Denver- The Metropolitan State University of Denver baseball team split day one of its four game series against Regis University.  The Roadrunners fell 4-1 in game one and bounced back to take game two 7-6.
 
Junior Beecher Strube (Casper, WY/Kelly Walsh High School) started on the mound for the Roadrunners in game one against the Rangers. Both teams saw no hits and no runs through the first two innings.  The Rangers broke the seal hitting one out of the park in the bottom of the third to go up 1-0.
 
The Roadrunners answered back in the top of the fourth putting one on the board to tie the game up at one. Senior Jake Ekman (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge H.S.) made it on base after being walked, and junior Trent Maloney (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County H.S.) followed, hitting a triple to earn the RBI sending Ekman home.
 
The score remained knotted up at one through the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings until the Rangers put three more runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth to steal the lead back at 4-1.
 
That would prove to be enough in game one as the Roadrunners were unable to score in the top of the ninth.
 
MSU Denver bounced back in an exciting game two to gain the 7-6 win. Junior Javi Vega (Chula Vista, Calif./Castle Park H.S.) started at pitcher for the Roadrunners in game two. The Roadrunners held the Rangers scoreless in the first inning off three hits.
 
The Roadrunners put up two runs in the top of the second to take a 2-0 lead. Junior Cale O'Donnell (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.) and junior Sean Kennedy (Aurora, Colo./Grandview High School) reached base on a single, with junior Hunter Donaldson (Fort Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge H.S.) hitting a single to send O'Donnell home. Senior Nick McCasky (Golden, Colo./Ralston Valley H.S.) then hit another single for the Roadrunners to score the second run.
 
Regis fought back in the top of the fourth, putting four runs on the board to take a 4-2 lead. But the Roadrunners answered right back in the top of the fifth with Maloney hitting a three run homer for the Roadrunners to go up 5-4.
 
The Rangers took the lead again in the bottom of the sixth scoring two runs on one hit. But the Roadrunners put two more on the board in the top of the seventh with Donaldson hitting a two-run home run.
 
The Rangers were unable to answer in the bottom of the seventh and the Roadrunners were able to secure the 7-6 win.
 
The series between MSU Denver and Regis will wrap up Monday, April 3 in a double header with the first game scheduled for 12 noon.