DENVER – Ross Smith tied the game with a fifth-inning homer and Cam Yuran drove in the winning run with an eighth-inning RBI single as MSU Denver bounced back from a first-game loss to defeat Central Oklahoma 5-4 Sunday to earn a split of a doubleheader.
 
Central Oklahoma scored in each of the first five innings of the opening game and scored five unearned runs, then held on for a 10-7 victory.
 
"I'm proud of how our guys bounced back from the first game," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "The first game was like a couple of games we had last week, where we didn't make the defensive plays and didn't make pitches when we had the chance ahead in the count. When you give a good team extra outs, it's going to turn into crooked numbers (on the scoreboard). But we battled back."
 
Conner Nantkes, Brandon Moore and Eric Cox combined for 5 1/3 scoreless relief innings in the second game, with Moore getting the win and Cox picking up his first save of the season.
 
Nantkes allowed one hit in and struck out five in his 3 1/3-inning stint, then Moore and Cox each pitched a clean inning.
 
"Our bullpen was great," Strain said. "Nantkes threw well, Moore threw a great eighth inning and Coxie finished it up."
 
Bill Ralston's fifth homer of the season, a three-run shot in the third inning, provided the game's first runs. But Central Oklahoma bounced back for four fourth inning runs.
 
"That was another good pitcher we faced in the second game," Strain said. "We got the 3-0 lead, then gave it right back and fell behind 4-3, but our hitters kept competing and battling and got some key hits when we needed them."
 
Zach Schuler tripled to lead off the eighth inning and scored the game-winning run on Yuran's single. Both Schuler and Yuran had two hits.
 
"Our guys play hard and they don't quit," Strain said. "Things don't go their way all the time, but they've got some toughness to them and that's going to help us down the road."
 
In the opener, Central Oklahoma led 8-0 after 3 ½ innings and 10-2 after 4 ½ before the Roadrunners rallied.
 
In the seventh, Ralston delivered a two-run single and Jayden Cordova was hit by a pitch to force in another run, loading the bases with no outs and the score 10-6. But the Bronchos quelled the rally.
 
MSU Denver tacked on a run in the ninth but couldn't get any closer.
 
Ralston, Chase Anderson, Caleb Albaugh and Keegan Vialpando each had two hits in the opener.
 
"We've just got to get off to better starts," Strain said. "Our three losses, that's been the issue. Had we gotten off to better starts in those games, we may have won two or three of them. But to be 3-3 against two good programs, we're not happy about it but we learned some things. We'll get back to work this week and then get on the road to Emporia, another good program."