LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The 19^th-ranked MSU Denver baseball team continued its strong pitching performance in an offensively dominant ballpark by holding New Mexico Highlands to three runs in game one of a four-game series.

And the Roadrunners capitalized on their strong pitching performance while putting on a hitting display against New Mexico Highlands in a 16-3 win.

Cade Crader strung together another spectacular outing, going seven innings and only allowing three runs, two of which were earned on seven hits. Crader has added 11 strikeouts to his overall total, bringing him to 41 on the season.  

"Crader had another great start, and kept throwing up zeroes and kind of kept them where we needed them to be," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "And then we were able to break things open."

Chase Anderson led off the game with a homer, starting a three-run inning, and MSU Denver had a 5-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second.

"We got off to a good start like we have in the past and I was really happy with that, but unfortunately we couldn't add to that during the middle innings," Strain said. "But the guys did swing the bats well and we were able to get some big hits."

The Roadrunners put on a power hitting display behind the bat of third basemen Bill Ralston. Ralston finished the day 3-for-6 with two home runs and six RBIs.

Anderson was 3-for-5.

But Ralston and Anderson provided only a small fraction of the strong hitting performance that was displayed by the Roadrunners, who rapped out 19 hits, including seven in a seven-run eighth inning.

Cody Schultz and Caleb Albaugh had three hits apiece to contribute to the 19-hit total and propel the Roadrunners to a solid victory in the opening game of the series.

The Roadrunners will continue the series tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at noon.

"Hopefully we'll be able to play a complete game tomorrow," Strain said. "They're a good team and they're going to keep playing hard."