Denver- The Metropolitan State University of Denver baseball team (23-20, 17-3 RMAC) stole two close games from Colorado Christian University (16-28, 10-20 RMAC) winning the first game 2-1 and taking the second game with a walk-off 8-7 victory.
 
Junior Javi Vega (Chula Vista, Calif./Castle Park H.S.) got the start for the Roadrunners in game one. The Cougars got on the board in the top of the first after a throwing error allowed the leadoff runner to reach first. He then advanced to second on a ground out, stole third, and scored on a fielding error giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead. Vega continued to battle and ended the damage with a fly out and strike out.
 
Both pitchers had everything working, as the Roadrunners were held scoreless through the first six innings. Vega found his zone and threw six scoreless innings after the rocky first inning. MSU Denver threatened in the bottom of the third after a single by senior Jake Thurston (Centennial, Colo./Grandview H.S.), but junior Donny Ortiz Jr. was thrown out a home. Thurston did his best to get the Roadrunners going in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff double down the left field line, yet the Roadrunners were unable to string together hits and bring him in.
 
In the top of the eighth, the Cougars looked to jump on the Roadrunners new pitcher, sophomore Aaron Gjersee (Highlands Ranch, Colo./ThunderRidge H.S.). A single, a throwing error by Gjersee after fielding a bunt, and a walk loaded the bases for the Cougars with one out. A groundout to first with a throw to home got the lead runner for the second out of the inning. Gjersee got out of the inning with no runs allowed after a pop fly to first base.
 
The MSU Denver offense finally came alive in the bottom of the eighth inning. Thurston was once again the catalyst, recording a single through the left side for his third hit of the day. Senior Jake Ekman (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge H.S.) grounded into fielder's choice that got Thurston out, then junior Trent Maloney (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County H.S.) did the same, leaving a runner on first with two outs. Junior Cale O'Donnell (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.) gave the Roadrunners their first lead of the game with one swing, smashing a monster home run to dead center field. This home run was O'Donnell's twelfth of the year and put in a tie for the RMAC lead in home runs hit this season.  
 
O'Donnell came in to pitch the top of the ninth and continued to carry the Roadrunners. He gave up two hits in the inning and struck out one batter. O'Donnell was able to force a Cougar ground ball into a tailor-made double play to give MSU Denver a hard-fought 2-1 victory in game one, recording his sixth save of the season in the process.
 
The game two starter for the Roadrunners, junior Beecher Strube (Casper, WY/Kelly Walsh High School), allowed two runners to reach base on a walk and an error, but got out of the inning unscathed. The Roadrunners offense rode the momentum from the first game to jump out to an early 2-0 lead. Ekman and Maloney were both hit by pitches to put runners on first and second. O'Donnell walked to load the bases. Junior Hunter Donaldson (Fort Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge H.S.) drove in Ekman and Maloney when he crushed a double to dead center.
 
The Cougars had an answer in the top of the second. Back-to-back singles, followed by a walk loaded the bases. A hard hit, infield single scored two; Thurston was able to field the ball on the right side of second base, but lost his grip when he was transitioning into his throwing motion and was unable to make the throw to home. With runners still on first and second, the Cougars attempted a double steal. A errant throw from Roadrunners catcher, senior Marcus Bean (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.), sailed wide right of second base, allowing the Cougars to take a 3-2 lead.
 
Senior Derek Stimpson (Colorado Springs/Doherty H.S.) started the bottom of the second inning with a double to right center. A sacrifice bunt by Ortiz Jr. moved Stimpson to third. Stimpson scored on a balk to even the score up 3-3.
 
After a scoreless inning from Strube, MSU Denver scored runs for the third inning in a row. Maloney got the inning started with a single to right field. O'Donnell walked to put runners on first and second. A pickoff attempt at second base by the Cougar's pitcher resulted in an error and allowed both runners to advance. Bean hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field to score Maloney and move O'Donnell up to third. Senior Nick McCasky (Golden, Colo./Ralston Valley H.S.) drove in O'Donnell with an infield single up the third base line. Stimpson walked, advancing McCasky to second base. Ortiz Jr. singled to left field, scoring McCasky for the Roadrunners third run of the inning. MSU Denver finished the inning with three runs scored on three hits and a 6-3 lead.
 
The Roadrunners were held scoreless for the first time in the bottom of the fourth, but continued the scoring in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, McCasky was hit by a pitch from the Cougar's submarine style pitcher. Stimpson walked to move McCasky into scoring position. Ortiz Jr. hit a ground ball to the short stop who overthrew the second basemen on the fielder's choice. McCasky scored on the play, extending the Roadrunners lead to 7-3.
 
Having not scored since the second inning, the Cougars responded with a couple runs of their own after sophomore Dayne Rowley (Durango, Colo./Durango H.S.) took the mound to replace Strube. A single and a walk put runners on first and second with no outs. A slow ground out to second allowed both runners to advance. The runner from third broke for home hard after a wild pitch squeaked past Bean. Bean gathered the ball quickly after it bounced off the backstop and threw it to Rowley who was covering the plate. The Cougar runner had only made it about three-quarters of the way down the line. Rowley chased him back towards third, catching him in a pickle. The Cougar runner was tagged out at third base after the runner on second advanced, putting two runners on the same base. The next Cougars batter reached on a fielding error at third base, which allowed the runner from third to score. A wild pitch allowed the runner on first to advance to second, and he later scored on an RBI single to right field. Junior Jared Roley (Littleton, Colo./Heritage H.S.) came in to pitch. He gave up a walk but recorded a strikeout to end the Cougar's big inning.  The Cougars pulled within two, down 5-7.
 
Following a scoreless bottom of the sixth for the Roadrunners, a single by the Cougars and a balk put a runner in scoring position with one out in the top of the seventh. The next Cougar batter doubled down the left field line, scoring the runner from second and cutting the MSU Denver lead to one. O'Donnell came in to pitch in another save situation. On his first pitch, O'Donnell got the second out of the inning on a pop fly to second. A wild pitch allowed the runner from second to advance to third, and an RBI single up the left side tied the game 7-7. Two walks and wild pitch loaded the bases for the Cougars, but the Roadrunners finished the inning tied after a ground out to third.
 
The Roadrunners went down in order in the bottom of the seventh on a strikeout, ground out to third and a single by freshman Dylan Nelson (Lakewood, Colo./D'Evelyn Jr/Sr High School), who singled down the left field line but was thrown out at second while trying to stretch his single into a double. The Cougars posed a threat in the bottom of the seventh after MSU Denver pitcher, freshman Jerome Bohannon, hit the leadoff hitter. A sacrifice bunt and a ground out allowed the runner from first to advance all the way to third. Bohannon got out of the inning with a ground out to short stop.
 
MSU Denver started off the bottom of the eighth with a little luck. Sophomore Aaron Germani (Littleton, Colo./ThunderRidge H.S.) grounded the ball to the second baseman who kicked the ball, then threw it into the dugout to allow Germani to advance to second. Ortiz Jr. dropped down a sacrifice bunt, but also reached on an error when the throw by the catcher pulled the first basemen off of the bag. Thurston was walked intentionally to load the bases. Maloney was the hero for the Roadrunners. He crushed a walk-off single to the right center gap to give MSU Denver an 8-7 win. Bohannon was the winning pitcher and is now 3-2 on the season.
 
The Roadrunners return to the Regency Athletic Complex Saturday, April 29 to finish the series with Colorado Christian with a double header beginning at noon.