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MSU Denver Athletics

Schedule

Niko Piazza swings against Adams State on April 18.
Edward Jacobs Jr
Niko Piazza hit a tie-breaking, two-run homer in the seventh for the game's final runs.
5
CSU Pueblo CPBB 15-24
7
Winner MSU Denver MSBB 34-9
CSU Pueblo CPBB
15-24
5
Final
7
MSU Denver MSBB
34-9
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
CSU Pueblo CPBB 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 5 10 1
MSU Denver MSBB 3 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 X 7 7 2

W: Reiswig, Gannon (1-0) L: Andrew Coverly (4-3) S: Cox, Eric (7)

Game Recap: Baseball | | by Rob White

@MSUDenverBSB: Piazza Blast Lifts MSU Denver to Thrilling Victory

Roadrunners now face top-ranked Colorado Mesa in an elimination game

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Niko Piazza launched a tie-breaking, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning and Gannon Reiswig and Eric Cox retired the final nine batters in order as No. 19 MSU Denver stayed alive at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference baseball tournament with a 7-5 victory over CSU-Pueblo.
 
The second-seeded Roadrunners are set to play their second elimination game of the day at 8 p.m. in a critical matchup against national No. 1 and tournament host Colorado Mesa, which was upset earlier Friday by third-seeded UCCS.
 
Tied 5-5 in the seventh, Chase Anderson led off with a single, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. But the Roadrunners had two outs – and Piazza was down no balls, two strikes – before he blasted a no-doubt shot over Suplizio Field's left-field fence.
 
Reiswig (1-0), who had pitched only 9 1/3 innings all season, pitched a scoreless seventh ahead of Piazza's homer and followed with a clean eighth, striking out two. He has a 1.04 ERA over his last 8 2/3 innings.
 
Then Cox came on to earn his seventh save of the season and 10th of his career. He's tied for fifth on the program's single-season chart, and is tied for sixth on the career list.

"We played so well in that game," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "We got some big hits and we had some pitchers work some really big innings for us. It was a really good team win." 
 
MSU Denver (34-9) fell behind 2-0 early, but the Roadrunners responded in the bottom of the first with an RBI double by Bill Ralston and a two-run homer by Jake Williams for a 3-2 lead.
 
Tied 3-3 in the fourth, Owen Reynolds delivered an RBI triple to put the Roadrunners back in front.
 
CSU-Pueblo took a 5-4 lead in the sixth on a two-run homer by JP Hopkins, but the Roadrunners tied the game in the bottom of the sixth as Alex Gonzales drew a bases-loaded walk.
 
That set the stage for Piazza the following inning, and the senior delivered his 11th homer of the season.
 
Piazza and Anderson each had two of the Roadrunners' seven hits.
 
Williams, whose 16th homer of the season puts him third on the program's single-season chart, was also hit by pitch for an MSU Denver-record 23rd time in a season.
 
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