GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Chalk up a 13th consecutive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular-season title for the No. 12 Colorado Mesa University baseball team.
The Mavericks, who have won six games in a row, clinched at least a share of the conference title Thursday with a 14-7 win over MSU Denver on Fireworks Night at Suplizio Field. They can claim the outright title with one more victory in the three remaining games of the series or one Regis loss against Adams State.
The Mavericks (34-10, 24-3 RMAC) wasted no time Thursday, putting up four runs in the bottom of the first inning in front of a crowd of 1,638.
Paul Schoenfeld extended his hitting streak to 23 games with a leadoff single, and back-to-back doubles off the center field wall by Cameron Cartwright and Ethan Nunez put the Mavs up 3-0. After Nunez was bunted to third by Declan Wiesner, Joey Blank made it 4-0 with an RBI single up the middle.
MSU Denver (29-18, 21-8) tied it with four runs in the fourth inning off starter Andrew Pogue, but the Mavs responded with three in the bottom half of the inning. Schoenfeld singled up the middle to score Ethan Ezor, who led off the inning with a base hit, and he and Kennedy Hara, who was hit by a pitch, moved up on Kolby Felix's sacrifice bunt.
Cartwright followed with a two-run single to left for a 7-4 lead.
The Mavs put up six runs in the bottom of the seventh, highlighted by Blank's three-run home run, before the Roadrunners scored three in the eighth off Ethan Voss (7-1), who relieved Pogue in the fourth. CMU tacked on another run in the bottom of the eighth, and turned the game over to Tristan Wolf, who retired all three batters he faced, including ending the game with a strikeout.
Cartwright and Blank drove in four runs each for the Mavericks, who pounded out 15 hits off four MSU Denver pitchers. Cartwright went 3 for 4, Blank 2 for 4 and Ezor was 3 for 3 from the No. 8 spot in the lineup. Maverick batters struck out only twice and drew six walks, with three more batters getting hit by pitches. Each team committed two errors, but for the second straight series, the Mavs turned a tough double play started by the first baseman.
In the sixth inning with a runner at first, Gavin Schmeh grounded to first. Stevenson Reynolds charged the ball and threw to Hara at second, with Voss hustling to first for the return throw.
The Mavericks also pulled off a double steal and in the seventh inning, Reynolds stole home when Hara, who had reached on an error, got in a rundown. As Hara was diving back safely to first base, Reynolds sprinted down the line for an 11-4 run. With Hara on second after a wild pitch, Schoenfeld drew a walk, with ball four sailing to the backstop. Hara not only took third, but scored on the wild pitch, with Schoenfeld ending up on second, then scoring on a base hit by Cartwright.
Roadrunner starter Nolan Livesy (8-2) took the loss, allowing seven runs on eight hits through 3 1/3 innings.
Voss allowed three runs on four hits. He and Pogue each struck out five and walked three.
Friday's doubleheader begins at 3 p.m. at The Diamond at Hamilton Ballpark, with Saturday's regular-season finale moved up one hour to noon. Senior Day festivities begin at 11:40 a.m., with 23 players being honored.
The RMAC Tournament begins Wednesday, May 7, at The Diamond. Pairings and game times will be announced by the conference after Saturday's final day of the regular season.
