AZUSA, Calif. — Colorado Mesa continued its offensive tear in a back-and-forth battle that saw three lead changes and three ties to sweep Azusa Pacific for the first time at the Cougar Baseball Complex since 2016. The Cougars put forth their best offensive output in the series, 14 runs on 11 hits, but it wasn't quite enough as the Mavericks scored five of the game's final six runs to win 18-14.

Will Stroud led the Cougars with a pair of home runs, including a game-tying two-run shot with two outs in the fourth inning. A number of other Cougars had a pair of hits including Omar Lopez, George Christison, and Brett Soria.

How it Happened: The Cougars fell behind for the fourth straight game after Caleb Farmer's fifth home run of the series gave Colorado Mesa the early 1-0 lead. Azusa Pacific's offense fired back with a five-run second to gain the lead. After a pair of hit by pitches and a walk loaded the bases, Tido Robles drove in two with a single to left centerfield. Robles leads the Cougars with nine RBI through the team's first eight games. Christison was hit by a pitch to load the bases once again, this time Aaron Roose drove in one with a line drive single to left field to make it 3-1 Cougars. The fourth run of the inning was scored on a wild pitch before a Spencer Rasmussen two-out walk with the bases loaded increased the advantage to 5-1.

The Mavericks answered right back with three runs in the top of the third. A sacrifice fly scored the first before a two-run home run by Conrad Villafuerte brought the Cougars lead to just 5-4.

Christison's two-out RBI single to left field scored the Cougars sixth run to up the advantage to 6-4 in the third. Once again Colorado Mesa got to starter Hayden Merda in the fourth, Harrison Rodgers tallied his sixth homer of the series to start the inning to make it 6-5. An RBI double and a two-run homer from Julian Boyd however would give the Mavericks an 8-6 lead. After a pair of walks, Merda was relieved by Brendan Dixon who allowed a run-scoring single to make it 9-6.

The Cougars rallied once again in the bottom of the fourth, Soria's second hit was an RBI single that scored Lopez from second to make it 9-7. With two outs and a runner on, Stroud sent his first home run of the season to right field to tie the game for the third time in just the first four innings of play. The Cougars would regain the lead on a wild pitch that scored Casey Dykstra from third to take a 10-9 lead.

Once again, Colorado Mesa responded. Villafuerte's two-out, two-RBI double off of Dixon swung the game back in favor of the Mavericks, 11-10. An error aided the Mavericks in the sixth as they stretched their lead to 13-10.

For the third time of the game, the Cougars offense rallied in the bottom of the sixth with three runs to tie the game. With two outs and the bases full of Cougars, Casey O'Laughlin shot a 3-0 pitch back up the middle to score a pair of runs, cutting the deficit to one. Lopez would single in the game-tying run to left center to make it a whole new ballgame going to the seventh tied at 13-apiece.

After a surprising scoreless seventh inning for both teams, Colorado Mesa took the lead for the final time in the eighth. After reaching on a throwing error, Boyd stole second and got to third after the ball went sailing into centerfield. Freshman Grayson Gifford, controversially, balked in Boyd from third to score the go-ahead run to make it 14-13 in favor of the Mavericks. Farmer's second solo homer of the game, and sixth HR of the series, gave the No. 4 ranked Mavericks a 15-13 lead before another run scored on an error by the Cougars to make it 16-13.

After Colorado Mesa added another pair of runs in the top of the ninth, Stroud's solo home run to right field with two outs in the bottom half would be the final run. The Cougars losing 18-14.

By the Numbers: The Cougars scored a season-high 14 runs in the loss, tallying a season-high 11 hits and 12 RBIs. Azusa Pacific worked eight walks and reached six times in the game via a hit by pitch (season-high). Azusa Pacific committed a season-high four errors, and committed 10 all together in the series.

Up Next: The Cougars will make their first roadtrip of the season up the coast to take on Cal State Monterey Bay in a four-game series beginning on Thursday, February 17th. First pitch for that solo game will be at 2:00 p.m. at the Otter Sports Complex.