PUEBLO, Colo. – For the fifth time this season, Metropolitan State University of Denver starting pitcher
Gannon Reiswig gave his team a good chance to win.
Reiswig struck out a career-high 10 batters in 4 1/3 innings of work on Friday, giving up three earned runs and another unearned in MSU Denver's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener at CSU-Pueblo.
Defensive miscues cost the Roadrunners, however, and MSU Denver (5-10, 0-1 RMAC) eventually lost, 9-4, in the first game of a four-game set against the ThunderWolves (9-4, 1-0 RMAC).
"He didn't have his best stuff tonight, but he grinded," MSU Denver coach
Ryan Strain said of Reiswig. "He hung in there and gave us a chance."
The visitors trailed 3-0 after two innings but evened things up in the top of the fourth thanks to a two-run homer from
Cade Peters and an RBI double from
Zach Paschke. It was the fourth homer of the season for Peters, tying him with
Chase Anderson for the team lead.
Reiswig exited in the bottom of the fifth after giving up an unearned run, but
Carter Akerfelds came on in relief and got out of a jam after a pickoff to third base by catcher
Alex Gonzales and a subsequent strikeout.
"He came up with big pitches in big situations," Strain said of Akerfelds. "He gave us a chance too."
Akerfelds kept the Roadrunners in the game with a strong sixth, but defensive miscues cost MSU Denver in the seventh. A one-out single with a man on first turned into two runs for CSU-Pueblo after a misplay in the outfield, giving the ThunderWolves a 6-3 advantage.
Some timely hitting from CSU-Pueblo combined with a passed ball and a wild pitch produced three more runs in the frame. The home team took a 9-3 lead into the eighth, but it wasn't quite over for the Roadrunners.
Peters scored
Zach Walsh from second with a one-out RBI double in the top of the eighth, and the Roadrunners eventually loaded the bases for Paschke. The rally was quickly stifled, though, as he unfortunately lined into a double play to end the inning.
It was a strange game for the Roadrunners, who racked up 10 hits – just one less than their opponent – and forced 16 strikeouts from the ThunderWolves but fell victim to a few crazy sequences.
Peters was the center of the offensive attack, driving in three of MSU Denver's four runs on a 2-for-4 night. Paschke and
Logan Soole were both 2-for-4, while Gonzales was 1-for-1 with two walks.
Akerfelds struck out three and gave up three runs in his two innings of relief work, but just one was earned.
Strain believes his team needs to make the ThunderWolves work harder for outs in the final three games of the series.
"We've got to do a heck of a lot better competing at the plate," he said. "We didn't make them have to make any plays. It's a very fast infield. We've got to make them make 27 plays."
The same two teams will be back at it again in Pueblo tomorrow for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. MST.
