Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

DENVER - Metro State blew a ninth inning lead in game one to lose 9-8 and fell 13-5 in game two as the Roadrunners were swept at home by Nebraska-Kearney.  Metro State fell to 20-10 and 16-9 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while the Lopers remained atop the Plains Division in the RMAC, improving to 22-10 and 18-6 in the conference.

Game One
Starter Bradshaw Perry (Aurora, Colo./Cherokee Trail H.S.) dodged trouble all afternoon, getting key outs to keep Metro State in the game early.  UNK's Jordan Mitchelhill led off the game with a home run to left field and the Lopers added another in the inning for a 2-0 lead.  But Perry stranded runners on first and second as the final out was made when center fielder David Fox (Lakewood, Colo./Faith Christian H.S.) gunned down a runner at the plate.

Metro State scored two in the bottom of the inning as Zach Krueger (Holyoke, Colo./Holyoke H.S.) came home after a single by Fox was bobbled by the left fielder.  Fox scored on a base hit to left by Evan Claus (Albuquerque, N.M./Eldorado H.S.).

UNK scored two unearned runs in the second for a 4-2 lead.

Perry had his only perfect inning in the third, retiring the Lopers in order.  UNK stranded two runners in the fourth, one on second base in the fifth, and Perry escaped the sixth unscathed after Kearney loaded the bases with nobody out, using a lineout and a double play.

Meanwhile, Metro State's offense picked it up.  Claus blasted a home run to left to lead off the fourth and the Roadrunners took a convincing 8-4 lead in the fifth with a five-run inning.  Fox had a two-run single through the right side.  Brennan Brown (Thornton, Colo./Legacy H.S.) lined a two-run triple past a diving left fielder down the line with two outs and Brown came home on Jake Danneffel (Las Vegas, Nev./Bonanza H.S.)'s single through the right side to cap the inning.

Metro State then began squandering scoring chances of its own.  The Roadrunners left one on in the sixth, two on in the seventh and two more on in the eighth.

Ty Jacobs (Denver/Cherokee Trail H.S.) came on to get the final two outs of the eighth as UNK scored twice in the seventh off Perry and one time in the eighth off Alex Hill (Casper, Wyo./Kelly Walsh H.S.).

Jacobs opened the ninth with control problems.  The righthander had been nearly perfect all season, entering the game with a 0.00 ERA, while going 4-for-4 in save opportunities.  He walked the leadoff batter.  After having two close pitches called balls, he walked the next hitter and then hit Mitchelhill to load the bases with nobody out.  His control issues continued as he walked in the tying run with nobody out.  Jacobs finally settled down, retiring the next three batters, but the first out was a game-winning sacrifice fly to put the Lopers up 9-8.  He struck out the final two batters.

Brown hit a one-out double into the right-center gap, but Kearney's closer Jake Kresse got a strike out and a foul out to earn his third save this season.

David Kaplan (Colorado Springs, Colo./Doherty H.S.) led Metro State with three hits.  Fox, Claus, Brown, Danneffel and Jacobs each had two hits.

Perry allowed just four earned runs and struck out six in 6.1 innings, but gave up 14 hits and earned the no decision.

Game Two
UNK scored four unearned runs in the top of the first and it was all downhill for Metro State from there.  The Lopers led 6-0 after two-and-a-half innings before the Roadrunners finally got on the board with one in the bottom of the third as Kaplan drove in Eric Lopez (Hayden, Ariz./Hayden H.S.) with a sac fly.

Nebraska-Kearney scored twice again in the fourth for an 8-1 lead.

Metro State scored three unearned runs in the fifth to cut the lead to 8-4.  Jordan Stouffer (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.) had an RBI single and Brown had an RBI double with two outs.

The Lopers scored four times in the sixth and once more in the seventh.  Metro State added an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh.

Jake Draeger (Oak Grove, Minn./St. Francis H.S.) returned to the mound after missing last week's start with a leg injury.  He suffered the loss, allowing two earned runs in 2.1 innings.

Krueger and Brown each had two of Metro State's seven hits.

The two teams will meet for a doubleheader on Sunday at noon at Metro State.