Alamosa, Colo. - The Metropolitan State University of Denver baseball team split the first two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games of the four-game series at Adams State on Friday, April 15. The Roadrunners took game one 9-5 and would go on to drop game two 8-5.  MSU Denver is now 14-18 overall and 10-12 in RMAC play.

In game one, the Roadrunners bats came alive, starting with junior Andrew Paust (Parker, Colo./Ponderosa H.S.)'s solo shot to left field in the first inning. Junior Jake Thurston (Centennial, Colo./Grandview H.S.) followed suit with a three run shot in the second inning to put the Roadrunners up 4-0. The Grizzlies countered with to cut the MSU Denver lead to 4-3 in the between the 3rd and 5th innings against sophomore starter Julian Garcia (Fort Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge H.S.), who pitched seven innings. One of the key players for the Grizzlies was the brother of Jake Thurston (Centennial, Colo./Grandview H.S.), Tyler, who doubled and later scored to cut the Roadrunner lead.

MSU Denver extended their lead to 5-3 in the top of the seventh off a RBI single from sophomore Hunter Donaldson (Fort Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge H.S.). However, Adams State would tie the game in the bottom half of the inning off a two-run homerun. The Roadrunners took the lead for good thanks to a Jeff Levett (Parker, Colo./Chaparral H.S.) double in the eigth to bring in Thurston. Sopomore Cale O'Donnell (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.) continued his hot hitting with a home run to left to make the score 7-5 in the top half of the 9th, followed by a three run shot from freshman Aaron Germani (Littleton, Colo./ThunderRidge H.S.) to put the Roadrunners up 9-5. Garcia would go on to get the win and freshman Aaron Gjersee (Highlands Ranch, Colo./ThunderRidge H.S.) earned the save.

Game two would be a different story for MSU Denver suffering the 8-5 loss. Thurston's RBI single in the second put the Roadrunners up early but Adams State was able to chip away to tie the game by the fourth inning at 2-2. In the bottom of the sixth, the Grizzlies posted six runs against starter Ryan Baca (Loveland, Colo./Loveland H.S.) and reliever Josh Moore (Grand Junction, Colo./Grand Junction H.S.) to put the Grizzlies. Adams State went on to win 8-5.

MSU Denver is scheduled to play another doubleheader tomorrow in Alamosa against the Grizzlies at noon.  Be sure to check RoadrunnersAthletics.com for the latest on schedule changes.