DENVER – When times are tough and the pitcher on the mound is struggling, virtually every position player thinks that he could toe the rubber and get people out.
 
MSU Denver's Ty Lightley is getting a chance to prove it.
 
The Roadrunners' regular third baseman last year, Lightley was one of several to get tryouts as pitchers in the fall when the team was short on healthy arms and needed some players to pitch in order to have scrimmages.
 
Lightley impressed.
 
And now the right-hander figures to be a staple at the back end of the MSU Denver bullpen, pitching in high-leverage situations.
 
"The thing is, he commanded his pitches and threw his off-speed stuff for strikes," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "So he gave himself a chance in the fall, and now that he's on a program, he's continued to get better. He threw the ball well last weekend, and he's going to get used quite a bit on the mound."
 
Lightley figures to get more opportunities this weekend as the Roadrunners have their first home series of the season, a four-game set with Emporia State (Kan.) at the Regency Athletic Complex. Friday's series opener was postponed because of expected unplayable field conditions due to snow, so the teams are set to play doubleheaders Saturday at noon and Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
Lightley made his collegiate pitching debut Feb. 1 against Fort Hays State (Kan.), pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings while striking out two.
 
"When you go up against your teammates in intrasquads, it's still real but there's no one in the stands or anything like that," Lightley said. "So, I'm not going to lie, when I got on the mound, I was a little nervous. But after the first pitch was thrown, it all went away."
 
Lightley spent some time on the mound in high school at Dakota Ridge, where he was 5-3 with a 2.62 ERA as a senior while striking out 35 in 37 1/3 innings.
 
But, at 5-foot-10, he doesn't have the prototypical height expected of right-handed pitchers, and he really considered himself an infielder anyway.
 
He played for two seasons at Garden City (Kan.) Community College, and joined the Roadrunners program last year and settled into the third base job.
 
But he didn't mind joking around with pitching coach Mark Vig about getting a shot.
 
"I guess he took it kind of seriously," Lightley said, laughing.
 
Lightley commands both his fastball and curveball, and he has the ability to throw from different arm angles due to all those years playing the infield.
 
"Honestly, I just want to throw strikes and let hitters get themselves out," Lightley said. "Nobody wants to walk."
 
Lightley also got a pinch-hitting opportunity in the opening weekend of the season and could work his way into more playing time.
 
The right-handed hitter started last season on fire, batting .447 through March 1. He wound up batting .241 and had 24 RBIs.
 
"He'll get his opportunities to get back in there on the offensive side," Strain said. "We have so much depth in our infield, and they've all deserved chances to get in there. Because he can do both, we're going to have to figure out what's best for the team. We may need to hold onto him so that he can pitch on certain days."
 
Lightley said he still gets all his batting practice swings and doesn't miss any infield reps. He's just added some bullpen sessions to his weekly routine.
 
"Everybody always wants to play all the time, of course," Lightley said. "But I just want to help the team win."
 
The Roadrunners didn't get any wins in the opening weekend, coming up short in four close games at Fort Hays State.
 
Emporia State comes in 4-2 after dropping two of three games last weekend at CSU-Pueblo.
 
After being able to spend January practicing outside as no snow fell until Jan. 31, the Roadrunners have been off since Feb. 2 and have been trying to work around several days of snow.
 
"We were as ready (for the start of the season) as any team I've coached in 15 years with the time we had (outside)," Strain said. "We had everything in, and I felt really good going into it, but we just didn't play great offensively for some reason.
 
"Now, it's the complete opposite. We haven't been able to get outside. We've been able to clear the field a couple of times to get some live at-bats. We've gotten a lot of swings, just not off live pitching."
 
Said Lightley: "(The first series) was disappointing, but that's baseball. Anybody can beat anybody. Emporia is going to be pretty good, they usually are. It'll be fun to see how we come back against another team from the same conference."