GOLDEN, Colo. – MSU Denver jumped out front with three first-inning runs and held on for a 4-3 win Friday over Colorado School of Mines to pick up a split of a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference doubleheader.
 
The Roadrunners were in position to win the opener, too, but Mines rallied for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 10-6 victory.
 
Jasmine Wessel starred at the plate in both games for the Roadrunners, going a combined 4-for-7 with four RBIs.
 
"Jasmine had some nice at bats and hit the ball hard," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Annie Van Wetzinga said. "She's been heating up the last few weeks. She certainly had better confidence in the box and hasn't let a negative at-bat dictate her next one." 

In the second game, MSU Denver (23-24 overall, 18-12 for fifth in the RMAC) bounced back after a disappointing loss with its three-run first. Wessel drove in the first two with a double, and Koryna Wright followed with an RBI single.
 
Wessel also added an insurance run with an RBI ground out in the third. Rebecca Gonzales scored on the play – Gonzales had reached on a single to give her 58 hits this season, the most by a freshman in MSU Denver history.
 
The Roadrunners would need that insurance run, too.
 
Destinee Lopez (4-1), who pitched 3 1/3 strong relief innings to pick up the win, pitched out of a tight spot in the sixth.
 
Trailing 4-2, Mines put runners at second and third with no outs, but a double play on a sacrifice fly gave Lopez some breathing room and the Orediggers managed only one run.
 
Lopez, who entered the game with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth inning, gave up only one unearned run on two hits while walking two and striking out two.
 
"Destinee came into pitch in a tough spot and executed her pitches and got us out of it," Van Wetzinga said. "She was able to keep them off balance with her change and spin her curve really well. She's done some really nice things in relief this season and that's not an easy role. She's embraced it well." 
 
Julia Heitz had a solid start, allowing two runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings.
 
In the opener, MSU Denver battled back from an early 3-0 deficit and took the lead with a three-run sixth that included back-to-back RBI doubles by Laney Sheppard and Wessel to tie and take the lead, respectively, and a run-scoring single from Wright.
 
But Mines (23-16, 22-9 for fourth place in the RMAC) answered with its big seven-run frame in the bottom of the sixth.
 
The Roadrunners got a run back in the top of the seventh on Sheppard's RBI double, but the rally ended there as Mines held on for the win.
 
Sheppard, who homered for the Roadrunners' first run, was 3-for-4, with three RBIs. For the day she was 4-for-6.