DENVER – At 21-3 overall and No. 18 in NCAA Division II, it's time for the MSU Denver baseball team to face its most serious test of the season.
The Roadrunners head to top-ranked perennial national power Colorado Mesa for a four-game series that includes a 6 p.m. game Friday, a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday at noon.
"It's been an exciting year, and we've worked hard to get to this point," MSU Denver coach
Ryan Strain said. "And we get a chance to go over to Mesa, which is arguably the best program in Division II in the last decade. I told our guys that you don't get many chances to play the No. 1 team in the country, so it's a great opportunity."
As it has so many, Colorado Mesa has been a house of horrors for MSU Denver. The Roadrunners haven't beaten the Mavericks there in 10 tries dating to the 2015 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament and have lost 26 straight regular-season games at Mesa dating to 2010.
"Our guys are confident," Strain said. "We haven't talked a lot about it. Mesa has been really good for a long time, but for the most part these guys haven't played those Mesa teams. Obviously Mesa is very good again, but we just want to handle our business."
Colorado Mesa is 18-2 overall and 15-1 in the RMAC. The Mavericks lead the RMAC in multiple categories, including national-best averages of 2.5 homers per game, a .720 slugging percentage, 300 runs and 15.0 runs per game as well as, on the pitching side, 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings.
"What they've done so well for so long is that they've pitched really well," Strain said. "That's probably the biggest difference for them for the last several years is that they've had really good starting pitching and other teams just can't match up. Offensively they are physical, they swing it well and they play well in their ballpark. There's nothing they don't do well. They're well-balanced and well-coached and you have to play extremely well to beat them."
The Roadrunners (17-3 RMAC) can hang their hat on the RMAC's best team ERA (4.09), fewest hits allowed per nine innings (8.2) and WHIP ratio (1.32).
"When I came in, we knew that if we wanted to play in games like this, we knew we would have to have a pitching staff for it," Strain said. "It's been a lot of work, but I feel really good about the guys we are throwing against them."
MSU Denver expects to run out its typical rotation of
Logan Soole (2-0, 2.92 ERA),
Cade Crader (4-0, 2.57),
Austin Stone (2-0, 4.13) and
Jimmy Dobrash (5-0, 2.61).
The bullpen includes the likes of
Eric Cox (1.64 ERA, four saves),
Reichle Arcilise (2-1, 1.89 ERA),
Carter Akerfelds (
Zach Sundine (2-1, 4.32),
Tyler Phillips (1-0, 1.93) and
Carter Akerfelds (3.60).
Conner Nantkes and
Gannon Reiswig have slightly higher ERAs, but are also regularly effective options. And
Tyler Schultz and
Gabe Austin have been effective when called upon.
Offensive support comes from
Chase Anderson (.453, six homers, 20 RBIs),
Caleb Albaugh (.414, nine stolen bases),
Bill Ralston (.405, six homers, 31 RBIs),
Owen Reynolds (.391, five homers),
Jake Williams (.373, seven homers, 23 RBIs) and
Niko Piazza (.330, four homers, 27 RBIs).
The old adage is to try to earn a split in a road series, but Strain and crew are focusing only on Friday's opener.
"What I've told our guys, and what we look to do in all of our series – at home or on the road – is to not look too far ahead and just take care of the game that's in front of you," Strain said. "We want to compartmentalize it and focus on the goal at hand instead of looking at the big picture. That helps us stay focused."
The most high-profile common opponent for each team is UCCS, and both teams won three of four against the Mountain Lions. Mesa outscored UCCS 34-30, while MSU Denver had a 30-20 advantage in a series played last weekend.
"That was big to be able to play them before we played Mesa," Strain said. "We just we hadn't faced a team that was both very good on offense and had very good starting pitching. We had a chance to see some good arms heading into this weekend."
