DENVER – Ross Smith was hit on his left hand by a pitch Saturday night and wasn't sure he'd be able to play Sunday against Nos. 6 and 7 Colorado Mesa in an important series finale.
 
"It felt really sore and I didn't think I'd be able to play," Smith said. "I told (Coach Ryan) Strain that, and he told me a story about him breaking his hand and getting three hits. So I said, 'I'll play and we'll see what happens.' I'm glad he told me that story."
 
So is everyone associated with MSU Denver.
 
Smith hit a school record four home runs – that's right, four home runs – to lead MSU Denver to a thrilling 10-9 victory over the Mavericks at the Assembly Athletic Complex.
 
"They were all smoked," Strain said. "The wind was blowing, but they were all hit hard. Nothing was cheap."
 
Smith's first homer was a two-run shot to left, giving the Roadrunners a 3-2 first-inning lead. He added another two-run blast, to left center, in the third to make it 5-3. He added a solo shot in the fourth – tying the program record for homers in a game – to make it 9-6.
 
And he crushed another to left, in the sixth, to make it 10-7.
 
"I think it was just sticking with my approach," Smith said of the key to success. "On the first one, I told myself I was going to have fun today. After the first one I thought, 'it worked the first time, do it again.' It just kept working."
 
Mesa did what it could, but this day belonged to Smith.
 
"The first two I hit were fastballs, so I knew they were going to throw me a curveball the first pitch (of his third at-bat) and I just sat on it," he said. "The fourth one, I didn't really know what to expect. I figured they would challenge me with fastballs, and that's what they did at the beginning, then I finally got a hanger (on a 1-2 pitch) and hit it out."
 
Smith circled the bases as players and spectators tried to comprehend what was happening.
 
"Ross, that was nuts," MSU Denver closer Eric Cox said. "He hit the fourth one, and Austin Stone and I looked at each other in the bullpen and said, 'Is this for real? Is this serious?'"
 
What was Smith thinking while touching them all for a fourth time?
 
"I don't even know," he said. "I was just having so much fun at that point. I looked the boys (in the dugout and the bullpen) and started pointing at them."
 
The wind was blowing out steadily to left field at 25 mph, but it's also worth noting that while Smith hit four homers to left, the other 19 players who had plate appearances Sunday hit a combined total of one homer.
 
"I think I got some help from the wind on the first two," Smith said. "The first one was pretty low. But the third and fourth, I knew those were gone."
 
Six times in program history MSU Denver has had three-homer games: two by Jordan Stouffer in 2010, another by Mike Hoefs in 2006, one by Toby Tieman in 1996, Jim Cluck's in 1990, and the original, by Rusty Befus in 1988.
 
Smith tied the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference record of four set by Dustin Dreher of former league member Fort Hays State (Kan.), on April 28, 2002, against Colorado School of Mines.
 
Only one Division II player in history has hit five homers in a single game -- Josh Hamilton (not the future major league All-Star) of St. Edward's (Texas), against Oklahoma Panhandle State on April 18, 2003.
 
Smith had a chance to hit a fifth when he came to the plate in the eighth.
 
"On the fifth one, I think I tried hitting that one out, and that's where it went wrong," Smith said.
 
That at-bat came in what was still an incredibly tense and tight game.
 
"For a while I was thinking, if we lose a game when one of our guys hits for home runs … I'm going to lose it," Strain said, laughing. "I talk to myself (coaching) at third base a lot. And I was saying, 'I don't mean to be greedy, but five would be nice.'"
 
But Cox, the Roadrunners' all-time leader in saves, had come to the mound in the eighth inning to preserve the lead, retiring all three batters he faced.
 
However, for the ninth, Mesa's Caleb Farmer, Haydn McGeary and Jordan Stubbing loomed.
 
Farmer was batting .419, and earlier in the game had hit his 18^th homer of the season. McGeary, the reigning Division II player of the year, was at .464 with 16 homers. And Stubbings has been a Roadrunner-killer for years and was batting .322.
 
"When we were going to face those guys in the ninth, I told myself that if we're going to do this, we might as well go through the best," Strain said.
 
First Cox got Farmer, who bunted foul on the first pitch to fall behind in the count, to ground out to third base. Up strode McGeary, who hit two homers in Friday's opener, with the wind blowing out and the chance to tie the game with one swing.
 
Was the wind blowing harder now?
 
"To McGeary, the first slider was good, but I didn't want to hang another one to him," Cox said. "I wanted to make him beat me with my fastball. It's hard to elevate the sinker, so I just played the odds. If he beats my fastball, then good for him."
 
McGeary hit a low single through the left side of the infield, bringing up Stubbings as the potential go-ahead run.
 
But, on the next pitch, he grounded into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play.
 
"(Cox) did it," Strain said. "Those are as good of hitters as we're going to see in Division II, and he got some big outs,
 and then the double play was great, a good feed by (third baseman) Bill (Ralston) and a tremendous turn by Schultzie (second baseman Cody Schultz)."
 
It was the 16^th career save for Cox, who set the program record last week. It was his sixth of the season. But it was his first ever against Mesa.
 
"All the saves … breaking the record was cool, but that was just a lot cooler," Cox said. "Beating Mesa twice at home, and we were a step away Friday. You don't get those opportunities a lot."
 
MSU Denver (23-15 overall, 12-8 RMAC) split the four-game series with the Mavericks (24-8, 11-5) after breaking a five-year, 15-game losing streak to Mesa in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, which followed a 9-8 loss on Friday.
 
It is the first time the Roadrunners won at least two games in a series against Colorado Mesa since taking three of four in April, 2011.
 
"You can't really put into words how cool it is," Cox said. "But we'll probably see them again (in the RMAC Tournament), so we'll just have to stay ready, stay focused, and be ready for them the next time, too."
 
The celebration for a split is a little unusual, but so is winning against Mesa.
 
"Our guys were really excited and you want to say, 'Hey, act like you've done it before,'" Strain said, smiling. "But they've never done it before, so go ahead. It's a big win. We tied the series against a program that's been hard to beat for a long time. I'm proud of the way the guys played."