ALAMOSA, Colo. - The MSU Denver baseball team won its 10th consecutive game on Sunday with a 15-5 victory over the Adams State Grizzlies.
The Roadrunners are now 16-7 on the year and 10-2 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference competition, moving them into a tie for first place. The 10-game win streak is just two behind the school record, which was set between the 2001 and 2002 seasons.
The Roadrunners are averaging 11.5 runs per game during the win streak, thanks in large part to the efforts of senior slugger
Matt Malkin (Broomfield, Colo./Monarch).
Malkin had two hits and drove in four runs on Sunday. Both hits were home runs, bringing his season total to 16. Malkin is first in home runs across all NCAA levels. Additionally, he leads the RMAC in home runs, RBIs (42), and slugging percentage (1.072), all by considerable margins. Malkin's batting average is up to .434, good for fourth in the league.
His 16th home run moved him ahead of Todd Vaughn and Rusty Befus for the second-most home runs in a single season at MSU Denver. The single-season record is 17, which was set by Jordan Stouffer in 2010.
After an RBI fielder's choice from
Logan Soole (Louisville, Colo./Monarch) in the top of the first inning, Malkin struck for his first dinger of the day to make it 3-0 in favor of the Roadrunners. He wasted no time to blast his second jack, crushing the ball to center in the second inning to make it 6-0. An RBI fielder's choice from junior
Zach Walsh (Austin, Texas/Vista Ridge) had given the Roadrunners a 4-0 lead after the first inning.
In addition to Malkin, the rest of the Roadrunners' bats stayed hot on Sunday. They had 16 hits overall with eight extra-base hits, including four home runs.
Walsh and senior
Jake Kistaitis (Omaha, Neb./Millard West) each added a two-run homer on Sunday out of the No. 7 and No. 8 holes. Walsh now has five homers on the year, while Kistaitis has three.
Kistaitis' roundtripper gave MSU Denver an 8-1 lead in the third. Sophomore
Chase Anderson (Littleton, Colo./Columbine) scored freshman
Zach Paschke (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) on one of his two triples of the day to extend the lead to 9-1 before Soole singled Anderson home for a 10-1 advantage.
Walsh's homer furthered the lead to 12-1 in the fourth, putting the game out of reach. The Roadrunners pieced together two more runs in the fifth and one in the eighth to make it 15-1. Adams State (6-20, 3-9 and T-7th RMAC) pushed across four runs between the eighth and ninth innings, but it was far too little, much too late.
Four Roadrunners had multi-hit days. Paschke and Anderson each recorded three hits, while
Draven Adame (Lamar, Colo./Lamar) and Malkin each had two. Seven different Roadrunners drove in at least one run.
"I thought we played really well today," coach
Ryan Strain said. "The first few days we just played okay, so it was really good to come out and play well, especially early on."
On the mound, junior
Branden Dehority (Chandler, Ariz./Mesquite) was solid again. The tall right-hander went six innings and gave up just one run on nine hits while striking out three to earn his second win of the season.
Overall, Dehority is 2-0 with a 4.44 ERA in 26 1/3 innings on the season. He has walked just six hitters on the year and the Roadrunners are 5-1 in games in which he has pitched.
"I thought we pitched really well this weekend," Strain said. "I thought our four starters gave us chances and kept us in games."
The Roadrunners will have a quick turnaround, as they are scheduled to face Division I Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo. on Tuesday. MSU Denver will then begin a four-game set with Regis on Friday at the Regency Athletic Complex. First pitch for Friday's single game is set for 6 p.m. MT, with a Saturday doubleheader and single game on Sunday to follow.
