Denver- The Metropolitan State University of Denver baseball team (24-20, 18-13 RMAC) completed a series sweep of the Colorado Christian University Cougars (16-29, 10-21 RMAC) with a commanding 17-2 victory.
 
Senior Derek Stimpson (Colorado Springs/Doherty H.S.) got his seventh start of the season for the Roadrunners getting off to a fast start with three quick outs in the top of the first inning and scoreless second inning to follow.  
 
MSU Denver went down in order in the bottom of the first, but junior Cale O'Donnell (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.) sparked the Roadrunner's offense in the bottom of the second. O'Donnell hit a single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, senior Nick McCasky (Golden, Colo./Ralston Valley H.S.) ripped a single up the right side, scoring O'Donnell for the first run of the game. The Roadrunners finished the inning with three hits, sophomore Aaron Germani (Littleton, Colo./ThunderRidge H.S.) added a single after McCasky's, to end the inning with a 1-0 lead.
 
The Cougars had an answer for the Roadrunners with a wild two-out rally. Back-to-back singles put runners on first and second. A walk loaded the bases. The next Cougar batter hit a single up the right side, but the runner from first rounded second and made a break for third base. Senior Jake Ekman (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge H.S.) fielded the ball in right field, threw it into O'Donnell at first base; O'Donnell threw the ball to senior catcher Marcus Bean (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.). Bean threw it back to senior Jake Thurston (Centennial, Colo./Grandview H.S.) in an attempt to get the Cougars runner rounding second. Thurston got it back into Bean who then threw it to Stimpson to stop another Cougar's runner who left third heading for home. The runner from third was finally out when he dove out of the base path trying to avoid Stimpson's tag.
 
In the bottom of the third, Thurston started off the inning with a double down the right field line and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Ekman walked to give MSU Denver runners on first and third. Junior Trent Maloney (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County H.S.) hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Thurston; Ekman advanced to second on the throw home. A fly out by O'Donnell allowed Ekman to move up to third and a walk by junior Hunter Donaldson (Fort Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge H.S.) put runners on first and third for the second time in the inning. Bean cleared the bases when he crushed a homerun over the left field fence. The Roadrunners took a commanding 5-1 lead after the big inning.
 
The Roadrunners kept the bats going in the bottom of the fifth. Maloney singled up the middle to lead off the inning. Donaldson singled to the shortstop to put two Roadrunners on base. McCasky showed off some power with a full count home run directly over the 375-foot sign in right field, giving MSU Denver an 8-1 lead. After a Cougar pitching change, Germani singled to center field and junior Donny Ortiz Jr. walked. MSU Denver was unable to extend their lead, but finished another explosive inning with a total of three runs on four hits.
 
After another scoreless inning for the Cougars, Ekman got the Roadrunners started yet again in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff triple. Maloney followed with a walk and a stolen base to put runners on second and third. The Cougars brought in a submarine style pitcher to face O'Donnell, and immediately O'Donnell made them pay with a two RBI double over the center fielder. Donaldson singled to advance O'Donnell to third, and Bean hit a sacrifice fly to right to score O'Donnell, giving the Roadrunners an 11-1 lead. McCasky dropped a single into right field, but Donaldson was tagged out at by the second basemen, who used the hidden ball trick. Germani added his second single of the game and Ortiz Jr. walked to load the bases. Thurston drew an RBI walk to score McCasky. Ekman added a two RBI single up the left side to make the score 14-1. After another pitching change, Maloney smacked a three run homerun to give the Roadrunners a 17-1 lead. MSU Denver finished the inning with nine runs scored on eight hits.
 
Following an MSU Denver pitching change, Colorado Christian quickly loaded the bases in the top of the eighth inning. Sophomore Hunter Hogoboom (Arvada, Colo./Pomona H.S.) continued to battle and got two quick outs on a double play. The Cougars scored on the play to make the score 17-2. Hogoboom got out of the inning with a line out to the third baseman.
 
Sophomore Adam Tulley (Allenspark, Colo./Estes Park High School) started off the bottom of the eighth for the Roadrunners with a single to the shortstop. Thurston and freshman Dylan Nelson (Lakewood, Colo./D'Evelyn Jr/Sr High School) both walked to load the bases, but MSU Denver was unable to push any more runs across. Sophomore Anthony Kaasch (Parker, Colo./Legend H.S.) came in to pitch the top of the ninth and got the Cougars to ground out three times, giving the Roadrunners a dominant 17-2 victory.
 
The Roadrunners return to the Regency Athletic Complex Friday, May 5 to take on Colorado Mesa at 6 p.m. for game one of a three game series.