Denver- The Metropolitan State University of Denver baseball team (25-23, 19-13 RMAC) closed out the regular season with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over no. 8 Colorado Mesa (40-10, 32-4 RMAC) on Senior Day.
 
Sophomore Hunter Hogoboom (Arvada, Colo./Pomona H.S.) started on the mound for the Roadrunners. The Mavericks started the top of the first inning with an early run on a leadoff double and a single. Hogoboom settled into a groove and ended the inning with no more damage after recording two fly ball outs. He also got some help from senior catcher Marcus Bean (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.) who threw out a runner attempting to steal third.
 
Hogoboom continued to shut down the Mavericks with scoreless second and third innings. The Roadrunners erased the Maverick lead in the bottom of the third. Junior Donny Ortiz Jr. reached first on a fielding error by the Colorado Mesa second baseman. Senior Jake Thurston (Centennial, Colo./Grandview H.S.) crushed a double off the right field wall to score Ortiz Jr. from first and tie up the game 1-1.
 
The Mavericks countered the Roadrunners with a big inning of their own. Back-to-back doubles followed by a single with a throwing error allowed Colorado Mesa to take a 3-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning.
 
The back and forth action continued as MSU Denver came out hot in the bottom of the fourth. Junior Trent Maloney (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County H.S.) got the Roadrunners started with a leadoff walk. Bean walked to put runners on first and second, and a wild pitch allowed both runners to move up into scoring position. Junior Hunter Donaldson (Fort Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge H.S.) ripped a single up the middle to score both runners and tie the game 3-3.
 
Both teams threatened on offense in the fifth and sixth innings but were unable to push any runs across. The Mavericks stranded two runners on base in the fifth inning; the Roadrunners stranded senior Jake Thurston (Centennial, Colo./Grandview H.S.) after he singled to center. In the bottom of the sixth, Colorado Mesa left two more runners on base after three base hits. Junior Cale O'Donnell (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.) led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to right field. Bean dropped a bunt down the third base line to move O'Donnell to third, but the Roadrunners couldn't score O'Donnell.
 
MSU Denver broke the trend in the bottom of the seventh to take their first lead of the game. Ortiz Jr. reached first on a leadoff walk. Thurston advanced Ortiz Jr. with a sacrifice bunt up the first base line. Ortiz Jr. moved up to third on a wild pitch and scored the go ahead run on a wild pitch to give the Roadrunners a 4-3 lead.
 
Colorado Mesa threatened once again in the top of the eighth after a leadoff single and a fielding error in right field allowed the first Maverick batter to reach second. The runner advanced to third on a groundout, but Hogoboom continued his hot streak, inducing two more ground outs to get out of the inning with the 4-3 lead in tact.
 
O'Donnell came in to pitch a stressful top of the ninth. The junior looked poised and pumped in strike after strike. He got two quick outs on a line drive to second and a routine fly ball to left field. After a ten-pitch battle, O'Donnell got the final out on a called strike three that painted the inside corner of the plate. The Roadrunner dugout rushed to the mound to celebrate a tough 4-3 victory.
 
The Roadrunners will play in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament in Grand Junction, Colo. Colorado Mesa will host the tournament; the first game is scheduled for Wednesday, May 10.