The #22 Colorado Mesa University Mavericks finished off the four-game series sweep of Fort Lewis College Skyhawks today in devastating fashion, winning the first game 17-1, in five innings, and the second game 9-8 in extra innings.
The Mavericks, 28-4 overall and 21-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, were a force to be reckoned with all weekend long, averaging nearly 11 runs per game and only allowing about four runs per game.
The Skyhawks, 4-29 overall and 3-21 in the RMAC, struggled to get the offense going all weekend, with the exception being the final game of the series. The pitching and Skyhawk defense could not do anything to stop the high powered offense of the Mavericks.
In the first game of the day, Mesa’s sophomore pitcher McKenzie Surface was dominant throughout the majority of the contest. She had a perfect game going through three innings and ended the game only giving up three hits, one walk, and one earned run.
The Mavs blew the game wide open with a seven run third inning and a seven run fourth inning that was capped off by a moonshot grand slam by Mesa sophomore Jessica Boruff.
Skyhawk pitching could not figure out a good strategy to attack Mesa hitters at all in the first game. Starter, freshman Kelly Decker, allowed six earned runs in 2+ innings pitched. Relievers Olivia Bratt allowed seven earned runs and Megan Redd allowed four earned runs in their relief appearances.
FLC head coach Elle Fracker said the team needs to play more consistently. She liked the way that the team played in games one and four of the series but the 15-3 loss in game two and the 17-1 loss in game three were obviously unacceptable.
FLC came to play in the final game of the day and the series though. Skyhawks senior pitcher Olivia Goldberg, who pitched a complete game yesterday, faced off against Surface, who started her second game of the day after only pitching about 80 pitches in the first contest.
The scoring was kicked off in the top of the second inning when Maverick junior Andy Hancock hit a sacrifice fly to give Mesa a 1-0 lead.
Skyhawk senior Yaya Rosthenhausler answered back for FLC in the bottom of the third when she brought home fellow senior Mandy Owens to tie the game up at 1-1.
Fracker was livid after the third inning when freshman Allison Young singled and Rosthenhausler tried to score on the play. Rosthenhausler was called out at home on a controversial call and Fracker was furious with the umps, who then conversed and agreed that the runner was out at the plate. It was the second straight inning that ended with a Skyhawk being tagged out at the plate on a bang-bang play.
“What I saw was that the catcher made a tag with the ball in her throwing hand and made the tag with the glove and after the tag was made she was standing there separated,” Fracker said. “I’m not sure what they saw but it is a judgment call and at the end of the day we need to be better than that.”
The Mavs scored two in the top of the fourth and four more in the top of the fifth to give the Mavericks a seemingly insurmountable lead of six runs.
The Skyhawks had something to say about that though. Rosthenhausler picked up her second RBI of the day on a single and Young hit an RBI single to bring the lead down to four runs at 7-3.
Skyhawk sophomore Gianna Melgerano slammed an RBI double off the fence to bring the lead to just three with cleanup hitter, sophomore Angelique Elemen, coming up to bat. Elemen tied the game up at seven with a three-run boomer to left-center field, her second homer of the weekend.
The sixth and seventh innings were scoreless, but both teams had their chances to score the winning runs.
The game went to extra innings. Neither team scored in the eighth but fireworks started up in the ninth. Sophomore Skyhawk Madison Stanich, who was pitching very well in relief, finally showed a chink in her armor when she allowed to runs in the top of the ninth inning.
Going to the bottom of the ninth, the Skyhawks needed two runs to tie and three to win the game in a walk-off but they could only muster one. Melgerano and Elemen both had hits to start the inning, with Elemen being the game-tying run. The bottom of the order could not bring Elemen home, so the Mavericks won the game 9-8 in nine innings.
“It’s nice to see that after a tough loss that we can come back with it, but as we grow with a young team we have to learn to win those games, especially against a good team,” Fracker said.