GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Hitters continued to feast on opponents' pitching Saturday as the No. 18 Colorado Mesa baseball team swept a doubleheader from Adams State, 15-5 and 20-2, at The Diamond.
In the first three games of the series — the teams wrap it up at noon on Sunday — the Mavericks (25-8, 18-1 RMAC) have outscored the Grizzlies (13-24, 9-10) 51-10. Colorado Mesa has gone to the plate in 19 of 21 innings, winning Friday's nine-inning opener by the run rule in seven innings.
On Saturday, CMU out-hit Adams State 31-11 despite liberally substituting in both games. Only second baseman Joey Blank played the entire first game, and head coach Chris Hanks subbed for every starter in the second game.
Sage Ferguson's performance in relief last weekend earned him a start in Saturday's opener, and he responded with four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four for his second win of the season.
The offense gave him plenty of support, building a 9-0 lead through three innings and taking on two more in the fourth and four in the fifth after the Grizzlies got on the board in the fifth against reliever CJ Zwahlen.
As they did Friday, the Mavericks strung hits together in their big innings, scoring six runs on five hits in the third inning to break the first game open. After Ethan Nuñez walked to lead off the inning, CMU collected four straight hits, starting with an RBI double down the left field line by Cameron Cartwright, a run-scoring base hit up the middle by Stevenson Reynolds and an infield single by Blank.
Declan Wiesner beat out a bunt single to load the bases, and Reynolds scored on a walk by Josh Romans. Kennedy Hara lifted a sacrifice fly to center, Romans stole second and a groundout by Paul Schoenfeld got one run home and Romans to third. A base hit by Kolby Felix got the sixth run of the inning home for a 9-0 lead.
Wiesner hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, his fourth, Schoenfeld banged his third triple of the season off the ball in right-center to get another run home in the fifth ahead of Felix's ninth home run, a two-run shot to right-center.
Four Maverick pitchers combined to strike out nine and walk only two, and the Mavs didn't let up in the second game of the day.
After the Mavericks put up four runs in the bottom of the first inning, three coming on a home run to left field by Blank, his second of the season, the Grizzlies scored a pair of runs off Ethan Voss in the second, the closest they'd been in the series.
Colorado Mesa responded by sending 14 men to the plate, scoring 10 runs on eight hits and one error. In the inning, the Mavs stole six bases, including a double steal by Reynolds and Jack Rogers, and back-to-back steals by Schoenfeld, who had walked. Felix followed with a walk and stole second, and both runners scored when Cartwright's fly ball to the fence in center field was dropped.
Kennedy Hara, who led off the inning, homered in his second at-bat of the frame.
Voss (6-1) allowed two runs on three hits, walked two and struck out four. Cayden Clark, Spye Turnbeaugh and Logan Gross threw one inning each, allowing no runs and no hits. Gross, a freshman from Rifle making his collegiate debut, walked one and struck out two.
Schoenfeld went 3 for 6 and drove in three runs on the day from his leadoff position, but more impressive was his defense. In the opener, he made a circus catch at the wall, which originally was ruled a hit by the umpires, but overturned after Hanks questioned it and the umpires conferred — the second defensive play Hanks had successfully overturned. Schoenfeld turned the out into a double play after the runners advanced and couldn't retreat before he fired the ball to second base.
He also made a diving catch in center field and in the second inning threw a strike to the plate after a base hit to easily get a runner out trying to score from second on a base hit to end the inning.
Blank and Felix both finished the day 4 for 6, with Blank scoring five runs and driving in five, all in the second game, and Felix scored four runs and drove in four.
All but one starter had at least one hit in each game as the Mavericks ran their winning streak to 12 games. TJ Rheem had a pair of hits subbing in at shortstop in the second game and drove in two runs, with he and backup third baseman Keegan Landis each hitting doubles.
The Mavs hit eight doubles, one triple and four home runs in their 31 hits Saturday.
