MESA, Colo. - The No. 11 Augustana baseball team (8-1) dropped its first game of the season on Thursday afternoon, falling 7-1 to No. 9 Colorado Mesa (11-2) at The Diamond at Hamilton Ballpark. 

The Vikings opened the scoring in the first inning. Brandon Weigel drew a walk before advancing to second on a groundout. With two outs, Carter Heinsch delivered an RBI single to right center for the lead. The Mavericks evened the scoring with a run in the third before adding one in the fifth, two in the sixth and three in the eighth. 

Heinsch had three hits, including a double, and an RBI while also drawing a walk. Cal Schmelzle added a pair of hits. Joshua Koskie and Bjorn Lind each recorded a hit while Ragan Pinnow drew a pair of walks. 

Mariano Gomez opened the day throwing three innings and facing a batter in the fourth with two strikeouts. He allowed an earned run on two hits and three walks. Joel Van De Stroet (0-1) was dealt the loss after allowing three earned runs in two innings of work. Ryan Clementi gave up a pair of runs in 2 1/3 innings and Myles Hanson allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning.

Augustana returns to The Diamond tomorrow afternoon for a 2 p.m. central first pitch against the Mavericks.