DENVER – Everyone knew the MSU Denver baseball schedule was backloaded, with the best teams jammed together at the end of the season.
Last week, it was Colorado Mesa, which is ranked first and fifth in the two major national ratings. This week, for the regular-season finale, it's Colorado School of Mines, which is ranked 28th in the Collegiate Baseball ratings, which offers a top 30.
The Orediggers (32-11 overall, 23-9 and second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) have won 18 of their last 21 games.
"They've got a good, veteran team," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "They've been playing together for quite a while, a lot of juniors and seniors, and they've had a lot of success. It'll be a good challenge. They play well at home and they'll be ready to play."
The series consists of doubleheaders Friday and Saturday, with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday. The first game each day is scheduled for nine innings, with the second game set for seven.
Though losing each game by an average of two runs (two one-run games and two three-run games) last weekend against Colorado Mesa (38-8, 26-6), the Roadrunners (27-18 overall) nonetheless were swept and slipped into the fourth-place tie in the RMAC at 19-13.
The Roadrunners are mostly likely playing for RMAC tournament seeding but theoretically have a chance to bust into the regional rankings with a strong weekend, their best-case scenario for making the NCAA tournament is probably winning next weekend's league tournament.
Getting there requires some bouncing back this weekend. Strain said his team has responded well this week in practice.
"I think they realize we played pretty well in a lot of phases against a good team, but we just made a few mistakes here and there that were the difference in winning some games," Strain said. "We're in a good spot. If we can clean up some things, we should be fine. I know our guys will be ready to go."
Meanwhile, individually, Matt Malkin remains on pace to win the RMAC Triple Crown, with league-leading totals of a .425 batting average, 24 homers and 66 RBIs. New Mexico Highlands' Auggie Francis is second in batting at .416, while Colorado Mines' duo of Trevor Kehe and Derek Daly each have 14 homers for second place, and CSU-Pueblo's Dakota Popham is second in RBIs with 53.
"Really, I've only coached one person who has even come close," said Strain, in his 14th season of college coaching. "It's so hard, obviously. You've got to be great and sustain it over a long period of time. And he's been able to do it even though for about three weeks he was only swinging with one arm (due to injury). He didn't have quite the same power. He's practicing now, which is a good sign, because he went over two weeks without practicing. He looks like himself again."
While the Roadrunners continue to get steady production from their lineup, including a late-season surge from infielder Zach Walsh, others such as infielder Jimmy Holinger and relief pitchers Cade Crader and Carter Akerfelds have had impressive moments down the stretch.
"Zach has had a good push," Strain said. "We thought he would be capable of swinging the bat the way he has. Jimmy played every day last year and not as much this year, but we're looking for a little spark at the bottom of the order.
"And we'll have to have both (Akerfelds and Crader) help us. They've come a long way as the season has gone on. Akerfelds came in at semester and Crader was banged up. But they are both throwing well and they are more or less fresh and ready to go. We'll have to count on them if we're going to make a run in the tournament. It was good to see them both throw well last week."
