Baseball Falls in Weekend Series Against Mesa

Rachel Heaton

The Paw Print

Fresh off their sweep of Colorado Christian last weekend, the Adams State University baseball team hosted the Mavericks of Mesa State University for a four-game series beginning on Thursday afternoon. The Mavericks entered the series ranked thirteenth in the nation.

The weekend proved to be a tough matchup for the Grizzlies as they fell in all four games. On Thursday, Mesa topped the Grizzlies 21-2, putting up 21 hits compared to the Grizzlies’ five. Jeffrey Schmitt (Cheyenne, Wyo.) got the start for ASU and threw 3.2 innings before being relieved by Trevor Kriesel (Flagstaff, Ariz.).

Mesa jumped out to an early lead, scoring on a two-out single to right field in the first inning and adding five more runs in the fourth inning, including a grand slam by Colton Little.

ASU was finally able to get on the board in the bottom of the third when Jared Esquivel (Falcon, Colo.) scored courtesy of a single to left by Chris Morley (Westminster, Colo.).

Mesa scored five more runs in the fourth and hit a two-run homerun in the fifth followed by a solo shot in the sixth. The Grizzlies’ only other run of the game came in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Dillon Granzella (Salida, Colo.). The Mavericks went on to score four runs in the seventh and three more in the ninth to finally put the Grizzlies away.

Friday’s first game was the first of two seven-inning contests and saw the Grizzlies go down 5-14. Again, the Mavericks out-hit the Grizzlies, 20-6. Mesa scored eight runs in the first three innings and the Grizzlies were yet again unable to score until they put up three runs in the third inning. These three runs came on a three-run shot from D.J. Knott (Windsor, Colo.).

Mesa then added three runs in the fourth, two in the fifth, and one in the seventh. The Grizzlies only other runs came in the seventh on a two-run homerun by Drew Wold (Aurora, Colo.).

The second game of the afternoon ended with a final score of 9-2 in favor of Mesa. Ryker English (Fort Collins, Colo.) was on the mound for ASU and threw five complete innings. Both teams scored in the opening inning, with the Grizzlies’ run coming on an RBI single by Drew Wells (Westminster, Colo.).

In the end, it was Mesa’s five-run third inning that seemed to be the difference maker in the contest, as the ASU held the Mavericks to only three total runs in the remaining innings. Morley was 2-3 in the game, including an RBI single in the third and Taylor Maples (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was 2-2. Together the Grizzlies combined for eight hits while holding the Mavericks to seven.

On Saturday, the Grizzlies fell 15-5 after giving up eight runs in the ninth inning. The Mavericks were out to a 5-1 lead in the third, with ASU’s one run coming on an RBI double by Jaron Dorchinez (Englewood, Colo.). However, the Grizzlies rallied in the bottom of the score to even things up. Knott hit a three run homerun, which was his team-leading sixth homerun of the season, to put ASU within one. Then Dorchinez drove in a run on a single up the middle to tie the score at 5-5.

Mesa hit a lead-off homerun in the five and tacked on another run in the sixth before unleashing eight runs in the ninth, which included a three-run homerun.

With the losses, Adams State falls to 7-22 overall and 6-12 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. This coming weekend, they travel to Golden, Colo. to take on Colorado School of Mines in another four-game series beginning on Friday at 6pm.