GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa University softball team scrapped a game four walk off victory this afternoon as they split their final day doubleheader against UCCS at CMU Softball Field.
The Mavericks fell in game one of the day 13-3, before then bouncing back to finish the weekend with a win in game four as they walked it off in eight innings, 9-8.
The Mavs dropped their first conference series of the season with the loss in game one as they had won the previous five.
Colorado Mesa is now 18-14 (17-7 RMAC) while sitting in a tie for third place of the conference. The Mountain Lions moved to 20-13 (14-10 RMAC) and are in sixth place.
Below is a short recap of each game:
GAME 1 (UCCS 13, CMU 3):
The Mavs suffered a tough loss to start their day as they were on the wrong end of a hit barrage that lasted the full seven innings.
The Mountain Lions scored in five innings of the game while totaling 21 hits and putting up four crooked numbers.
They began with four runs in the first inning to lead early before then adding two runs in both the third and fifth.
They later added one run in the sixth inning before closing out the game with another four-spot in the top of the seventh.
The Mavs three runs all came from home runs with Khloe Kubitschek and April Neill driving them in.
Kubitschek had a two-run home run in second inning while Neill's was a solo shot in the fifth.
Neill's long ball was also the first of her collegiate career.
The Mavs had seven hits in the loss but struggled with runners on base as they stranded eight of them.
Three pitchers combined to complete the game with Sophia Tassinari being charged with the loss. Marisa Nehm and Lacie Rodabaugh finished the game in relief.
GAME 2 (CMU 9, UCCS 8; 8 inn.):
Avoiding the sweep in game four, the Mavs played to a back-and-forth battle to finish the series as they reigned victorious in extra innings.
This was just the second time this season that CMU has played in extras with them last doing so on Feb. 22 in a 4-3 win over Regis University in eight innings.
Today a similar story was held as there were three lead changes and two instances of the score being tied.
UCCS first led in the game with them scoring in the second inning and going up 1-0 after a pair of singles brought them ahead.
Colorado Mesa was able to bring it back to one apiece in the third inning though as Molli Magaña singled in a run for the Mavs' as well.
In the fourth, a combined nine runs were scored by the two teams with the Mountain Lions' having five of them and CMU having four.
UCCS used five hits and a three-run home run to help make that five spot happen.
The Mavs trailed 6-1 after the top of inning but responded with four hits in the bottom of the frame to keep the game close.
Jackie Oster had a double to bring in the first of the four runs with Brynn Escobar later having a double as well for another RBI hit.
Ava Stephens and Magaña followed up with back-to-back singles after Escobar to make the score just a one-run differential.
The fifth and sixth innings were scoreless as pitching limited both offenses briefly before chaos erupted in the seventh.
The Mountain Lions began that inning by scoring two runs on a pair of sacrifice flies with them now leading by three with just three outs left to play.
Colorado Mesa, however, had different plans as they rallied to tie the game up at eight all.
Oster brought in the first two runs of that rally with a triple to left field to make the initial push before Cailynn Parsons followed her up with a single to the six-hole which allowed Oster to score.
The Mavs had two runners on with a chance to win the game in regulation after Parsons' at bat but were narrowly put away after a ground out to the pitcher.
UCCS had a runner get into scoring position in the top of eighth to potentially take the lead again, but solid pitching and defense would prevent the runner from scoring.
In the bottom of the frame the Mavs were able to load the bases on three singles with Paige Pierce then having the game-winning at bat as she hit the ball to short stop who then threw it away when trying to get the runner at home.
The Mavs battled back to outhit the Mountain Lions 15-12 in the series finale while having five players with multi-hit performances. Magaña led all of that group while going 3-for-5.
Marisa Nehm earned the win in the circle to back the offense as she went 4.2 innings in relief and allowed just two runs on four hits over her 20 batters faced.
UP NEXT:
The Mavs will play to a quick turnaround now as they head to Southern Colorado for their next matchup when they take on CSU Pueblo on April 2 (Thurs.) and 3 (Fri.) in Pueblo, Colorado. Game time is set for a noon start on Thursday and 11 a.m. on Friday.
