GOLDEN, Colo. – Two strong pitching performances helped Colorado School of Mines earn a doubleheader sweep of MSU Denver on Friday in RMAC baseball.
Walter Pennington (8-3) allowed only one run through five innings of the nine-inning opening game, as the 28th-ranked Orediggers built an 11-1 lead before holding on for a 14-7 victory. In the seven-inning nightcap, Tyler Blomster (9-2) pitched a one-hit shutout with no walks and 10 strikeouts in a 5-0 victory.
"It was just a tough day today," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach
Ryan Strain said. "We didn't get off to a very good start in the first game, but I thought the offense did a nice job of battling against a good pitcher. We got some hits and had some opportunities to score some more runs but just couldn't push any more across.
"The second game, their guy just pitched really well. He had good command, good stuff. He filled up the strike zone and made us put the ball in play, and they made a couple of nice plays behind him."
Colorado School of Mines (34-11 overall, 24-9 RMAC) has now won 20 of its last 23 games. MSU Denver (27-20, 19-15) has lost six straight and 11 of 13.
MSU Denver managed 15 hits in the opener, but the early deficit was too much to overcome.
Zach Paschke and
Matt Malkin each went 3-for-5. Malkin was 3-for-8 for the day, as he continues his pursuit of the RMAC Triple Crown,
Zach Walsh had the only hit for the Roadrunners in the nightcap, a two-out single in the fifth.
The regular season concludes Saturday as the same teams meet in a doubleheader scheduled for noon.
"Hopefully we'll bounce back tomorrow and the bats will come alive again," Strain said.
