GRAND JUNCTION, Fla. (April 15, 2023) - Rollins has a made a habit of falling behind this season, but unlike ten of their previous wins, they were not able to complete a comeback on Friday night as they fell 10-8 against #12 Colorado Mesa. The Tars now stand at 25-10 on the season.
The Mavericks jumped ahead early in the first inning. Rollins put two men on in the top half, but failed to score. Mesa did not make the same mistake as a two-run home run from Conrad Villafuerte put them ahead early. It was the first home run allowed by starter
Nick Berger all season.
Colorado Mesa added two more runs in the second on back-to-back RBI singles to go up 4-0. That lead then extended to 7-0 when they added a three-run home run off the bat of Harrison Rodgers in the third inning.
Rollins made it a game in the fifth, finally breaking through against starter Jacob Rhoades.
Spencer Sarringar led off with a single, followed by a walk to
Joey Rubin. After a flyout,
Jeslyn Whitehead brought home Sarringar with a single. A walk to
Ryan Coleman loaded the bases, and
Cameron Meehan came through in a big way. The senior outfielder blasted a grand slam over the right field wall to clear the bases and make it 7-5.
Mesa was able to respond in the bottom half by adding two more runs on three hits, a walk, and a wild pitch.
The Tars continued to chip away at the lead by adding a run in the sixth on a Rubin RBI groundout. They were countered by a tenth Maverick run in the seventh.
In their final at bat, it looked like Rollins may pull off yet another comeback. With two outs, Meehan doubled down the left field line, and was brought in when
Jorge Ramirez followed suit with a double of his own.
Kency Mocombe entered the game as a pinch-runner, and scored on a
Jimmy Thies single to make it 10-8.
Parker Smith represented the tying run in the last at bat of the game, but was put down on a strikeout to end the game at 10-8.
Meehan recorded three hits on the day, all for extra bases, along with two runs and four RBI. Sarringar also had three hits on the day. Berger suffered the loss, giving up nine earned runs. That is more than he had allowed across the entire season (6) coming into the game.
Game two of the series will be played on Saturday, April 15 with first pitch scheduled for 5:00 PM eastern.
