DENVER – No-hit magic was in the air at the Regency Athletic Complex all weekend.
 
And while the MSU Denver baseball team got a perfect game from Cade Crader on Saturday, Roadrunner softball pitcher Darby McGhee flirted with a no-hitter for the second time in two days Sunday.
 
She pitched 5 2/3 no-hit innings in what turned into a 7-3 win over Black Hills State in the first game of a doubleheader, and then followed that up by closing out a 10-6 win in the nightcap with 1 2/3 relief innings in which she allowed one run.
 
The Roadrunners increased their winning streak to eight games.
 
Including Saturday, when she was the winning pitcher in both games – including a five-inning, one-hit shutout -- McGhee (5-2) worked 15 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (one earned) on eight hits, with six walks and 19 strikeouts. She was 3-0 with an 0.45 ERA.
 
"You can't ask much more from a pitcher than what Darby did this weekend," MSU Denver coach Annie Van Wetzinga said. "She was a leader from the circle, kept great composure, and that's a fifth-year senior who understands what she needs to do."
 
In the opener, MSU Denver scored in all six of its times at-bat, including single runs in each of the first five frames before Haley Doughty's two-run homer in the sixth, which came immediately after the Yellow Jackets had tightened the deficit to 5-3.
 
Doughty, Ari Valdez, Shelby Robb and Kassi Reiger each had two hits.
 
Valdez had another 2-for-4 game in the nightcap, while Olivia Dampier was 3-for-3 to cap a 4-for-5 day that included three of the Roadrunners' five stole bases.

"We were able to use our team speed a lot and that helped power us offensively," Van Wetzinga said. "The best thing about our offense today was when we answered back with runs after Black Hills put up runs. We took back the momentum every time they were putting things together."

That included after Black Hills State had crept within 4-3 in the fifth inning of the second game. Mackenzie Jamieson launched a grand slam in the bottom half of the inning to immediately make the margin more manageable at 8-3.
 
"Mackenzie Jamieson's grand slam was definitely neededn not just for the game but for the team," Van Wetzinga said. "We were in need of a big, run-scoring hit to break things open."