DENVER – Consistently, relentlessly, persistently, the 17^th-ranked MSU Denver baseball team improved to 21-3 on Saturday, grinding out a 12-7 win over UCCS for a huge 3-1 series victory.
 
"It's a great feeling for our guys," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "They play hard together. There's a lot of passion. And the thing I'm most excited about it that they love being out here."
 
The Roadrunners, who improved to 17-3 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, scored in each of the first five innings to take an 11-2 lead and back up another strong start from Jimmy Dobrash, who improve to 5-0.
 
"I'm really pleased with how we swung the bats," Strain said. "The first three games, we were OK and got some big hits when we needed them. But today even the outs were loud. We got some big hits and executed when we needed, guys battled and put balls in play, made them make some mistakes."
 
Niko Piazza tied the game in the bottom of the first with an RBI double, then Jake Williams put the Roadrunners ahead to stay with a solo homer in the second that touched off a four-run frame that included a two-run double by Caleb Albaugh.
 
Piazza later added the sacrifice fly that made it 11-2 and later hit a solo homer above the scoreboard in right center, similar to the one Williams dropped onto the hill beyond the fence in right center.
 
"There were a couple of big-boy home runs today," Strain said.
 
Dobrash cruised through five innings before yielding three runs on two homers in the sixth. But he went out on his own terms – fanning three of the final four batters he faced to finish with seven strikeouts in seven innings and giving up five runs (four earned) on five hits.
 
"Jimmy pitched well," Strain said. "We got up 11-2 and we were feeling pretty good, then they started making some changes with their lineup and all of a sudden he gives up three runs on a couple of homers. We were going to take him out after the sixth, but he did not want to come out. He wanted another shot at the top of the order."
 
Piazza was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, while Owen Reynolds and Alex Gonzales were each 3-for-5. Williams and Logan Soole were each 2-for-5.
 
And so the Roadrunners have continued to extend the best start in program history.
 
"I'll take it," Strain said of the 21-3 start. "And the crazy part is we've lost three games by a total of four runs. That's how close we are. It's really one swing of the bat in each of those games. We were one fly ball to the outfield from winning all four games this weekend."