St. George, Utah- The Metropolitan State University of Denver's softball team compete in the first day of the Dixie State Easton Classic. The Roadrunners defeated Concordia-Irving in the first game 4-2 and fell to St. Edwards in the second game 13-11, both games going into extra innings.
 
Junior Hayley Fields (Arlington, Wash./Arlington H.S.) started out on the mound for the Roadrunners for her first start of the 2017 season.  Concordia made it on the board first, with Eilefson hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the second to put the Eagles up 1-0 going into the top of the third.
 
The Roadrunners answered back in the top of the fourth with Junior Carissa Terry (Moreno Valley, Calif./Valley View H.S.) hitting a solo homerun to tie the game at 1.
 
MSU Denver held Concordia scoreless through the fourth and continued the pressure in the fifth when Brooke Lovas (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills H.S.) doubled to left field with two outs sending sophomore Ashlee Kim (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County H.S.) home for the Roadrunners to go up 2-1.
 
Senior Cassidy Smith (Loveland, Colo./Loveland H.S.) entered the game at pitcher in the seventh with two outs and two on base and finished the inning keeping the Eagles scoreless.
 
Concordia tied the game in the bottom of the seventh after an Eagle sac fly, tying the game at 2 and sending it into an extra inning.
 
The score remained 2-2 through the extra eighth inning until the Roadrunners broke through in the top of the ninth. Junior Sarena Espinoza (Corona, Calif./Corona Centennial H.S.) singled down the left field line to score two more runs and put the Roadrunners up 4-2. 
 
MSU Denver held Concordia-Irvine in the bottom of the ninth to earn the 4-2 extra inning win.
 
In MSU Denver's second game on day one of the tournament, Freshman Darby McGhee (Camarillo, Calif./Adolfo Camarillo High School) was given the starting nod on the mound for her third start of the 2017 season.
 
St. Edward's began the scoring early and often in the first inning, but not without the help of three Roadrunner errors. The Hilltopper's Bryson began the scoring with a single to right center field, which led to three eventual runs in the inning and a quick start to a high scoring game.
 
The Roadrunners answered strong in the bottom half of the inning, scoring three runs of their own. All runs came off the bat of Hayley Fields (Arlington, Wash./Arlington H.S.), who hit a base clearing double to right center field scoring Annika Anderson (Loveland, Colo./Loveland H.S.), Brooke Lovas (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills H.S.), and Colissa Bakovich (Loveland, Colo./Loveland H.S.) with the bases loaded.
 
The second inning saw an even bigger explosion by the Roadrunner's as they held the Hilltopper's scoreless, while putting up five runs of their own to build an 8-3 lead. The runs came at the bats of Lovas, Anderson, and Terry, who all recorded RBI singles in the inning.
 
St. Edward's came back strong in the top half of the third inning scoring three runs to close the gap to a two run game. Sanchez and Bryson both doubled early in the inning for the Hilltopper's each scoring one run, while Hoffman singled with two outs to bring around the third run of the inning.
 
The Hilltopper's continued the scoring in the fourth with three more runs, while holding the Roadrunner's scoreless in the process. All the damage came late in inning as Williams, Bryson, and Stricklin all recorded two-out RBI singles to help take a 9-8 lead.
 
The momentum continued for the Hilltopper's in the fifth as they expanded their lead to 10-8 on an RBI single from Janda down the right field line.
 
No more scoring was seen again until a dramatic seventh inning, which saw the Roadrunner's comeback from an 11-8 lead after a solo home run by Appleby in the top half of the inning. Fields started the comeback with a solo home run of her own to center field. Then Espinoza tied the game at 11-11 on a two run homer to right center field to send the game to extras.
 
The Hilltopper's responded in the eighth with two runs to stop the Roadrunner's momentum and put the game away. Hoffman and Machado both singled in runs for the Hilltopper's to give St. Edward's a 13-11 victory.
 
The Roadrunners continue competition in the Dixie State Easton Classic tomorrow with the first game beginning at 10 a.m. against University of Hawaii at Hilo.