DENVER – After a late-inning escape in the opening game, the MSU Denver softball team couldn't repeat the feat in game two.
The Roadrunners settled for a split of a non-conference doubleheader with Nebraska-Kearney on Wednesday, winning the first game 4-2 before falling 9-1 in the nightcap as a nine-game winning streak came to an end.
"We found a way the first game," MSU Denver coach
Annie Van Wetzinga said. "But we can't keep doing that to our pitchers. We need to find a way to get in the box and compete."
The Roadrunners had only eight hits all day, including just two in the opener.
Trailing 2-0 and without a hit entering the bottom of the fifth, the Roadrunners got on the board with back-to-back walks ahead of an RBI single by
Mackenzie Jamieson, then tied the game on a sacrifice fly by
Kassi Reiger.
In the bottom of the sixth,
Olivia Dampier led off with a single, moved to third as
Kami Grammerstorf reached on an error, then scored on a throwing error as Grammerstorf stole second base.
The late rally made a winner of
Destinee Lopez (3-0), who pitched six innings and yielded two runs on six hits.
"A lot of credit goes to Destinee for keeping us in the game," Van Wetzinga said. "She got out of a lot of jams,with runners on base. She was able to work around that and come up with some big pitches when it mattered."
Darby McGhee, the reigning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week, pitched the seventh inning for her first save of the season, extending her program career record to seven.
MSU Denver (9-5) couldn't capitalize on any of its momentum in the second game, as Nebraska-Kearney (10-15) scored four runs in the first inning. The Roadrunners didn't score until there were two out in the bottom of the seventh.
"We took too long to find pitches to hit," Van Wetzinga said. "It seemed like we were guessing a little. We need to come out, find our pitch, and be ready to hit it."
Nebraska-Kearney had 17 hits.
"The top half of their lineup is tough," Van Wetzinga said. "They've got some girls who can drive the ball. They got some pitches to hit and they hit them. I think they made a nice adjustment offensively and attacked.
