DENVER – On a beautiful Senior Day at the Regency Athletic Complex on Sunday, the Metropolitan State University of Denver baseball team nearly completed a thrilling comeback against the No. 6 Colorado Mesa Mavericks.

When all was said and done, however, the rally fell just one run short as 12 Roadrunners played their last regular season home game at the RAC.

MSU Denver (27-18, 19-13 and T-4^th Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) totaled 10 runs on 13 hits in Sunday's game. Colorado Mesa (38-8, 26-6 and 1^st RMAC) totaled 13 hits as well, but squeaked across just one more run than the Roadrunners to complete a sweep of the four-game series in yet another heartbreaking loss for MSU Denver.

The Roadrunners trailed 11-6 after a four-run eighth inning for CMU, but battled back with two runs each in the eighth and ninth innings to eventually bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. While the rally fell short, it took a lot of heart to get to that point in the first place.

Case in point: an impressive relief outing by Carter Akerfelds.

Entering the game with a 6-0 deficit and just two outs recorded in the first inning, Akerfelds took the mound and seemed to barely break a sweat for 6 1/3 solid innings, giving up just two earned runs while striking out three Mavericks and walking none.

"To have (Akerfelds) come up and throw up the zeros like that was unbelievable," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "We needed that. We had our shots. Without that, we don't get those shots with the bats, if he doesn't come in and pitch as well as he did."

Following pregame Senior Day festivities that included a touching moment honoring the memory of former pitcher Conner Pepin, the Roadrunners found themselves in a quick 6-0 hole as Colorado Mesa found an offensive groove in the first inning.

The game seemed to be over before it started, but not in the minds of the Roadrunners.

"I was really proud of our team," Strain said. "You lose three, you go down 6-0 before you blink, and to come all the way back and have the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, hat showed a lot of their character. They could've quit and they didn't."

In fact, it was a game again by the end of the opening frame. MSU Denver got three runs back thanks to a Logan Soole RBI double, Matt Malkin sacrifice fly and Zach Walsh RBI triple, making it 6-3 heading to the second.

Mesa tacked on another run in the third, but in the bottom of the fourth, it was comeback time.

Jake Kistaitis celebrated his final regular season home game in historic fashion, hitting MSU Denver's 71^st home run of the season to break the program's team single-season home run record. The previous mark was 70 team roundtrippers in 2010.

Chase Anderson's RBI double and Soole's RBI single continued the rally, collapsing the Colorado Mesa lead to 7-6.

A few quick innings followed, but a two-run homer for Colorado Mesa following an MSU Denver error proved to be the dagger.

MSU Denver got within 11-10 after a two-run jack from Zach Walsh with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but it was too little, too late as the game ended with a flyout from Cade Peters.

Walsh was just a single short of the cycle on Sunday, going 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs. Soole was 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs, while Anderson was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Peters also had two hits, adding an RBI and scoring a run.

Taylor Petersen worked a dominant ninth to provide another highlight from the senior corps, striking out the side.

Strain spoke of the 12 seniors who played their final regular season home game at the RAC on Sunday.

"I've really enjoyed this team," he said. "I told them a couple weeks ago, in my 14 years, this is the most fun team I've coached. I didn't just say that to say it to them. That's how I really feel. They're great kids. They come to work, they're here to win. They're a joy to coach. Hopefully we get on a roll and send (the seniors) out the way I hope we can."

MSU Denver looks to get back to its winning ways with its final series of the regular season next weekend at Colorado School of Mines. Doubleheaders are scheduled for both Friday and Saturday, with a 3 p.m. MDT start time for game one on Friday and a noon start time for the first game Saturday.