Thursday, February 19
Grand Junction, Colo.
1 PM
California Baptist University
5-2
17
at
3
Colorado Mesa
5-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Cal Baptist
2
1
4
5
2
2
1
0
0
17
19
1
Colorado Mesa
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
8
2
Photo by: Lauren Garcia
Outrageous Offense
2/19/2015 5:33:00 PM | Baseball
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa had gone 30 games without a loss on its field, and then California Baptist University came to town. The 25th-ranked Lancers shocked the currently third-ranked and 2014 NCAA Division II runner-up Mavericks with a 17-3 shellacking Thursday afternoon at Suplizio Field.
"Honestly, we were just trying to win game one," Coach Gary Adcock said. "We hadn't been able to win game one of a series yet this year. We wanted to get off to a better start in a series with the best opponent we've played in the time we've been in Division II."
What a start it was, CBU compiled 19 hits and a season-high 17 runs in the victory. Not to be lost in the offensive onslaught was Adam Hofacket. The day after his birthday, the right-handed pitcher gifted his team with his best performance of the young season. The junior threw 108 pitches in eight innings, allowing just eight hits, one walk, three runs (two earned) and struck out six.
"I was proud of him," Adcock said, "he pitched his best in the last three innings. That's testament to an older pitcher who recognizes if you can stay out of your bullpen in game one of a series that can be very beneficial sometimes. Him going eight [innings] allows us to keep the bullpen intact and in order for the best role we feel each of them has."
While Hofacket was strong, shutting out the Mavericks from the fourth to the eighth inning, the Lancers' offense was dominant. Of their 19 hits, five players had multi-hit games for the Lancers, who scored in seven of nine innings, excluding the eighth and ninth.
John Taurinsky (4-for-4, three runs batted in) and Antonio Chavarria (4-for-5, five RBIs, two runs) each had a game-high four hits for CBU. Luke Navigato (four runs, RBI) and Stephen Lohr (five RBIs, two runs) each went 3-for-6, while Jake Gallaway was 2-for-6 with two doubles and two runs.
Despite playing in its biggest game of the season, there were nerves from CBU – something Taurinsky attested to.
"Even though we were playing the third-ranked team, we just did our thing," said Taurinsky, who finished a home run shy of a cycle with a single, two doubles and a triple. "We prepare a lot for this, it's just what we do.
"When everyone is hitting the confidence goes up. It's contagious, it's just what we work on."
The Lancers grabbed momentum immediately Thursday. Zack Norris drew a leadoff walk and Navigato reached on an error at third base in the first. Andy Crowley moved both runners over with a groundout to first base. An RBI grounder from Lohr and Chavarria RBI single through the right side gave CBU a 2-0 lead.
In the second, Gallaway blasted a double into the gap in left center and then scored on a clutch two-strike hit from Taurinsky. The sophomore transfer from Hofstra lined a single into center field to up CBU's lead to 3-0.
The Mavericks showed it was not going to go down easy, and got on the board in the bottom of the second. The Lancers' response was a four-run third. Crowley drew a leadoff walk and then walked home when Lohr waited back on a fastball and sent a line drive over the right-field fence for a two-run bomb. Right after, Chavarria crushed a no-doubter in right center to give CBU back-to-back homers.
Far from done, Brian Ruhm singled and then stole second in the inning. Taurinsky came up with two outs and doubled into the gap in left center to score him and extend the lead to 7-1.
A two-run bottom of the third gave CMU some hope, down 7-3, but CBU quickly extinguished it with a five-run explosion in the fourth. Lohr and Chavarria collected RBI singles in the inning, while Taurinsky and Nathan Antoun produced RBI doubles and Ruhm added a sacrifice fly in the inning.
"The cliché of hitting is contagious, that was very true today," Adcock said. "One hit led to another one and led to another one. I am sure tomorrow will be a different day, we will have to scratch and claw for ones and score them in different ways, but today we were able to put some hits together."
A 12-3 lead was not enough for the Lancers. Another run-scoring single from Chavarria and RBI grounder from Ruhm made it 14-3 for the visitors in the fifth. In the next inning, Norris added a sacrifice fly into center field and Lohr chipped in another RBI single for a 16-3 lead. Navigato capped the scoring with RBI grounder of his own in the seventh.
In addition to Hofacket's strong start, freshman Travis Booth made his CBU debut. The right-handed reliever threw a spotless bottom of the ninth, with two groundouts and a pop up.
"The start couldn't have been better for us," Adcock said, "but it's game one of a series so we just have to let go and move on."
CBU and Colorado Mesa play three more games with a doubleheader Friday starting at noon. The four-game series ends Saturday with a 10 a.m. game.
"We still have three games against them," Taurinsky said. "We weren't surprised to win, we knew we just had to come out and compete."
"Honestly, we were just trying to win game one," Coach Gary Adcock said. "We hadn't been able to win game one of a series yet this year. We wanted to get off to a better start in a series with the best opponent we've played in the time we've been in Division II."
What a start it was, CBU compiled 19 hits and a season-high 17 runs in the victory. Not to be lost in the offensive onslaught was Adam Hofacket. The day after his birthday, the right-handed pitcher gifted his team with his best performance of the young season. The junior threw 108 pitches in eight innings, allowing just eight hits, one walk, three runs (two earned) and struck out six.
"I was proud of him," Adcock said, "he pitched his best in the last three innings. That's testament to an older pitcher who recognizes if you can stay out of your bullpen in game one of a series that can be very beneficial sometimes. Him going eight [innings] allows us to keep the bullpen intact and in order for the best role we feel each of them has."
While Hofacket was strong, shutting out the Mavericks from the fourth to the eighth inning, the Lancers' offense was dominant. Of their 19 hits, five players had multi-hit games for the Lancers, who scored in seven of nine innings, excluding the eighth and ninth.
John Taurinsky (4-for-4, three runs batted in) and Antonio Chavarria (4-for-5, five RBIs, two runs) each had a game-high four hits for CBU. Luke Navigato (four runs, RBI) and Stephen Lohr (five RBIs, two runs) each went 3-for-6, while Jake Gallaway was 2-for-6 with two doubles and two runs.
Despite playing in its biggest game of the season, there were nerves from CBU – something Taurinsky attested to.
"Even though we were playing the third-ranked team, we just did our thing," said Taurinsky, who finished a home run shy of a cycle with a single, two doubles and a triple. "We prepare a lot for this, it's just what we do.
"When everyone is hitting the confidence goes up. It's contagious, it's just what we work on."
The Lancers grabbed momentum immediately Thursday. Zack Norris drew a leadoff walk and Navigato reached on an error at third base in the first. Andy Crowley moved both runners over with a groundout to first base. An RBI grounder from Lohr and Chavarria RBI single through the right side gave CBU a 2-0 lead.
In the second, Gallaway blasted a double into the gap in left center and then scored on a clutch two-strike hit from Taurinsky. The sophomore transfer from Hofstra lined a single into center field to up CBU's lead to 3-0.
The Mavericks showed it was not going to go down easy, and got on the board in the bottom of the second. The Lancers' response was a four-run third. Crowley drew a leadoff walk and then walked home when Lohr waited back on a fastball and sent a line drive over the right-field fence for a two-run bomb. Right after, Chavarria crushed a no-doubter in right center to give CBU back-to-back homers.
Far from done, Brian Ruhm singled and then stole second in the inning. Taurinsky came up with two outs and doubled into the gap in left center to score him and extend the lead to 7-1.
A two-run bottom of the third gave CMU some hope, down 7-3, but CBU quickly extinguished it with a five-run explosion in the fourth. Lohr and Chavarria collected RBI singles in the inning, while Taurinsky and Nathan Antoun produced RBI doubles and Ruhm added a sacrifice fly in the inning.
"The cliché of hitting is contagious, that was very true today," Adcock said. "One hit led to another one and led to another one. I am sure tomorrow will be a different day, we will have to scratch and claw for ones and score them in different ways, but today we were able to put some hits together."
A 12-3 lead was not enough for the Lancers. Another run-scoring single from Chavarria and RBI grounder from Ruhm made it 14-3 for the visitors in the fifth. In the next inning, Norris added a sacrifice fly into center field and Lohr chipped in another RBI single for a 16-3 lead. Navigato capped the scoring with RBI grounder of his own in the seventh.
In addition to Hofacket's strong start, freshman Travis Booth made his CBU debut. The right-handed reliever threw a spotless bottom of the ninth, with two groundouts and a pop up.
"The start couldn't have been better for us," Adcock said, "but it's game one of a series so we just have to let go and move on."
CBU and Colorado Mesa play three more games with a doubleheader Friday starting at noon. The four-game series ends Saturday with a 10 a.m. game.
"We still have three games against them," Taurinsky said. "We weren't surprised to win, we knew we just had to come out and compete."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hofacket, Adam (1-1)
L: Matt Delay (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Navigato, Luke 2 ; Antoun, Nathan 1 ; Gallaway, Jake 2 ; Taurinsky, John 2
3B: Taurinsky, John 1
HR: Lohr, Stephen 1 ; Chavarria, Antonio 1
RBI: Norris, Zack 1 ; Navigato, Luke 1 ; Lohr, Stephen 5 ; Chavarria, Antonio 4 ; Antoun, Nathan 1 ; Ruhm, Brian 2 ; Taurinsky, John 3
SF: Norris, Zack 1 ; Ruhm, Brian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Norris, Zack 1 ; Navigato, Luke 4 ; Crowley, Andy 3 ; Lohr, Stephen 2 ; Chavarria, Antonio 2 ; Antoun, Nathan 1 ; Ruhm, Brian 1 ; Gallaway, Jake 2 ; Taurinsky, John 1
SB: Ruhm, Brian 1
Batting:
2B: Zach McLeod 1
RBI: Austin Wallingford 1 ; PJ Gonzalez 1 ; Kevin Mitchell 1
SH: Zach McLeod 1
SF: Kevin Mitchell 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Zach McLeod 1 ; Kyle Serrano 1 ; PJ Gonzalez 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
4
AB
4
R
1
H
4
RBI
3
AB
6
R
4
H
3
RBI
1
AB
6
R
2
H
3
RBI
5
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC/3B
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ BaseballC/1B
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