Box Score Grand Junction, Colo. – The Metropolitan State University of Denver baseball team defeated Regis 7-5 on Friday afternoon to advance in the RMAC Tournament.
The Roadrunners found themselves with an early deficit in the top of the first inning. A lead-off single followed by triple for the Rangers gave Regis a 1-0 lead.
MSU Denver saw
Jake Thurston (Centennial, Colo./Grandview H.S.) and
Jake Ekman (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge H.S.) both reach base in the bottom of the first inning.
Trent Maloney (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County H.S.) and
Marcus Bean (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.) each drove in a run to give the Roadrunners a 2-1 lead.
Home runs were the story of the second inning for both Regis and MSU Denver. Regis had three-run shot to left field to take a 4-2 lead. Ekman responded with a three-run blast of his own to give the Roadrunners back a one-run lead.
The score would remain at 5-4 until the bottom of the fifth inning. Maloney reached on a single and then advanced to second on a single by
Cale O'Donnell (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.). Bean recorded his second hit and his second RBI of the day when he hit a single to centerfield and drove in Maloney. The Roadrunners held a 6-4 lead after five innings of play
Regis scored a run in the top of the sixth inning to cut the lead to one run again. MSU Denver responded again. Ekman tallied his third hit of the day and recorded his fourth RBI with a single that scored
Aaron Germani (Littleton, Colo./ThunderRidge H.S.). Neither team would score again in the contest.
Beecher Strube (Casper, WY/Kelly Walsh High School) started on the mound for the Roadrunners. Stube went six innings allowing five runs on eight hits.
Hunter Hogoboom (Arvada, Colo./Pomona H.S.) came on in relief. Hogoboom would pitch the two innings allowing only one hit. O'Donnell closed out the game and picked up his eighth save of the season.
MSU Denver will face Colorado Mines at 7 p.m. in an elimination game in the RMAC Tournament on Friday night.
