GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Less than 24 hours after taking a gut-punching walk-off defeat to open the four-game non-conference series, the Chico State baseball team returned to The Diamond and dropped the doubleheader matchup Saturday to Colorado Mesa.
The first game was a tight battle in the scoring column, but the Mavericks' potent offense came up clutch in the eighth to break a seven-run tie and take the win 11-7. The nightcap of the twinbill saw the Wildcats beat themselves with too many walks and errors that proved to be costly as the Mavericks ran away to a 13-5 result to take the series win.
Chico State (20-15) will hope to salvage a victory in the series finale as it faces Colorado Mesa (26-11) Sunday at 11 a.m. Pacific Time.
Troy Kent went 4-for-6 on the day with a double and one RBI while Alexander Johnson had three hits but scored four times. Daniel Vierra had three of the Wildcats' 11 RBIs in both games.
Kevin Lyons took the ball in game one, throwing seven innings with four strikeouts and allowing three earned runs on four walks and hits each.
Down by 6-4 in the fourth inning of game one, the Wildcats played a bit of small ball to score three runs. Michael Baker led off with a walk, jogged over to second on a balk called and Elijah Pascual singled to put runners at the corners with no one out. Following a pitching change, Ernie Arambula hit into a groundout that was enough to score in Baker. Johnson was hit by the pitch and back-to-back singles from Kent and Vierra brought in the two runs to give Chico State a 7-6 lead.
Colorado Mesa would eventually tie the game in the fifth inning with runners at the corners, it appeared a double steal was attempted, and it was enough for the tying run to score. The Mavericks broke the tie in the eighth inning with a leadoff home run followed by three consecutive RBI hits, one of which was a double.
Much like the series opener on Friday, the Wildcats opened the third game by scoring four runs. Johnson and Kent started off with singles to put runners at the corners, Vierra hit into a fielder's choice that allowed the Johnson to score. Vierra took third on an error and scored when Stefan Foley hit a single up the middle. Phoenix Casias and Michael Baker each both doubled that helped bring two more runs across and give the Wildcats a 4-0 lead.
The Mavericks would then capitalize on three errors within the first two innings to score in five runs and take the lead. Colorado Mesa would eventually score in every inning except for the sixth. Patrick Barnum was able to silence the Mavericks in that inning despite giving up a single and a walk.
