CCU baseball returned to Golden, CO, today to take on the Mavericks of Colorado Mesa for the second game of their pair during this weekend's pod play. The Cougars dropped yesterdays close game to the Mavericks 6-7, but today would not be so close.
 
The game started off optimistically enough, with the Cougars outscoring the Mavericks 5-4 in the first four innings. The Cougars scored twice in the second inning, the first off of an error by the Mesa third baseman that allowed designated hitter Austin Atkerson to score, and then two batters later when Cooper Gray hit a sacrifice fly to right field that brought in Luke Bote.
 
In the third inning it was JC Barrios who would knock in another RBI, shooting a single through the left side scoring Bote again. The Cougars had what seemed like a third run in the 3^rd inning when Joel Manzano singled to center. Dillon McTague started out on second, advanced to third on the hit and was waved home. It appeared as though he slid under the tag from the Mesa catcher but was called out by the home plate umpire on strongly contested call by head coach Gregg Mucerino to no avail.
 
In the 4^th inning, after Hunter Hays reached safely on another error by the Mesa third baseman, Jerry Gallegos hit his fourth home run of the season over the right field wall, giving the Cougars a 5-4 lead.
 
That lead would be short lived though, as the Mavericks scored 10 unanswered runs starting in the top of the 5^th inning. They would rattle of two in the top of the 5^th, five in the 6^th and 8^th innings, and three in the 7^th to make the game 19-5, the final score.
 
Both teams hit well on the day, with the Cougars totaling 12 hits and the Mavericks accumulating 19.
 
The loss drops the Cougars record to 14-15 (9-10 RMAC). Colorado Christian will return to Golden on Monday the 9^th to finish up pod play with one more game against the Orediggers of Colorado School of Mines, who the Cougars beat on Friday in convincing fashion by a score of 11-6.