Metro sweeps Mesa in 4

Mudgetâs six times leading team to California

By Nick Garner
The Metropolitan

Senior catcher Pat Maxwell has impeccable timing.

The menâs baseball teamâs captain picked the best possible time to hit his first home run of the season. With the Roadrunners trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning in Game 2 of a March 22 doubleheader against visiting Mesa State College, Maxwell launched a three-run bomb with two outs to propel the Roadrunners to a 5-4 victory.

The Roadrunners swept Mesa State  March 22-23 for the first time in the schoolâs history, improving their overall record to 17-9 and 8-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

With three more victories, the Roadrunners wlll equal the total number of wins from last season (20).

Metro started its comeback in the seventh with a walk by junior shortstop Cory Linteo. After a single by junior center fielder Jim Johnson, the Roadrunners had runners at first and third with two outs, when sophomore first baseman Matt Jerebker singled to right center driving in Linteo to cut the lead to 4-2.

Maxwell , on 1-2 count, hit his first home run of the season to win the game.

 ãI did not know that it was gone,ä Maxwell said. ãI thought that maybe it was going to bounce off the wall for a double, but Iâll take it.ä

Game 1 of Sundayâs doubleheader was just as dramatic as the second, with the Roadrunners coming from behind again to win 5-4.

Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh, sophomore designated hitter Brian Aguiar hit a double to start off the inning.

After a single by senior third baseman Neal Vallejos, junior left fielder Travis Betz reached on an error to load the bases. Sophomore second baseman Mike Henthorn hit a two-run single to drive in the game tying runs.

Following a bunt single by Linteo and a strikeout by pinch hitter Josh Vickers, Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to right field to allow Betz to score the game-winning run.

Mesa State had its chances to break the game wide open, but junior pitcher Ariel Garibay shut the door on the Mavericks. In the third inning, Mesa State had runners at first and third with two outs and threatening to score, when Garibay calmly pitched his way out the of jam by getting the batter to hit a weak ground ball to Jerebker to end the threat.

 Garibay, a transfer from Ohlone Junior College in Fremont, Calif., is currently 4-0 with an team-low 1.42 earned run average on the season.

ãI expected to do well this year,ä Garibay said. ãAt the start of the season, I did not know what to expect from the hitters at this level, but I have seen some good hitters and I have seen some bad ones.ä