DENVER - Danny Miller (Denver/Denver Christian H.S.) ripped a two-run single with the bases loaded in Game Two to give Metropolitan State University of Denver a 5-4 win and a sweep over Sioux Falls after the Roadrunners won Game One 5-1 on Saturday at The Regency Athletic Complex at MSU Denver. The Roadrunners improved to 4-4 overall this season, while USF dropped to 0-2.
Trailing 3-0, MSU Denver scored three times in the fifth.
Mitch Gibbons (Franktown, Colo./Ponderosa H.S.) drove in
Jeff Levett (Parker, Colo./Chaparral H.S.) with a one-out single and
Darryl Baca (Loveland, Colo./Loveland H.S.) drilled a two-run home run.
USF regained a 5-4 lead and held that lead into the seventh. After a groundout to start the bottom of the inning, the Roadrunners loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter. Miller, who entered the game as a defensive substitution in the sixth, lined a single to right-center, scoring Baca and
Alex Walker (Wheat Ridge, Colo./Wheat Ridge H.S.) to end the game.
Mike Thill (Littleton, Colo./Columbine H.S.) allowed three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, striking out seven.
Ryan Baca (Loveland, Colo./Loveland H.S.) allowed just one hit in 1 2/3 innings and fanned one to earn the win in relief.
In Game One,
Nick Hammett (Broomfield, Colo./Broomfield H.S.) and
Kris Lalk (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain H.S.) combined to strike out 11 batters. Hammett lasted 7 1/3 innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits and one run. Lalk picked up the save, stranding the bases loaded in the eighth after entering with one out. He fanned four batters in 1 2/3 innings.
Trent Maloney (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County H.S.) scored the first run of the game on a passed ball in the second inning.
In the fifth,
Nick Comito (Lakewood, Colo./Mullen H.S.) hit a two-run home run to left to make the lead 3-0.
The Cougars got on the board with one in the sixth, but MSU Denver answered with one in the bottom of the inning. Gibbons led off with a bunt single and scored on a base hit by
Andrew Paust (Parker, Colo./Ponderosa H.S.).
The lead reached 5-1 in the seventh inning when Gibbons homered to left field.
Gibbons and Baca each had two hits in the first game.
Both teams will meet again at 11 a.m. on Sunday for a nine-inning game.
