GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Matt Dillon doubled, homered, and scored two runs, and Jarrod Molnaa tossed five excellent innings in his Montana State University Billings baseball debut, but No. 12 Colorado Mesa spoiled the Yellowjackets' 2019 season opener with a late rally and a 5-4 win at Suplizio Field Friday.
 
The Yellowjackets (0-1) held a 3-2 lead at the Seventh Inning Stretch, before the Mavericks (4-1) took advantage of two walks and an infield single en route to the game-defining rally.
 
"The guys really competed their first time out of the gate," said MSUB head coach Aaron Sutton. "Jarrod really set the tone for us early and I thought our hitters put some quality at-bats together off of a quality arm. We need to clean some things up defensively and have a lot to work on as a club, but this group showed some grit today."
 
Molnaa struck out nine batters in the no decision, while giving up just one run on one hit and tossing 89 pitches. It was the second-most strikeouts by a Yellowjacket making his career debut, and third most by any pitcher making his season debut.
 

Strikeouts	Player	Date	Opponent
10	Jake Campeau	2-16-14	at Lewis-Clark State
9	Jarrod Molnaa	2-15-19	at #12 Colorado Mesa
6	Brian Hutchings	2-13-11	at Colorado State Pueblo
5	David Ducharme	2-25-06	at Northwest Nazarene
5	Archie Smith	2-14-09	at Metro State
5	Brady Muller	2-19-12	at Colorado State Pueblo
5	Derek Allen	2-17-12	at Colorado State Pueblo
5	Griffen Pape	2-7-15	at Colorado State Pueblo

 
The senior's counterpart was equally impressive, as CMU starter JR McDermott scattered one run on three hits through his six complete innings of work, while striking out three and walking none in a solid debut performance. The righty missed nearly the entire 2018 season, after earning All-American honors as a sophomore in 2016 and all-region honors in both 2016 and 2017.
 
The Yellowjackets committed an uncharacteristic four errors in the ballgame, while Colorado Mesa had three in a sloppy game defensively. Jared Winslow took the loss with four runs on three hits and four strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings pitched. Sam Muskat also made his 2019 debut, striking out one and giving up two hits over the final 1 1/3 innings.
 
Molnaa worked his way into a jam in the bottom of the second, walking the first run of the day in with no outs. The righty quickly settled down however, striking out the next three batters in succession to strand the bases full and limit the damage to a single run. It became a recurring theme for the righty, who appeared to gather strength when the stakes were raised. Six of Molnaa's nine strikeouts came with runners on base, including five with at least one runner in scoring position.
 
Jalen Garcia picked up the Yellowjackets' first hit of the year in the third inning, but was stranded 90 feet from evening the score as McDermott shook off the knock. Garcia finished the day 3-for-5 with a stolen base and a run scored.
 
Dillon led off the top of the fifth with a double into the right-center gap, and Sam Powers tied the game at 1-1 with a ground ball. Three deep flyouts in the top of the sixth chased each CMU outfielder towards the warning track, but the 'Jackets weren't rewarded for making good contact against McDermott.
 
Winslow was able to shake off a solo home run by Dominic DeMarco, as he struck out three of the next four hitter to end the sixth frame. The 'Jackets went to work after that, when Dillon launched a no-doubter over the left-field fence and Andrew Schleusner gave MSUB a 3-2 lead with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh.
 
Garcia scored MSUB's final run of the day after his eighth career triple in the top of the ninth, and Chris Arpan's RBI-double put the tying run in scoring position. But Mavericks closer Frankie Fitzgerald earned his first save of the season, with his second strikeout of the frame to help his team tiptoe to victory.
 
THE BUZZ: Molnaa was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…the home run was the fifth of Dillon's career, after he hit two in 2017 and two in 2018…Molnaa's nine strikeouts were the most in a game by a Yellowjacket pitcher since Steen Fredrickson had 10 on March 16, 2018 at Saint Martin's…Cody Cooper's mark of 10 strikeouts on Feb. 14, 2016 against Holy Names joined Campeau's as the only two strikeout totals higher than Molnaa's in any season debut by a Yellowjacket.
 
NEXT UP: The season-opening series continues on Saturday with a 9-inning/7-inning doubleheader slated for noon. Live video will be available online here and live statistics will be available online here.