GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Darby McGhee pitched a one-hit shutout as MSU Denver stayed up late and stayed to play another day at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament.
MSU Denver defeated Colorado State University-Pueblo 5-0 in a Thursday night elimination game that didn't end until 10:50 p.m. Earlier in the first round of the double-elimination tournament, the Roadrunners came up short in a back-and-forth affair with Colorado School of Mines, falling 7-6 in nine innings.
The Roadrunners (29-26) will try to keep it going Friday in another elimination game – they'll face the loser of the 8:30 a.m. game between second-seeded Colorado Christian and third-seeded Dixie State in a game scheduled for 1 p.m.
Should MSU Denver win that game, it would play again at 7:45 p.m. The Roadrunners split four games against Colorado Christian earlier this season, and also split a two-game series with Dixie State.
The fifth-seeded Roadrunners had also split a four-game series with fourth-seeded Colorado School of Mines two weeks ago, and that parity was on display through the opening game. Three times the Roadrunners took the lead before eventually falling.
"Game One was a really tough game to lose," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach
Annie Van Wetzinga said. "It was a heck of a back-and-forth game. It was the best battle we've had all year. Credit to Mines for a great battle as well."
But MSU Denver came back strong just a few hours later against CSU-Pueblo, a team it had beaten in three of four meetings this year.
"With the first game being such a tough loss, I was really happy with how we bounced back with the same energy and focus," Van Wetzinga said. "Our defense was really good all day."
A second-inning RBI double by
Jasmine Wessel put the Roadrunners ahead. They added on in the third, on
Rebecca Gonzales' RBI groundout. And they gave themselves some breathing room in the fifth on a run-scoring groundout by
Ashlee Kim and a two-run homer by
Laney Sheppard, her 12
th of the season.
Meanwhile McGhee (13-11) was in complete control. She had faced the minimum of nine batters through three innings (one batter walked but was caught stealing), and then gave up a leadoff single in the fourth.
But that was all the ThunderWolves would get. McGhee walked two and struck out two in her third complete-game shutout of the season.
"Darby threw really well in the night game," Van Wetzinga said. "She was sharp, and even when she got down in the count she was able to come back on their hitters. After the day we had, it was an impressive outing to only give up one infield hit."
In the hard-fought opening game, MSU Denver jumped out to a 3-0 lead through 2 ½ innings on a Wessel homer in the second inning and a two-run third inning in which Kim had an RBI single and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
But Mines tied it in the bottom of the third on a three-run homer by Clara Larson.
The Roadrunners went back in front in the top of the fourth on Kim's RBI single.
But Mines tied it in the bottom of the fourth on Dani Valerio's run-scoring single.
Then Mines took the lead in the bottom of the sixth on Boston Ludlow's homer, but MSU Denver wasn't done, forcing extra innings on Sheppard's RBI single.
In the ninth, MSU Denver took the lead again on McGhee's run-scoring double.
But Mines rallied to win it in the bottom of the ninth on a game-tying single by Megan Dickson and an RBI ground ball, ruled a base hit, by Claire Smith.
Kim was 3-for-5 in the opener, while Gonzales, Sheppard and McGhee all had two hits.
