DENVER – Late-inning magic is nice.
Now some early offense would be in order.
Facing 17
th-ranked defending Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion Colorado Mesa, the MSU Denver softball team put together late rallies in both games of a Saturday doubleheader but nonetheless fell 6-4 and 6-2 at the Regency Athletic Complex.
"You can't continue to put your pitchers in pressure situations against a good-hitting team," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach
Annie Van Wetzinga said. "I'm not too upset with our pitchers. They need some help. When you're constantly in high-leverage situations, it's stressful for a pitcher."
No-hit through four innings of the opening game, the Roadrunners sprang to life, scoring three fifth-inning runs and then tying the game 4-4 on
Darby McGhee's (Camarillo, Calif./Adolfo Camarillo) sixth-inning homer.
But Colorado Mesa (18-6 overall, 11-3 RMAC) put together two runs on three hits in the seventh inning and held on for the win.
"If you wait until the fifth inning to get a hit, it doesn't do you any good," Van Wetzinga said. "I'm annoyed that it took us so long to get in the game."
Kimbri Herring, the RMAC's preseason pitcher of the year, retired the first 12 batters she faced before
Koryna Wright (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) led off the fifth inning with a single. After a
Laney Sheppard (Fountain Valley, Calif./Fountain Valley) double,
Celyn Whitt (Broomfield, Colo./Legacy) drove in two runs with a single to right center.
"I have to give it to their first pitcher, she was moving the ball pretty well," said Whitt, who was 4 for 7 on the day to raise her average to .333. "But once we started to see it and drive it down, we got the hits that we needed. She was spinning it pretty well. We just have to make adjustments sooner."
Megan Sansburn's (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) sacrifice fly brought the Roadrunners (11-15, 7-5) within a run, then McGhee took reliever McKenzie Surface over the fence in left center in the sixth to tie it. It was the fourth homer of the season for McGhee, who was also 4 for 7 (and added two doubles) and is hitting a team-best .426.
McGhee (4-7) also took the loss in the opener, despite pitching a complete game.
In the second game, Whitt moved to the leadoff spot in the lineup and opened the bottom of the first with a single. She eventually scored on
Laney Sheppard's (Fountain Valley, Calif./Fountain Valley) sacrifice fly to give the Roadrunners their first lead of the day.
It was brief, though, as Colorado Mesa answered with a homer by Bailey Kleespies, then took advantage of three errors to add two more runs in the top of the second.
"We have too many key moments where we have defensive breakdowns and we can't bounce back from it," Van Wetzinga said. "That's killing us. You take away that play, then all of a sudden it's 4-2 (late in the game), and it feels a lot different."
Reliever
Destinee Lopez (La Verne, Calif./Bonita) kept the Roadrunners in the game with 3 1/3 no-hit relief innings. Lopez walked the first batter she faced – AnnMarie Torres, one of the nation's leading hitters – then retired the next 10 batters.
In her past two appearances, against two of the best offensive teams in the country (MSU Denver played eighth-ranked West Texas A&M on Tuesday), Lopez has given up one run on two hits in 5 2/3 innings, dropping her ERA down to 6.18.
"She's come in against two high-powered teams and has been able to keep them off balance," Van Wetzinga said. "That's good to see. She had a rough start to the season and she was frustrated. I told her to stick with it and she would get opportunities."
MSU Denver got a run to make it 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth on
Abby Anderson's (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) sacrifice fly, but left the bases loaded.
"This hurts, especially in conference games," Whitt said. "We've got to buck up and get some wins. It's a new day tomorrow, but it feels like a kick in the gut. We're in games, and I know we have the athletes to win these games."
