DENVER – The Metropolitan State University of Denver baseball team built a 10-2 lead and pounded out 17 hits in Friday night's game against No. 6 Colorado Mesa, but ended up suffering a heartbreaking, 14-13 loss at the hands of the Mavericks on Military Appreciation Day at Regency Athletic Complex.
"The bottom line is, to beat teams like that it's pitching and defense," coach
Ryan Strain said on Friday following the game. "You've got to be able to hold that lead. We battled back and Matt (Malkin) hit the home run and we were a strike away. Just a tough break. It's tough. Our guys are frustrated. We didn't make enough plays when we needed to. We had some tough breaks too."
After Colorado Mesa (35-8, 23-6 and first place Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) charged back from an eight-run deficit and tied the game at 12 runs apiece in the top of the eighth inning, MSU Denver (27-15, 19-10 and T-3
rd RMAC) needed a big hit to go back in front.
What better candidate for a big hit than
Matt Malkin?
Almost predictably, the senior catcher hit a mammoth home run, his second of the game, to give the Roadrunners a 13-12 lead. MSU Denver needed just three outs to come away with a series-opening win against a team that Collegiate Baseball says is currently No. 1 in NCAA Division II (CMU is ranked No. 6 by the NCBWA).
With one out and
Eric Cox pitching in the top of the ninth,
Chase Anderson made what appeared to be a diving play on a sinking ball in left center, but it ended up a Maverick double after a no-catch call by the umpire. The next batter grounded out to Cox, pushing the runner to third.
With two outs and two strikes on the batter, Cox's pitch squeaked past Malkin to the backstop and the Mavs tied the game at 13. Mesa's Caleb Farmer followed with a homer, putting the Mavericks in front.
Cade Peters led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk. Anderson then singled after a
Ty Lightley popout, and
Logan Soole worked a walk after
Zach Paschke struck out to bring up Malkin with the bases loaded.
Basically, a dream scenario.
Malkin was given a few pitches to hit, but just couldn't connect for a fourth knock of the contest and MSU Denver left the RAC with an agonizing defeat.
"I feel for our guys," Strain said. "Scoring 13 runs against that team and coming out the way that we did in front of a good crowd, we played really hard. They threw everything they had at us. We kept hitting, kept doing really good things and just came up a little short."
Malkin hit homers No. 22 and 23 on the season, extending his single-season program record as part of a 3-for-6 performance in which he scored thrice and batted in three runs. Malkin's .433 batting average, 23 homers and 63 RBIs all continue to lead the RMAC by fair margins, as does his .980 slugging percentage.
Logan Soole smoked an absolutely monstrous three-run homer off the building beyond right field in the first inning, his 12
th dinger of the season, and ended up 2-for-5 with two runs, four RBIs and a walk.
Draven Adame was 3-for-5 with two runs and four RBIs, with each of his hits going for extra bases as he added a fourth-inning two-run homer to two previous doubles. It was the seventh home run of the season for Adame, who is hitting a mighty .378 in 2019.
The only other player not named
Matt Malkin with a better batting average than Adame this season, Anderson, was 3-for-3 on Friday in addition to three bases on balls. Anderson is now hitting .380 this year, helping the Roadrunners to their current .322 team batting average.
Paschke, Peters and
Zach Walsh each had two hits Friday night. Both of Peters' hits were two-baggers.
Despite the heartbreaking loss, MSU Denver knows it's neck-and-neck with one of the nation's top teams. The Roadrunners have three more chances at the Mavericks, with two of them coming in a doubleheader tomorrow at the RAC. First pitch for game one is set for 1 p.m. MDT.
"I said 'hey, you battled,'" Strain said about his postgame words to his team after Friday's loss. "We're just going to have to bounce back tomorrow and be ready to go in the first game."
