PUEBLO, Colo. – No. 24 MSU Denver faced seemingly insurmountable deficits in each game and nearly overcame them, only to finish frustrated with a pair of one-run losses while being swept by CSU-Pueblo 14-13 and 10-9 on Saturday.
 
"We just didn't pitch it very well," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "They kept getting hits, and we couldn't put them away when we had two strikes. It was a rough day."
 
MSU Denver (12-8 overall, 3-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) trailed 14-2 after five innings in the opener, but got two in the sixth, six in the seventh and three in the eighth to pull within a run. The Roadrunners had the bases loaded with one out in the eighth, but could do no further damage.
 
In the seven-inning nightcap, the Roadrunners trailed 8-1 after two, but eventually tied the game 9-9 in the fourth. CSU-Pueblo scored the go-ahead run in the fifth, though, and MSU Denver was unable to answer.
 
"Unfortuately, we had a couple of bad at-bats when we needed good ones, but it's hard to get on the offense after scoring 22 runs," Strain said. "We swung it pretty well in both games. And we had chances to score more."
 
Cam Yuran led the offense, going 5-for-7 with a triple, a homer and six RBIs while drawing two walks and stealing a base. Ross Smith was 5-for-9 with three doubles and two RBIs. Jayden Cordova was 4-for-8 with a homer and four RBIs.
 
The teams wrap up the series with another noon doubleheader on Sunday.
 
"We're just going to have to clear this, and hopefully we get better starting pitching," Strain said. "In seven of our eight losses, we really haven't given ourselves a chance. It's tough to win giving up double-digit runs. We have to have good starting pitching to keep the momentum on our side."