By Jordan Long
The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks’ baseball team entered the South Central Regional as the #2 seed. They traveled to San Angelo, Texas, to join 5 other teams. Mesa ended up winning the regional to advance to the Division II World Series for the third time in school history. Let’s take a look back at how they won it.
Mesa started the regional against St. Edwards on Thursday. The tournament was double elimination. Mesa never trailed in this game. The big inning for them was in the 6th when they scored 4 of their 11 runs. Mesa added 13 hits, played solid defense and didn’t have an error.
On Friday games were moved to Saturday because of weather. They faced Lubbock Christian. This was a tight game throughout. Lubbock Christian scored a run in the 2nd inning. In the 3rd inning Mesa responded with 2 runs to take a 2-1 lead. They extended their lead to 3-2 on a Bligh Madris sacrifice fly that scored PJ Gonzalez in the 5th. Lubbock Christian wasn’t going to go down that easily scoring a run in the 6th inning but Mesa held on for the 3-2 victory.
Next up was the host school, Angelo State University, on Sunday. Angelo State was playing to keep their season alive. One more loss and their season would end. It was a scoreless game until the 5th inning. The Mavs scored one run that inning. They blew the game open in the 6th with 3 runs. That was more than enough as they advanced to the championship with a 4-0 triumph.
Heading into Monday’s championship game, they were the only team left undefeated. If they lost game one Monday morning, then they would need to play a winner take all in the afternoon. Standing in their way was Arkansas Fort Smith who was the #6 seed. Mesa dominated on their way to an 8-1 win to earn their way back to the Division 2 World series.
This marks their third trip to the World Series. In 2009, they made it for the first time in school history. Unfortunately, it was a short journey, lasting three games, going 1-2. In 2014 Mesa went all the way to the National Championship Game but lost to the University Of Southern Indiana 3-2 in 12 innings.
Mesa has played well to get themselves back to the Division 2 World Series. They would like nothing better than to come back to Grand Junction, Colorado as National Champions. They will start play on Sunday. No matter what happens in the Division 2 World Series in Grand Prairie, Texas, it has been a memorable year, one that I will remember for a long time.
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