GRAND JUNCTION – The Cougars chance to notch a win against one of the nation's best teams came up short.

Facing the top ranked team in the nation, the Cougars battled but fell to Colorado Mesa 5-2 on Friday evening.

The contest, which took just over two hours to finish, was the first of four on the weekend.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado Mesa put four runs on the scoreboard in the fourth. Trevin Reynolds' hit a single to right centerfield to plate a pair of Maverick runs. The home team added another run moments later when Spencer Bramwell scurried home on a wild pitch. The final run of the frame came when Chase Hamilton hit a sacrifice fly to give them a 4-0 edge.

In the sixth, Joel Manzano hit his third homerun of the season. The two-run shot came with no one out and scored Connor Marschall who started the inning with a walk. After seeing their lead cut in half, the Mavericks recorded their final run in their portion of the stanza when Will Dixon hit a RBI double down the rightfield line to score Reynolds.

Any hopes of a Colorado Christian comeback were thwarted by Colorado Mesa starting hurler JR McDermott and relief pitcher Frankie Fitzgerald. They allowed just one base runner and no hits in the final three innings.  

COUGAR LEADERS: Five players notched a hit with Manzano's long ball driving in both runs. The foursome of Marschall, Manzano, Sam Gallegos and Heath Hays each had a hit and walk.

On the mound Alex Ginn threw 100 pitches in six innings where he struck out four of the 27 batters he faced in his seventh start of the campaign.

UP NEXT: The Cougars played the second and third games of the series on Saturday with a twinbill set to begin at 1 p.m.