No. 9 Dixie State opened the home portion of its 2017 regular season slate with a hard-fought split of a Friday doubleheader vs. No. 8 Colorado Mesa at Bruce Hurst Field. CMU (1-1) withstood a late Trailblazer charge to take the opener, 10-8 in 12 innings, while DSU (4-1) bounced back to take the nightcap in seven innings, 5-2.
In game one, the Mavericks struck quickly for a first-inning run on a two-out Andrew Contreras solo home run to take an early 1-0 lead. Dixie State used the long ball to get on the scoreboard in the fourth as Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) spotted the Trailblazers a 2-1 lead with a two-run shot to right field off of CMU starter JR McDermott (ND), which came after a two-out Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) single extended the inning.
CMU wrestled the lead right back in the fifth as the Mavericks erupted for five runs and four hits off of DSU starter Dylan File (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (ND), with the big blow coming on a Kyle Cerrano grand slam. The Mavericks would tack on another run one inning later on a Zach McLeod RBI-double to extend their lead to 7-2.
Dixie State slowly chipped away at the deficit, plating a run in the home half the sixth on a Ryan Rodriguez (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago HS) RBI-single, followed by a Tyler Mildenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS) run-scoring bunt single in the seventh to draw DSU to within 7-4.
The Trailblazers would pull even at 7-7 in the eighth as DSU sent eight hitters to the plate and scored three runs on five hits in the rally. Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) drove home the first run on a sacrifice fly, while Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) and Mildenberg reached on consecutive two-out RBI-singles to tie the game. McLaughlin would advance to third on the Mildenberg hit, but the Maverick bullpen induced a Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS) groundout to preserve the tie.
Dixie State would have the potential game-winning run on third in the ninth inning as Bice reached on a one-out double to left and took third on a two-out wild pitch. But again the Mavericks managed to escape the jam to force extra innings.
After a scoreless 10th-frame, CMU pushed across a run in its half of the 11th to reclaim the lead at 8-7, but Bice would pull DSU even again with a one-out RBI-double after a Maverick fielding error. The Mavericks then took the lead for good in the 12th, cashing in two costly Trailblazer miscues to plate two unearned runs. Maverick reliever Jarrett Bott (W, 1-0) would work around two DSU hits in the bottom of the frame to close out the game.
Bice went 4-for-4 with two doubles, three RBI and two runs scored to lead DSU, while Mildenberg collected three hits and two RBI as DSU outhit CMU 17-16. File struck out five, but was touched up for seven runs and eight hits in 5.1 innings. Five DSU relievers combined to limit CMU to three runs (one earned) and eight hits over the final 6.2 innings.
In the nightcap, the Trailblazers broke open a scoreless game with a decisive four-run third inning to lead 4-0. Mildenberg got DSU on the board with a one-out RBI-single, while Porter drove home two on a double and Lucero capped the rally with a run-scoring flyout. CMU trimmed the lead to 4-1 in the fourth on a Greg Reynolds RBI-triple, but DSU got the run right back in the home half of the stanza thanks to a Tyler Baker (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS) sacrifice fly out to left field to plate Kamachi.The run support was more than enough for junior lefthander Matt
Mosca (W, 2-0), who fanned two and scattered six hits and one run over five innings of work. CMU would mount a late charge in the seventh as a two-out DSU error led to an unearned run and brought the potential tying run to the plate, but Trailblazer reliever Walker Williams (Grand Junction, Colo./Fruita Monument HS) (S, 1) came on to induce a groundout to end the game.
DSU finished with six hits in game two, including two safeties apiece for McLaughlin and Kamachi.
Dixie State and CMU will continue their four-game series with a single game Saturday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field beginning at 1 p.m.
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