DENVER, Colo. – The No. 13 Colorado Mesa baseball team saw both ends of the spectrum in a doubleheader sweep of the home standing Regis Rangers on Thursday (Apr. 17) afternoon at Ranger Ballpark.
In a game that lasted over four hours, Colorado Mesa found a way to claw back from two separate large margins to claim the series opening, come-from-behind 16-15 win over the Rangers.
The Mavericks trailed 8-2 after two innings and 13-5 after five innings before scoring 10 unanswered runs to take a 15-13 lead heading to the bottom of the eighth inning. Regis finally answered with two runs in the bottom half of the eighth but then a passed ball in the top of the ninth gave the Mavericks the 16-15 advantage.
Both
Paul Schoenfeld and
Cameron Cartwright extended their hitting streaks as Schoenfeld went 1-for-4 with two runs scored and two runs driven in. Cartwright continued to fuel the offense as he went 4-for-6 with two runs scored, five runs driven in and two round trippers.
Cartwright's first home run of the day was a solo shot in the third inning he followed it up with a two-run shot in the sixth that cut the Ranger lead to 13-7 at the time.
Joey Blank was 3-for-6 with two doubles, a run scored and a run driven in.
Stevenson Reynolds and
Josh Romans each had two hits as well.
The Mavericks used seven pitchers in the game, and they needed each one of them.
Aidan Biaggi was the final pitcher for the Mavs and earned his first win of the season. Biaggi kept the Regis bats at bay the final two innings of no-hit shutout baseball.
The Aurora, Colo. native entered the game in the bottom of the eight with two runners in, the bases loaded with nobody out and the game tied. He got Garrett Rede to groundout to the shortstop who came home with it for the out, then was able to get Midseason Golden Spikes Watch List member Adam Paniagua to strikeout and then induced a fly ball by Ethan Wood for the final out of the inning.
The second game was a little different story as Colorado Mesa pounded out 12 hits and limited one of the top hitting teams in the conference to one run on eight hits in a 14-1 win to complete the doubleheader sweep.
The Mavericks scored in six of the seven innings including a five-run first to extend their lead in the standings to four games with six conference games left on the schedule.
Eight of the Mavericks 12 hits went for extra bases including six doubles and two home runs.
Stevenson Reynolds hit a solo home run in the top of the third while
Christos Stefanos delivered a two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning.
Reynolds finished the game 3-for-4 with a run scored, three runs driven in and had a double to go along with his big fly.
Kolby Felix and
Paul Schoenfeld each had a two hits as well.
Liam Hohenstein earned the start on the mound and picked up the win. Hohenstein (3-3) allowed six hits, two walks and struck out three in four shutout innings to pick up the important win. He gave way to
Andrew Pogue who pitched the final three innings.
Pogue once again had an extended relief appearance as he allowed one run on two hits and struck out two over the final three innings of the game to pick up the rule book save.
The two teams will attempt to play a doubleheader again tomorrow beginning at 11am. If they are unable to play tomorrow due to weather, the doubleheader will be played at the same scheduled times on Saturday.
