GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – It was a battle of two of the best teams in NCAA Division II Baseball battling it out in Game Three of the NCAA South Central Super Regional. Colorado Mesa and UT Tyler traded punches most of the night but in the end, it was the Patriots that came out on top in an 8-5 win on Saturday (May 23) evening in front of 1,854 people at The Diamond at Hamilton Ballpark.
Colorado Mesa answered each of UT Tyler's scoring runs in the first two innings. In the first inning,
Tate Blasi led the Maverick side off with a home run to right center field to cut the initial Patriot lead to one.
After UT Tyler scored two in the top of the second, the Mavericks answered with two of their own. Blasi picked up a second RBI on a sacrifice fly while
Jackson Lapiner drew a bases loaded walk.
The Patriots scored four unanswered before the Mavericks got two back in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run double by
Joey Blank to make it 8-5.
Colorado Mesa had their opportunities throughout the game but left 14 runners on base with 11 of those in scoring position.
Joey Blank finished the game 3-for-4 with two RBIs while
Rocco DiFrancesco and
Tate Blasi each had two hits.
Starter
Rafael Espinoza was pinned with the loss and fell to 6-1 on the season.
Senior
Sage Ferguson pitched the final two and two-thirds innings for the Mavericks and recorded six strikeouts with his fastball topping out at 96mph.
Colorado Mesa finishes the season with a record of 53-7 which ties the program record for wins in a season.
