ST. GEORGE, Utah – MSU Denver came from behind with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday night for a 9-8 victory over Western Washington for its second win of the day at the Dixie State Courtyard Classic, extending its winning streak to five games.
Earlier Friday the Roadrunners cruised to a 9-1 victory over Central Washington that was stopped after six innings.
"We showed great fight and it was an awesome team win," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach
Annie Van Wetzinga said of the nightcap. "We used three different pitchers and we had different players come off the bench to piece together a hard-fought win.
"I can't say enough about the fight this team has shown and how well they are playing together. They are fun to watch and coach."
MSU Denver (7-2) jumped out to a 5-2 lead through two innings before Western Washington started chipping away.
The Vikings eventually took a 7-6 lead in the top of the sixth, but MSU Denver's
Rebecca Gonzales led off the bottom of the sixth with a game-tying homer. Gonzales, who set MSU Denver freshman records for hits (69) and doubles (20) last season but didn't hit a homer, now has two this season.
Western Washington pushed a run across in the top of the seventh to retake the lead at 8-7, but back came the Roadrunners.
After singles by
Whitnee Alexander and
Darby McGhee and a fielder's choice groundout by
Kamryn Leoffler, up to the plate came Gonzales with two outs. And she delivered a game-tying hit for the second straight inning, this time on a single through the left side that scored Alexander.
Gonzales was 3-for-4 with two runs in each game Friday. She is 8-for-13 with nine runs in the first four games of the tournament, and for the season she is batting .500 (14-for-28) with eight RBIs and 15 runs in nine games.
"We know Rebecca is a really good hitter," Van Wetzinga said. "She can handle different types of pitchers because she makes adjustments, but I think her best attribute is her steadiness and quiet confidence. She never gets rattled and stays even keel. That serves her well in big moments."
The Roadrunners then picked up the walkoff win as the Western Washington pitcher mishandled a popup by
Megan Sansburn. Leoffler, running hard all the way from second base, scored easily as the ball rolled away.
Julia Heitz had pitched out of a one-out jam after coming on in relief in the top half of the seventh and got the pitching victory.
In the opener,
Kayla Banks pitched four innings for the victory to improve to 4-0. The redshirt freshman left-hander allowed one run (unearned) on four hits.
Meanwhile, cleanup hitter
Laney Sheppard went 1-for-3 and drove in four runs, including two on a sixth-inning homer. Sheppard already has four homers and a whopping 20 RBIs in nine games this season.
Sansburn drove in Gonzales with a single in the top of the first inning as the Roadrunners' daily double at the top of the order once again paid immediate dividends.
MSU Denver added two in the third, then broke loose for four in the fourth.
The Roadrunners wrap up their stay at the Courtyard Classic with a 12:30 p.m. game Saturday against Northwest Nazarene (Idaho), then return home to face defending national champion Augustana (S.D.) in a Feb. 14 doubleheader at the Regency Athletic Complex beginning at noon.
