Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Metro State lost a pair of close games at No. 24/21 Colorado Mesa on Saturday, falling 3-1 in game one and 4-0 in game two. The Roadrunners fell to 11-26 overall, while CMU improved to 31-10 and 25-6 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, expanding its lead over the conference.

Game One
The game was scoreless until CMU scored three runs—two unearned—in the fifth with the aid of two errors and a passed ball.

Starter Justin Arceneaux (Chino, Calif./Don Antonio Lugo H.S.) allowed just one earned run while throwing all six innings. He struck out five and walked one for Metro.

The Roadrunners got on the board in the top of the sixth as Erik Cammall (San Diego, Calif./St. Augustine H.S.) and Robbie Nickels (Phoenix, Ariz./Horizon H.S.) led off with back-to-back singles. Cammall eventually came around on a two-out base hit to right by Ty Jacobs (Denver/Cherokee Trail H.S.).

Game Two
One swing of the bat by Dustin Fackrell provided all four of the games runs as the CMU first baseman crushed a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. The blast spoiled a strong outing by Metro State pitchers as Mike Thill (Littleton, Colo./Columbine H.S.) and Ryan Hutchinson (Denver, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) combined to allow just two hits. Thill allowed one hit, but walked five with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings, and Hutchinson allowed one hit—the grand slam by Fackrell—in 1 1/3 innings.

The Roadrunners didn't fare much batter at the plate in the pitcher's duel, managing just three hits off Mavericks pitcher Dylan Evans, who threw all seven innings and struck out eight.

Daron Schulthies (Littleton, Colo./Heritage H.S.) led off the game with a double, but was stranded at second in the first. Gavin Purvis (Albuquerque, N.M./Cibola H.S.) singled to lead off the second and stole second, advancing as far as third base before Evans escaped the jam with two strikeouts.

Freshman Mitch Gibbons (Franktown, Colo./Ponderosa H.S.) had the only other hit for Metro, that coming with two outs in the seventh.

The two teams will play one nine-inning game on Sunday in Grand Junction.