No. 9 Dixie State wrapped up its 2017 home-opening series on a sour note as the Trailblazers could not hold on to a late lead and fell to No. 8 Colorado Mesa, 7-6, Sunday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field. DSU dropped three of four to CMU in the series to move to 5-3 overall, while the Mavericks improved to 3-1 to begin their season.
Junior righthander Preston Hannay (Murray, Utah/Murray HS) (ND) pitched well early as he held the Maverick offense to one hit and faced the minimum through his first 2.2 innings of work. However CMU managed to solve Hannay late in the third inning as the Mavericks strung together five-consecutive two-out hits, including a two-run home run from lead-off hitter Matt Haggerty and a two-RBI double from Bligh Madris, to bolt out to a 4-0 lead.
Dixie State cut the deficit in the home half of the fourth with a pair of runs on a Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS) RBI single and a Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) sacrifice fly. The Trailblazers then tied the game at 4-4 one inning later thanks to a Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) bunt single and a run-scoring groundout by Porter.
Trailing 5-4 in the eighth, the Trailblazers loaded the bases with no outs thanks to consecutive singles from Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) and Ryan Rodriguez (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago HS) and a Trey Reineke (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill HS) walk. Maverick reliever Brick Paskiewicz (W, 1-0) would enter the game and got CMU within an out of getting out of the jam after inducing a 1-2-3 double play, but Dixie State came up with a pair of clutch hits to drive in the two remaining DSU baserunners and take its first lead of the game at 6-5.
Bryce Feist (Emmett, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) laced a liner that was knocked down by a diving Will Dixon at first base, which drove in Rodriguez, and Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) singled to right field on the first pitch he saw from Paskiewicz to bring home Reineke carrying the go-ahead run.
Colorado Mesa would reclaim the lead in the ninth with a pair of unearned after a costly one-out error on the DSU infield after Haggarty reached with a base hit. DSU closer Tyler Burdett (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) (L, 0-1) retired the next batter he faced on a fly out, but Madris pounced on Burdett's first offering for a two-run double to right field to give CMU the 7-6 advantage.
Dixie State had one last chance in the bottom of the ninth as Kamachi and Porter both reached on Paskieiwicz walks. CMU coach Chris Hanks called Madris (S, 1) in from right field to the mound and the righthander uncorked a wild pitch on his first throw to advance both DSU baserunners into scoring position. Madris intentionally walked Bice three pitches later to load the bases, then struck out pinch hitter Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) and Reineke, and got Jake Davison (Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS) to foul out to the catcher to end the game.
Dixie State lost despite outhitting CMU 15-12 as six Trailblazers collected at least two hits, led by Feist who came off the bench to go 3-for-3 with an RBI and run scored, while McLaughlin, Kamachi, Porter, Rodriguez and Tyler Mildenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS) each finished with two hits.
Madris led CMU with three hits and four RBI, and picked up the save his first save of the year for good measure, while Haggarty went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Dixie State returns to action next weekend with three games against two opponents at Bruce Hurst Field. DSU will play Concordia (OR) and Saint Martin's in a split doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 17, at 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. DSU will also play SMU in a single game on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m.
