LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The Metropolitan State University of Denver baseball team defeated New Mexico Highlands, 10-6, on Monday at Brandt Field to clinch the four-game sweep of the Cowboys.
 
"(It was a) great weekend to get a sweep on the road," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "Those are really difficult to get anywhere, but especially on the road and especially at Highlands, (which is) a tough place to play. We played a really good offensive team, our pitchers hung in there, and some guys threw up some big zeros in some big spots.
 
"The offense really carried us this weekend. We had a lot of really good at-bats, we scored a bunch of runs and had some big hits in some key situations. Every time they scored, we seemed to come back and score and that's big. Any time you get opportunities to score, we've got to take advantage of that, and we did that most of the time this weekend. It's good bouncing back after last weekend, splitting with (CSU-) Pueblo, and getting the sweep this weekend."
 
The Roadrunners, who have won six straight games, climb to 12-7 overall and 6-2 for third place in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. The Cowboys (7-13, 0-8) have lost eight straight and nine of their last 10.
 
Holding a comfortable 6-3 lead to start the top of the sixth, MSU Denver's Logan Soole (Louisville, Colo./Monarch) and Matt Malkin (Broomfield, Colo./Monarch) connected for back-to-back solo home runs to right field to extend the Roadrunners' lead to 8-3 which proved to be enough to secure the series-closing win.
 
Malkin was magnificent again, going 3 for 4, with a home run and a double. He had three RBIs with a run scored, a walk and a stolen base.
 
Over the four games, Malkin went 11 for 18 (.611), homering in all four games. He had 12 RBIs, four doubles, six runs scored, two walks and a pair of stolen bases. Looking at the season in a larger scope, Malkin has homered in five straight games and in eight of his last nine.
 
Before Monday's game, Malkin led NCAA Division II in home runs (0.59 per game) and RBIs (1.76 per game) and was third in slugging percentage (.938). He is now batting .435, the eighth-best average in the RMAC, and has a share of the league-best 11 home runs while leading the RMAC with 33 RBIs.
 
He additionally has a conference-leading .986 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .474 to give him an OPS of 1.460.
 
Soole's 3-for-6 performance at the plate included the home run and two RBIs in addition to two runs scored and a stolen base.
 
For the weekend, Soole's went 8 for 14 (.571) with three home runs, eight RBIs, seven runs scored, two walks and three stolen bases. He also was credited with the win in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader, when he pitched a seven-inning complete game. He allowed two runs (one earned), seven hits and two walks while striking out seven Cowboys.
 
Just like the first three games of the series, the Roadrunners started things off early. Following Chase Anderson's (Littleton, Colo./Columbine) double down the left-field line, Soole's single to right scored Anderson to give the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead. Soole later scored on Malkin's double to left center to double the lead, 2-0.
 
With MSU Denver leading 3-0 in the third, the Cowboys came back with three unanswered runs.  

The Roadrunners regained the lead in the fourth, 5-3, on Anderson's two-run homer down the left-field line. Zach Paschke (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista), who scored on the homer, had reached ahead of Anderson on an error.
 
Ty Lightley's (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) fifth-inning sacrifice fly scored Zach Walsh (Austin, Texas/Vista Ridge) and gave the Roadrunners a 6-3 advantage. Walsh had reached on a double, and he later stole third.
 
After the aforementioned back-to-back homers from Soole and Malkin in the sixth, the Cowboys put together another three-run inning in the bottom half of the frame, hitting back-to-back homers in the process, making it 8-6.
 
The Roadrunners later added insurance runs, one each in the eighth and ninth innings. Malkin's single to left field gave the Roadrunners a 9-6 advantage when Paschke, who had singled to left center, scored. MSU Denver last added to its tally when Jake Kistaitis' (Omaha, Neb./Millard West) single to right field knocked Walsh home. Walsh had doubled to left to start the inning. 
 
Junior right-handed pitcher Branden Dehority (Chandler, Ariz./Mesquite) earned his first win, allowing three runs, six hits and a walk while striking out five in five innings.
  
The Roadrunners are back on the road next weekend, with a four-game series against Adams State (6-16, 3-5). First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m.