DENVER – MSU Denver, after being swept on the road by the No. 1 team in the country and dropping out of the national rankings, is ready to start its road to baseball recovery.
 
"Practice has been upbeat," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "We got beat by a good team, but there were some other factors in everything that went on. It didn't go well for us. We didn't play well and they played very well. Our starting pitcher in the first game had to go out after the first couple of innings.
 
"There just wasn't any flow the whole series. It was one of those weekends you have in baseball where things don't go right, and unfortunately it happened to us against a good team and it got magnified."
 
Next up for the Roadrunners (21-7 overall, 17-7 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, is a four-game home series against Adams State (6-18, 5-15). With inclement weather expected Friday, the series has already been shifted to noon doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Saturday is Teal Day, as both the MSU Denver baseball and softball teams will wear teal uniforms to support awareness of ovarian cancer.
 
Adams State comes to town with a solid offense that ranks middle of the pack in the RMAC in most categories.
 
"They've been swinging the bats well and scoring some runs, and they've beaten some good teams," Strain said.
 
The Grizzlies have struggled on the mound, though, where their team ERA, hits per nine innings, WHIP and batters hit by pitch are all among the bottom 10 of NCAA Division II's 235 teams.
 
That said, it's no fun playing six games each against Colorado Mesa and Regis, two of the RMAC's best offensive teams. Combined, Mesa (four times) and Regis (twice) have forced Adams State into giving up 22 runs or more in six games.
 
So the Roadrunners are excited to have the chance to play again, but are careful about what to expect.
 
"One of the biggest challenges coming off a weekend where we saw some guys with some pretty good velocity running it up there, is that this weekend we may not see the same velocity but we could see some guys who may pitch backward (breaking balls in fastball counts and vice versa), who can still do things to get us out of our comfort zone," Strain said.

"We have to be able to adjust to that. Each week, each coaching staff has a different plan for you, and you have to adjust. Last weekend we didn't adjust fast enough. It doesn't matter how much velocity a pitcher has, you just can't go up there and do the same thing against him every time."