PUEBLO, Colo. - Metro State's baseball team had four players with three or more hits as the Roadrunners defeated Regis 19-8 at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday in Pueblo. The Roadrunners stayed alive in the double elimination tournament after losing to New Mexico Highlands on Wednesday. Top-seed Mesa State, ranked 12th nationally, was eliminated on Thursday by second-seed Colorado State-Pueblo after the Mavericks fell to Regis on Wednesday.
Things did not start off well for the Roadrunners in the top of the first as Regis jumped out to a 3-0 lead after a two-run home run by Patrick Farrell. But the first six Metro State batters reached base in the bottom of the first, setting the tone for a high-scoring affair.
Chris Redding led off the bottom of the first by drawing a walk and moved to third on a single by Mike Coffey (Highlands Ranch, Colo./ThunderRidge H.S.). Matt McConnell (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson H.S.) then doubled in Redding to get Metro State on the board. After a walk to Jordan Stouffer (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.), Tyree Abshire (Paonia, Colo./Paonia H.S.) delivered a two-run single through the left side to tie the game. Stouffer later scored on a wild pitch and Abshire came home on a sacrifice fly by Marcel Dominguez (Carlsbad, N.M./Carlsbad H.S.) as Metro State took a 5-3 lead after the first inning.
The the Rangers came right back in the top of the second. After two quick outs, five consecutive batters reached, forcing starter Joel Lockhart (Golden, Colo./Golden H.S.) out of the game after just 1.2 innings. Three more Regis runs came across before the inning ended as Farrell delivered another big hit for the Rangers, a two-run single.
Metro State took the lead back in the bottom of the second and took control of the game from that point on. The Roadrunners used two Regis errors to score five unearned runs in the second to take a 10-6 lead after just two innings. The first two runs of the inning scored on a fielding error by the rightfielder. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Kevin Coughlin walked to load the bases and another walk to Dominguez forced in a run. Tommy Frikken (Arvada, Colo./Pomona H.S.) then ripped a two-run single to center to cap the inning as nine men batted in each of the first two innings for Metro State.
Meanwhile, reliever Sean Walter cooled the Ranger bats, tossing a scoreless third inning. Metro State added to its lead in the bottom of the third with three more runs as McConnell, Stouffer and Dakota Nahm (Englewood, Colo./Thomas Jefferson H.S.) all hit doubles in the inning.
Walter allowed two runs in the fourth, but shut the door the rest of the way throwing scoreless innings for the next four innings, before giving way to Ryan Eccles (Cypress, Calif./Mater Dei H.s.) for a scoreless ninth inning.
Redding stole home in the fourth inning to give the Roadrunners a 14-8 lead and they added another unearned run in the fifth. Metro State went scoreless the next two innings, but again added to its lead in the eighth with four runs, highlighted by a two-run double by McConnell.
Redding led the Roadrunners with four hits, the fifth time he has achieved that hit total this season. He also tied the school record with five runs scored, just the fifth time in school history a Roadrunner has scored five times in a game. McConnell, Stouffer and Nahm each had three hits and McConnell and Stouffer each scored twice. McConnell also tied a school record with three doubles in the game, also the fifth time in school history that has been done.
Walter earned the victory on the mound, throwing 6.1 innings of relief and allowing just two runs with a career-high seven strikeouts.
Farrell led Regis with a 3-for-5 day at the plate and five runs batted in.
The game lasted three hours and 38 minutes, the second-longest non-extra-inning game this season for the Roadrunners. The two teams combined for 35 hits and 11 walks.
Metro State will face Colorado State-Pueblo in an elimination game at 3 p.m. on Friday.
