GOLDEN, Colo. - #24 Colorado Mesa took two from Colorado School of Mines on Saturday, winning by scores of 8-0 and 6-4.
The Mavericks (22-4, 15-2 RMAC) jumped Mines to move into a tie for first place in the league standings with MSU Denver, who lost a game on Saturday. Mines (17-7, 14-4 RMAC) dropped a spot to third in the RMAC.
Pua Fujinaga went 4-for-5 over the two games to lead Mines at the plate.
GAME 1 - Colorado Mesa 8, Mines 0
McKenzie Surface's three-hit shutout propelled #24 Colorado Mesa to an 8-0 win over Mines in the series opener.
Brooke Hodgson drove in three runs and Kaila Jacobi two as two big innings by the Mavericks took care of their business offensively. AnnMarie Torres' sacrifce fly in the first put them up 1-0, but Hodgson's homer and Sarah Phillis' one-run triple plus an error made it 4-0 in the fourth. In the seventh, CMU padded its lead with a Hodgson two-run double and Jacobi two-run homer to set the final at 8-0.
Pua Fujinaga went 2-for-2 for Mines, including a double, and
Kara Jones had Mines' other hit.
Katie Leiker stole a base after being hit by a pitch.Â
Surface (12-3) struck out six in the shutout.
Claire Stringfellow (7-2) allowed seven earned on two strikeouts for Mines, with
Maddie Rogers working the final two outs.
GAME 2 - Colorado Mesa 6, Mines 4
A spirited seventh-run rally by Mines fell short as the Mavericks held on for a 6-4 game two win.
Trailing 6-1 heading into their final at-bat, Mines put three across in the bottom of the seventh but ran out of time in trying to force extras or win.
Mesa took a 3-0 lead in the first on a Jacobi RBI single and Kellie Mrofcza's two-run base hit, but
Clara Larson's single to score
Paige Noehring in the third cut the lead to 3-1. The Mavs tacked on runs in the fourth and seventh, first with Alex Dufour's single to bring in two runs and then with a Mrofcza double to extend the lead to 6-1.
In the Mines seventh,
Pua Fujinaga led off with a single and pinch-runner
Brielle Asato later scored on a double steal with
Kara Walling.
CJ Bewley's pinch-hit triple scored Walling, and
Kelsey Buechler, re-entering for Bewley, scored off
Clara Larson's groundout for Mines' final run.
Kimbri Herring (7-0) remained unbeaten with six strikeouts and two runs allowed over six. Ty Houkamau threw the ninth and allowed two runs.
Hallie Smith (7-4) struck out two and allowed five earned for Mines.
Larson led Mines at the plate with a 3-for-4 game;
Kara Jones, Fujinaga, and Walling also had two-hit games.
NEXT UP
Mines and Mesa finish their series Sunday with an 11 a.m. start time.
