PUEBLO, Colo. - The Metro State baseball team fell twice on Sunday to Colorado State-Pueblo on the road, losing 13-5 in game one and 10-1 in game two. Following the weekend, the Roadrunners are now 19-15 overall and 10-11 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while CSU-Pueblo improved to 26-13 and 15-9 in the RMAC. Pueblo took three of the four games in the series after the two teams split on Friday.
Game 1
Metro State actually out-hit CSU-Pueblo in the first game 12-11, but defensive miscues and control problems cost the Roadrunners. Tyree Abshire (Paonia, Colo./Paonia H.S.) had an excellent game at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a home run and two runs batted in. Chris Redding and Jordan Stouffer (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.) each added two hits as well.
Starter Ross MacDonald suffered the loss, allowing 10 runs--five earned--in 5.2 innings, while walking eight. Metro State pitchers walked 11 in the contest. Tony Weber (Elizabeth, Colo./Elizabeth H.S.) pitched 1.1 hitless innings of relief, allowing just a walk, while striking out two.
Metro State got on the board first, as Redding led off with a single and came around to score on a base hit by Stouffer. But MacDonald had a rough go early, walking the first batter for CSU-Pueblo and hitting the next two. The ThunderWolves scored three in the first and two in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead.
The Roadrunners got one back in the fifth after a leadoff single by Matt McConnell (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson H.S.). Following a pair of walks and a strikeout, Brett Bowman (Colorado Springs, Colo./Rampart H.S.) hit a sacrifice fly to left to cut the lead to 5-2.
CSUP added two unearned runs in the bottom half of the fifth and three more in the sixth to lead 10-2. Abshire hit a two-run home run down the left field line, scoring Stouffer, with nobody out in the seventh inning. But again CSU-Pueblo scored three in the bottom of the inning, leading 13-4 after seven innings. Redding led off the eighth with a double to left-center and scored on a double play three batters later for Metro State's final run.
Game 2
The Roadrunners were held to just four hits in the seven-inning game by Dustin Timmins. Mike Coffey (Highlands Ranch, Colo./ThunderRidge H.S.), Kevin Coughlin, Nick Columbia (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood H.S.) and Nick Marfitano each had singles for Metro State.
Steven Green (Denver, Colo./Legacy H.S.) suffered the loss, allowing nine runs in three innings. Ryan Eccles (Cypress, Calif./Mater Dei H.s.) and Kyle Orgill each pitched a scoreless inning of relief.
The Roadrunners scored their only run in the seventh as Coughlin scored on Marfitano's single to center.
Metro State will host Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for a four-game series at Auraria Field.
