DENVER – MSU Denver's four-pronged pitching staff combined Wednesday to put a fork in a sizzling Washburn offense.
 
"All four of our pitchers, in roles they are in, I thought they paired up great today," MSU Denver coach Annie Van Wetzinga said. "I give all the credit to the pitchers for making the big pitch in the big moment. That's what pitching is about."
 
Julia Heitz pitched 5 1/3 strong innings in the opener – serving as the salad fork, if you will – allowing one run on seven hits for the victory. That made Sarah Norton the fish fork, and she earned the save with 1 2/3 scoreless innings to close out the 3-1 victory.
 
In game two, Destinee Lopez was the dinner fork, yielding one run on three hits in four innings for the victory, then Audrey Burt performed as the dessert fork, getting the save in the 7-3 win with three more delectable innings.
 
No oyster fork was needed as MSU Denver improved to 14-11.
 
Washburn came into the game as a sort of chateaubriand of Division II offense, ranking fourth in the country in hits, ninth in homers and 11^th in doubles while batting .342 as a team.
 
And while the Ichabods struck first with a run, MSU Denver bounced with Shelby Robb's RBI single in the bottom of the first, then went ahead with run-scoring extra-base hits by Kami Grammerstorf and Rebecca Gonzales in the second.
 
Heitz and Norton kept Washburn on the back burner the rest of the way, scattering eight hits and pitching around four other baserunners.
 
"We had to grit through those innings a little bit, and it wasn't the easiest win," Heitz said. "It was a little ugly. But it's still hard to come out and win on a Wednesday when you didn't know you would be playing until the day before (the game was scheduled Tuesday)."
 
Heitz, making her first start since 2020, improved to 2-0 while lowering her ERA to 2.21 and continued to regain her 2019 form and becoming another tine in the MSU Denver set of utensils.
 
"That was her first start in a long time, and she was pretty amped up and nervous," Van Wetzinga said. "But the biggest thing of the whole game was limiting them to one run the first inning. She settled in, and the defense made plays behind her."
 
Said Heitz: "Getting back into it, it's my senior year, and I'm ready to leave it all out there. It doesn't matter what I'm throwing, who we're playing, who's up to bat, I'm just going out there to fight and to win – and to get a ground ball for my teammates."
 
Washburn (20-11) once again struck for a first-inning run in the second game, but the Roadrunners quenched sthem with a six-pack in the bottom of the frame to take control.
 
Lopez, regaining her 2021 All-RMAC first team form and strengthening her status as another tine, improved to 4-3 with a 4.55 ERA.
 
"I had to look at my approach," Lopez said. "I was too worried about the extrinsic factors of the game. I had to just worry about myself and what I can do to help the team."
 
Robb was 3-for-4 with two RBIs to cap a 4-for-7 day, but also coming up big were Alexia Boring (whose two-run, first-inning triple made it 4-1) and Trish Leins (who followed Boring with an RBI double in the first and was 2-for-3 for the game and 3-for-5 for the day).
 
"In midweek games you should, if you can, get some other people in the lineup, and give some other people a break," Van Wetzinga said. "It was nice to see people taking advantage of opportunities."
 
Said Boring: "I've been struggling, and that's what I really needed to get going for the rest of the year."

In the end, though, Wednesday's pitching performance is what will make customers come back for more. The four tines are proving valuable for every occasion.
 
"This year has been really cool," Heitz said. "All of us pitchers have been working more as a staff, rather than 'here are the starters, and you two might get in.' It's been awesome to know you have a great pitcher behind you. It takes some of the pressure off when you're starting the game that, if they start to get to me, I've got three pitchers behind me who are ready to go."