DENVER – MSU Denver came out mashing Friday, with 32 hits and eight homers in only 14 innings worth of at-bats while sweeping Fort Hays State (Kan.) 16-10 and 7-2 in a season-opening doubleheader.
 
"I've said we've got a lot of good hitters, and I've got to figure out how to get them all in," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "We got 16 guys in and 15 of them got at-bats, and when you're able to spread it around like that and still get as many runs as we did the first game, that's pretty good. And the second game was only 7-2, but we had a lot of hard-hit balls that didn't fall, otherwise we might have score more."
 
Owen Reynolds and Bill Ralston each hit two first-game homers and were 6-for-7 for the day. Reynolds started off 6-for-6, including 5-for-5 with five RBIs in the opener, while Ralston was 3-for-4 in the opener while driving in four runs.
 
"We've been putting in a lot of hard work," Ralston said. "We've been taking hacks for hours each day, putting a lot of effort into changing some things and making some things work. It worked for me today, and hopefully it will continue for me and for all of us."
 
Reynolds hadn't homered previously in 108 at-bats as a Roadrunner.
 
"I think the last time I went 5-for-5 I was like eight years old," Reynolds said. "It feels very good. My teammates helped me a lot with my mental approach, and I feel like I've gotten a lot better in the last year.
 
"I think the power has always been there, but I never really understood how to tap into it. I used to swing way too hard and pull off and coach Strain helping me, I've been able to stay inside the ball and use my power. I'm not very strong, but I've got some leverage."
 
Reynolds appears to have plenty of untapped power in his 6-foot-4, 190-pound frame.
 
"He's made huge strides over his time here," Strain said. "He's always been ultra-talented. He's gifted. He can run, he can throw, he's got power – he can do it all, and he's just needed to figure it all out. He's continued to work, and I think we've got a lot of good outfielders who have pushed him so that he can stay out there.
 
"He's a dynamic player if he can get it going."
 
Ralston is a transfer who played at Division I St. Mary's as well as San Joaquin Delta (Calif.) College. The left-handed hitting third baseman homered in his first at-bat as a Roadrunner.
 
"I know he's upset about having a couple of errors, but if you drive in more than you let in, maybe it's all right," Strain said, laughing. "Billy is a good hitter. All his hits were barreled up."
 
Jake Williams' sixth-inning homer broke a 7-7 tie and put MSU Denver ahead to stay, and Reynolds, Colin Stone and Ralston also homered in the six-run uprising.
 
Not to be outdone by Ralston, freshman Caleb Albaugh started at second base in the second game and unloaded a homer in his first career at-bat, a blast off the scoreboard in the deepest part of the park in right center.
 
Albaugh had hit only one homer as high school player, though he was unable to play during his canceled senior year.
 
"He's a talented kid," Strain said. "He's a kid coming into an older group that has some pretty good players. But he deserved it because he's played really well. First college bat hitting it off the scoreboard, that's a pretty good day.
 
"He's more of a line-drive guy, but opposite field off the scoreboard as a freshman, that's a pretty good swing."
 
Meanwhile, Logan Soole was masterful on the mound for MSU Denver, as the program's all-time ERA leader allowed only two runs on two hits while walking two and striking out eight in five innings of work.
 
The runs came on one swing, a homer by Corbin Truslow in the first inning, following a long discussion, reversed call and an argument. With a runner on third, Truslow checked his swing as a Soole pitch was ruled to have gotten past catcher Alex Gonzales on a passed ball. But then the umpires discussed the play and overturned the call, ruling it a foul ball.
 
"The long discussion, the argument, you sit there for a while and then the next pitch he gave up the home run," Strain said. "And he only gave up a couple of hard-hit balls the whole day. He was dominant. He's a tough matchup for a lot of teams."
 
"Gonzo caught a great game," Soole said. "And my defense backed me up. They made plays."
 
Eric Cox pitched the final two innings for the save, as a two-run homer by Chase Anderson (5-for-9 for the day) provided some late insurance.
 
The teams will play another doubleheader Saturday. Start time has been moved up to 11 a.m. to stay ahead of incoming inclement weather.