DENVER – After an opening game that couldn't have gone much better for Darby McGhee and the MSU Denver softball team there was a second game against Regis that, well … let's just say all's well that ends well.
 
McGhee pitched a one-hit shutout in the opener, taking a no-hitter into the fifth and final inning of a game the Roadrunners won 13-0. Then MSU Denver came from behind twice, including from a four-run deficit, and eventually won it on Rebecca Gonzales' walkoff single to cap a two-run rally for an 8-7 victory.
 
"It's always good when you find a way to win," Van Wetzinga said. "It was cool to see us work through a game and fight for it."
 
But, first things first, McGhee (11-11) dominated in the opening game, retiring the first 11 batters she faced – five of them by strikeout – before allowing a two-out walk in the fourth.
 
"My pitches had a lot of movement," McGhee said. "My rise ball was working, but it helped that my screwball had a bit of 'up' movement to it, too. And they were going for it."
 
She entered the fifth inning on track for the 12^th no-hitter in program history, but Regis' Carly Beard led off with a clean double down the left-field line.
 
"It was a legit hit," Van Wetzinga said. "It would've been more annoying if it had been a bloop hit or something. Darby was sharp. She had a little (midseason) lull, but her last few outings she's looked more like herself and she looked much more like herself tonight. She was attacking. Her rise ball was working well."
 
McGhee had plenty of cushion as the Roadrunners (26-25 overall, 21-13 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) scored three in the first, four in the third and six in the fourth.
 
"That helps a lot," McGhee said of the run support. "It's a lot easier. You can relax a little bit."
 
She said she knew she had a no-hitter heading into the fifth, but tried not to worry about it.
 
"I tried to focus on just doing what I was doing," McGhee said. "I gave up the hit, but it was just one hit."
 
McGhee figures to make history shortly anyway. With six strikeouts Friday, she now needs two more to pass Brittany Moss (2009-13) for the school's career strikeout record. Moss had 291, while McGhee is at 290.
 
Abby Anderson went 3-for-3 with three RBIs in the opener, while Ashlee Kim, Laney Sheppard and Jasmine Wessel all had two-hit games. Gonzales, Koryna Wright and Kassi Reiger each had two RBIs.
 
The regular season concludes with Saturday's noon doubleheader, which includes Senior Day recognition between games.
 
McGhee, playing shortstop in Friday's second game, got the Roadrunners off to a good start in the nightcap with a second-inning homer, her fifth of the year but her first since March 16.
 
"I've been struggling a bit," McGhee said. "I've been working at it in practice to fix things, and I think it kind of clicked this week. That felt good."
 
But Regis (15-24, 12-21 RMAC) stunned the Roadrunners with a five-run fourth inning that included a three-run homer by Laura Scheffel.
 
Then came a 21-minute delay as the field lights malfunctioned.
 
"I think it was good for us, because I think everyone kind of relaxed a little bit," McGhee said. "And we came back and scored some runs. It stunk to sit for 20 minutes, but I think it worked in our favor a little bit."
 
Said Gonzales: "I think it was good for us because we re-set during that time. We were having a dance-off with Regis and played some hacky sack. It was good for us."
 
The results support that since, once play resumed, the Roadrunners immediately responded with five runs in the bottom of the frame to re-take the lead at 6-5.
 
McGhee had a sacrifice fly, then Wright, Ari Valdez and Kim had RBI singles before Gonzales was hit by a pitch with the bases-loaded to force home the go-ahead run.
 
"It's not ideal, but in retrospect it turned out to be good," Van Wetzinga said of the delay. "For one thing, that's when the wind was horrible, so I think that was good for everybody because trying to play softball in that would have been really hard.
 
"And I think it helped our team re-set a little bit. I think they loosened themselves up. I don't think they sat around and thought about the situation they were in, so that was good."
 
Still, Regis wasn't done and scored two more in the top of the sixth to take a 7-6 lead.
 
All seven of the runs the Rangers scored against starter Julia Heitz and reliever Destinee Lopez (5-1) were unearned.
 
But, down to their final out with only McGhee on first in the bottom of the seventh, the Roadrunners responded.
 
Valdez lifted a fly ball to deep left field that got over the head of Michelle Larose for a double that scored McGhee with the tying run. Then Kim was hit by a pitch, Megan Sansburn walked and Gonzales laced a single through the left side of the infield for the game-winner.
 
"I was trying to bounce back from that last at-bat," Gonzales said, referring to a strikeout with two runners on base. "Because I definitely could have driven in one of those runs and it wouldn't have had to come down to that.
 
"I was a little nervous, but I tried to be super calm. And I attacked the first pitch."
 
The clutch hits by Valdez and Gonzales followed a consistent theme of freshmen who have had major impacts this season.
 
"Those were huge at-bats, from two freshmen," Van Wetzinga said. "And it doesn't all happen without Sansburn having a great at-bat – she has such a great eye, and she'll hardly ever fish out of the zone. But for those two freshmen to have those at-bats in that moment, that's kind of special. You aren't able to do that if you don't have some grit and some fight. And those two have that."