DENVER – How close is this series between No. 17 MSU Denver and UCCS?
 
Close enough that one missed opportunity, one mistake, can make all the difference.
 
MSU Denver had the bases loaded with no outs in the eighth inning in the opening game of a Friday doubleheader, but failed to score, opening the door for UCCS to score a run in the top of the ninth for a 5-4 victory.
 
UCCS had a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth of the second game (both games were scheduled for seven innings), but lost the first two batted balls of the inning in the sun. MSU Denver responded with a seven-run rally for a 9-5 victory.
 
"It's fun. We're finally going toe-to-toe against a team that is just as good as us," MSU Denver leadoff hitter Chase Anderson said. "You have to play your best every inning. They're a clean team, they make every play and their pitchers put it where they want to. You have to play well to beat those teams."
 
Said MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain: "That's the thing in baseball. It's similar to when we made errors (Thursday). When you don't make plays, it gives the other team momentum, and then things start to change. We had bases loaded no outs and didn't score, and now they've got momentum. In baseball, it's a fight to get the momentum and hold the momentum."
 
The Roadrunners have a 2-1 lead in the four-game series that started with Jake Barber's walkoff three-run homer in Thursday's opener, which came after MSU Denver let the Mountain Lions into the game with a four-error inning that led to two runs.
 
MSU Denver is 20-3 overall and 16-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while UCCS is 13-6 and 9-6.
 
After the disappointing finish in Friday's opener, MSU Denver struggled to get anything going and trailed 5-2 heading into the sixth.
 
But Niko Piazza doubled on a ball lost in the sun, and then Logan Soole reached the same way when an infielder struggled with a popup in the sun that wound up an error. Jake Williams was hit by a pitch, then Colin Stone walked to force in a run.
 
Barber's sacrifice fly brought home a run to make it 5-4 and then Zach Paschke walked.
 
That flipped the lineup back around to Anderson, who had a season-opening 20-game hitting streak snapped Thursday had only one hit – though it was a huge, game-tying homer in the bottom of the seventh – in Friday's first game.
 
Anderson pushed the Roadrunners ahead 6-5 with a two-run double inside the bag at third.
 
"They've been pitching me in all weekend," Anderson said. "So I just sat on a pitch in on the first pitch and got my barrel to it.
 
"I knew that, bases loaded, he was going to have to come after me, so I saw it in and I knew it was either fastball or slider, and the slider would break into the zone. I started my swing and it was a fastball, and I got my barrel to it and got some runs in."
 
Anderson lifted his batting average to .473 with the 3-for-4 game.
 
"It was nice to get him going again," Strain said. "Because when he's going, it kind of starts the ship and everybody feeds off that."
 
Then came true freshman Caleb Albaugh, who crushed a no-doubt three-run homer to left.
 
"I was seeing him really well," Albaugh said. "He threw me two breakers in a row, so I knew he was coming with a fastball. It was nice to get it out there."
 
Albaugh is batting .422.
 
"You've got to like the youngster," Strain said. "He's even-keel, he plays hard, and he believes in himself."
 
In the opener, Cade Crader made his first start since his perfect game on Saturday, but his pitch count was elevated and he was touched for three runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings, though he struck out five.
 
The Roadrunners trailed 3-0 before scoring two in the fourth and then tied the game 3-3 in the sixth on Williams homer and tied it 4-4 in the seventh on Anderson's blast.
 
Still, the missed chance in the eighth led to the extra-inning loss.
 
"The best thing was how we bounced back," Strain said. "That was a killer. Bases loaded, no outs, got a chance to win, and we go strikeout, strikeout, groundout.
 
"I was really proud of the way our guys kept fighting. We were down in both games and just kept fighting. They play hard and scrap. It was disappointing we didn't get the first one, but that was a huge comeback to get that second one and not get swept."