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Box Score 2 GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — If the No. 12 Colorado Mesa baseball team is to win its third straight and 23rd overall RMAC Tournament championship, the Mavericks will have to do it the hard way.
After a comeback attempt fell short in a 12-10 loss Friday afternoon to MSU Denver in the semifinal at The Diamond at Hamilton Ballpark, the Mavericks handled Adams State 11-4 Friday night. They must beat the Roadrunners twice Saturday to claim the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional playoffs.
Ranked third in the region, the Mavs (39-12) are a shoo-in for one of six spots, but the Roadrunners are No. 8 in the region and need to win the tournament to guarantee themselves a spot, and they've played that way all week.
After Adams State upset second-seeded Regis 5-1 to knock the Rangers, ranked fifth in the region, out of the tournament, the Mavericks wasted no time against the Grizzlies, taking control in the second inning.
What started out as a strikeout/wild pitch that allowed TJ Rheem to reach first base ended up as a seven-run inning for the Mavericks, with 11 men going to the plate.
Rocco DiFrancesco followed Rheem with an RBI double to the gap in right-center. With one out and two on, Paul Schoenfeld singled to left to get two more runs home. Kolby Felix got Schoenfeld home with a double, and after Cameron Cartwright walked, Stevenson Reynolds hit his second home run of the day and 10th of the season, a 3-run shot to right center. Rheem singled, but Stefanos flied out to center, leaving the Mavs with a 7-1 lead.
That was plenty of cushion for Gauge Lockhart, who threw five solid innings for the win, allowing three runs on five hits. He walked four and struck out six, turning it over to redshirt senior Spye Turnbaugh in the sixth.
A crowd favorite who had thrown only 4 1/3 innings all season, Turnbaugh nearly doubled that, going four innings, allowing one run on three hits. He walked one and struck out three, receiving a huge ovation when Phil Carter took a called third strike to end the game. He was bear-hugged by his teammates as he ran off the field with his first save.
His performance allowed CMU to save plenty of arms for what they hope is a long day at the ballpark Saturday. The first game is at 1 p.m., with the if-necessary title game starting one hour after the final out.
Schoenfeld went 3 for 5 and drove in three runs against Adams State (19-35), Reynolds added three more RBI to his total and Cartwright raised his batting average to .460 by going 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles. Stefanos got the start at designated hitter and responded with a double and a home run, his seventh of the season.
CMU spotted MSU Denver (33-20) an 8-1 lead after two innings, but chipped away and had a chance to walk it off, getting the leadoff hitter on base, but couldn't complete the rally.
Thanks to a combined nine RBI from Cartwright (5) and Reynolds (4), the Mavericks got back in the game after a shaky start from Liam Hohenstein, who allowed seven runs in one inning of work. He faced three batters in the second inning, failing to record an out, before Jordan Pace came in from the bullpen. By then the Roadrunners were up 6-1 and added two more before the Mavericks got out of the inning and finally got their bats going.
Reynolds hit a three-run home run in the third to get Colorado Mesa back in it at 8-4, but MSU Denver scratched out two runs in the fifth on an RBI triple and a throwing error. Reynolds drove in his fourth run of the game with a base hit in the bottom of the inning and Cartwright hit a solo home run in the sixth, again getting the Mavs within range, 10-6.
However, the Roadrunners, who had 17 hits off five CMU pitchers, got a huge 2-run home run from Andrew Graham off Brenden Morris in the eighth inning.
That shot to left center proved to be the difference, because in the bottom of the eighth, Preston Winget walked, Kennedy Hara was hit by a pitch and Felix drew a one-out walk.
That walk came after Schoenfeld flied out to center field, ending his 28-game hitting streak, three shy of Joe Dirnberger's program record of 31.
The walk got Cartwright to the plate, though, and he crushed a 438-foot grand slam to left, again clearing the bullpen, cutting the deficit to 12-10. It was his 18th home run of the season and third of the tournament.
TJ Rheem singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth, but Reynolds lined out, pinch-hitter Brent Renteria struck out and Hara's ground ball forced Rheem at second to put the Mavs in Friday night's elimination game.
Cartwright and Reynolds each had three hits for CMU. Rheem, who came on as a pinch hitter and stayed into play second, finished 2 for 2 and was the only other Maverick with multiple hits.
