LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Fooled by Soole. Logan Soole (Louisville, Colo./Monarch).

That's the story for hitters who have faced the MSU Denver southpaw this season, especially in his last four starts.

It was no different for Colorado Christian (8-22, 3-15 and 10^th Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) on Saturday, who mustered just two hits in Soole's six shut-down innings as MSU Denver (22-8, 15-3 and 1^st RMAC) cruised to an 8-3 win.

"He was really good," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said of Soole following the game. "He just dominated from the very beginning."

Soole (5-2, 2.27 ERA) had a perfect game going through four innings before walking the leadoff batter (who he promptly picked off) in the fifth, meaning he faced the minimum amount of batters through five frames.

It wasn't until the bottom of the sixth inning that he surrendered a hit, but that hit was a home run by CCU's Sam Gallegos to cut MSU Denver's lead to 6-1. When a single followed the homer, it looked as if the Cougars might be getting to Soole. He stayed calm, however, and got the next hitter to fly out to center before inducing a 5-4-3, inning-ending double play.   

"He probably could have gone another inning or two," said Strain, "but we didn't want to push him too much so he's ready to go for next week. We wanted to play it smart and make sure his pitch count didn't get too high."

While Soole mowed down opposing hitters, the Roadrunners conducted business as usual on offense. But on Saturday, it actually wasn't the No. 2 through No. 4 positions in the MSU Denver lineup that carried the load. All nine starters had at least one hit.

"I really feel up and down our lineup that guys have a chance to be really good offensively," Strain commented. "Two through four (in the batting order) have been getting the most credit for it, and rightfully so because they've been swinging the bats well, but those other guys are really good players too. Some of them have been scuffling, so it was good to see them step up today and have the majority of our hits."

Jake Kistaitis (Omaha, Neb./Millard West), who hadn't contributed a multi-hit performance since March 16 previous to Friday's game, recorded his second multi-hit game in a row on Saturday with a 3-for-4 showing. It was Kistaitis' fifth homer of the season that ignited the MSU Denver offense to lead off the third inning, giving the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead. Kistaitis scored two of the Roadrunners' eight runs on Saturday.

Later in the frame, Chase Anderson (Littleton, Colo./Columbine) scored Owen Reynolds (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) on a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 2-0. Reynolds, who hadn't started since March 9 but received the start in centerfield on Saturday, had worked a walk after a long at-bat.

MSU Denver maintained its 2-0 lead through the fourth before striking again in the fifth. It was Kistaitis and Reynolds who again sparked the offense, as Kistaitis singled through the right side before Reynolds bunted his way on. Ty Lightley (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) moved both runners over with a groundout, then Zach Paschke (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) delivered a two-run single to make it 4-0.

The Roadrunners continued their theme of two-run bursts in the sixth with a homer from Draven Adame (Lamar, Colo./Lamar), his sixth of the season. Adame finished 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs, pushing his season total to 18 RBIs along with his .360 batting average.

One more two-run burst was in store, this time thanks to a two-run single from Reynolds in the top of the eighth inning that scored Adame and Zach Walsh (Austin, Texas/Vista Ridge) to make it 8-1.

Reynolds finished the day 2-for-2 with two runs scored, two RBIs and two walks – a very efficient contribution.

"It was good to see Owen Reynolds (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) get an opportunity today against a left-handed pitcher and have a couple good, key at-bats," Strain said.

Colorado Christian added two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but it was much too little, much too late as the Roadrunners stayed in sole possession of first place in the RMAC. With a non-traditional Sunday doubleheader in store for Sunday, Strain knows his team has to show up to All Star Park ready to play.

"If you're not ready to play, anybody can beat you," Strain said. "Our guys need to be ready to play."

The first pitch of Sunday's doubleheader is set for noon MT in Lakewood.