GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The top-ranked Colorado Mesa baseball team advanced to Championship of the RMAC Baseball Tournament after a pair of wins on Friday (May 8) afternoon at The Diamond at Hamilton Ballpark.
Colorado Mesa 11, UCCS 4 (UCCS eliminated)
Rafael Espinoza pitched eight innings and led the Colorado Mesa baseball team to an 11-4 win over the UCCS Mountain Lions in the first game of the day for the Mavericks.
Espinoza didn't allow through five innings of work and didn't allow a run until the eighth inning. The Imperial, Calif. native allowed one run on five hits, walked one and struck out five in his season-high eight innings of work.
The junior got plenty of help from his 'fresh' lineup that had three players making their RMAC Tournament debut in the starting lineup on Friday morning.
Brooks Bachman,
Jackson Lapiner, and
Keegan Landis combined to bat 8-for-12 with six runs scored.
Tate Blasi started in center field and provided plenty of offense. Blasi went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and five runs driven in. He hit the first of his two home runs in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run oppo taco shot to right field before a solo shot to left center in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Kolby Felix finished the game with 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two runs driven in.
Colorado Mesa 10, MSU Denver 2
The Colorado Mesa Mavericks and MSU Denver Roadrunners were all knotted at 2-2 entering the seventh inning of play. But the Mavericks scored eight unanswered in the final three innings to claim a 10-2 win and earned a spot in the RMAC Tournament Championship game.
The Mavericks scored three runs in the seventh inning behind
Tate Blasi scoring on a wild pitch, a
Kennedy Hara RBI single and
Chase Davidson scoring on an early break play in the inning.
Kolby Felix added to the cushion in the top of the eighth inning on his 17
th home run of the season. Felix sent a 3-2 pitch over the wall in center field on the seventh pitch of the at-bat giving the Mavericks a 6-2 lead.
Colorado Mesa added four in the top of the ninth that included a three-run home run by
Joey Blank and a RBI single by
Kolby Felix.
Blank picked up the three-run home run on a 2-2 count and gave the Mavericks a 9-2 lead at the time. The junior finished the game 3-for-5 with a run scored and the three runs driven in.
Felix had the final RBI of the game as he had the run scoring single to right field. He went 3-for-6 with two runs scored and two runs driven in.
Alex Jennings earned the win on the mound in relief of starter
Caleb Ruter who went four and two-thirds and allowed two runs on six hits, walked two and struck out four.
Jennings moved his record to 2-0 on the season after allowing one hit and two strikeouts in two innings of work.
Colorado Mesa advances to Saturday's RMAC Championship Game against the winner of Colorado School of Mines and MSU Denver at approximately 4:30pm.
