GOLDEN, Colo. – MSU Denver stepped up early and closed the door late Saturday, cruising to wins of 7-4 and 12-3 and a sweep of a baseball doubleheader against Colorado School of Mines.
 
The Roadrunners, who improved to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference while continuing their best start to a season since 2002, scored three first-inning runs and led 5-1 in the second after a Logan Soole homer in the opener, and then scored seven in the first inning of the nightcap.
 
"Starting out like, getting that crooked number in the first inning, it really gets the momentum rolling," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "It puts the other team on the defensive right away."
 
It also gave the starting pitchers – Cade Crader in the opener, and Jimmy Dobrash in game two – plenty of breathing room.
 
Crader (1-0) was dominant once again, striking out 10 in five innings of work while allowing three runs on three hits in five innings. Crader has gotten 29 outs this season, and he has 22 strikeouts.
 
Conner Nantkes pitched the sixth, then Eric Cox finished up with his third save of the season – and his second in as many days – with scoreless seventh.
 
"We just pitched really well, and attacked the (strike) zone in the whole game long," Strain said.
 
Soole, who also doubled, was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs in the first game.
 
There was a bit of a problem for Dobrash in the second game. He had to wait while the Roadrunners spent close to 45 minutes at the plate in the top of the first.
 
"He had to just sit there, but then he was able to put up a zero right out of the gate," Strain said.
 
While Dobrash waited, Cade Peters delivered a two-run single for the frame's first runs, then Bill Ralston capped the seven-run outburst with a two-run single of his own.
 
Staked to a lead, Dobrash (1-0) pitched four solid innings, allowing two runs on two hits while walking five and striking out four.
 
Then came freshman Reichle Arcilise, who was dominant in a three-inning save, allowing only one hit and one unearned run while striking out eight.
 
"That was good stuff," Strain said. "Eight strikeouts and a couple of weak ground balls that we made errors on to lead to a run."
 
Chase Anderson chipped in with three RBIs to support the offensive cause in the nightcap.
 
Still, while the quick starts were nice, Strain was slightly discouraged by a general lack of production most of the day. Even at 7-0, there's room for improvement.
 
"We finally got some big hits with the bases loaded, because we've had chances to continue to add runs in other games," Strain said. "You're never too upset when you're winning, but I think we can play better offensively than we have been. We've really been giving away too many at-bats. Hopefully we can have our best day tomorrow."
 
MSU Denver, which swept Colorado School of Mines in a doubleheader for the first time in 10 tries dating to April 28, 2012, while try to earn its first four-game sweep of the Orediggers in seven attempts dating to April 28 through May 1 of 2011 in Sunday's 11 a.m. game.
 
"Hopefully we can play well tomorrow and finish it off," Strain said. "It's hard to win series on the road against a good team, and it's really hard sweep a good team on the road. We've got our work cut out for us, and hopefully tomorrow we'll play hard and play well."