his first appearance of the season.
 
Colorado Mesa will continue their season opening road trip next week as they head back to California for a three-game series with the Chico State Wildcats in Northern California. The series is scheduled to begin on Thursday February 13.