EDMOND, Okla. – The Metropolitan State University of Denver baseball team struggled to find offensive momentum in a doubleheader at Central Oklahoma on Saturday, dropping both ends of the twinbill by final scores of 10-3 and 9-2.
"We got beat at every facet of the game today," MSU Denver coach
Ryan Strain said. "Pitching, hitting and defense. They played harder than us and deserved to win."
Defensive miscues were a problem in game one, as the Roadrunners (2-9) committed three errors in the first two innings and four total. Starting pitcher
Zach Sundine surrendered nine runs, but just two were earned.
Central Oklahoma exploded for seven runs in the second inning to build a quick 9-0 lead after they had put two on the board in the first.
Austin Stone relieved Sundine after a grand slam and contributed one of the Roadrunners' best performances of the weekend, tossing 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief and giving up just two hits while striking out five Bronchos.
Cade Peters trimmed the deficit with a two-run single in the third, giving MSU Denver hope of clawing back into the contest.
Brice Martinez connected for his first career homer
in the fifth, making it 9-3.
The only other run in the game came three innings later, as Central Oklahoma padded its lead with an RBI double in the eighth.
While the Roadrunners matched the Bronchos in the hit column with eight, MSU Denver struggled to push runs across. Martinez was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while
Cody Schultz and
Dylan Nelson each went 2-for-4 in the opener.
Game two followed a similar narrative. Central Oklahoma roughed up
Cade Crader for four runs in the first then added two more runs in the second and single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings while MSU Denver struggled to get the offense going.
Martinez produced MSU Denver's first hit with a third-inning single, but the Roadrunners didn't get another till a
Dylan Nelson single in the fifth.
MSU Denver finally got a rally going in the eighth as
Owen Reynolds reached on a leadoff single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After making it to third on a groundout, Reynolds scored on a single from Schultz.
The Roadrunners loaded the bases with no outs to start the ninth after a Peters single and two consecutive plunkings. A run came across on a double play to make it 9-2, but that proved to be the final score.
Ty Lightley,
Eric Cox and
Conner Nantkes were all solid in relief in game two, providing bright spots on an otherwise gloomy day for the Roadrunners. Lightley went 1 2/3 and gave up an unearned run, while Cox went 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Nantkes offered a spotless inning.
The Roadrunners return home next weekend to face Sioux Falls. The three-game series will feature noon MST first pitches on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Regency Athletic Complex.
