DURANGO, Colo. – MSU Denver cruised to a five-inning victory Saturday in the opening game and settled for a split of a softball doubleheader against Fort Lewis, winning the opener 13-2 in five innings before falling 5-4 in the second game despite a pair of two-run homers by Hannah DiFabio.
 
The Roadrunners outscored Fort Lewis 23-17 in the series, but lost three of four to the Skyhawks.
 
"We had better energy and fight today," MSU Denver coach Annie Van Wetzinga said. "The way we jumped out front in game one and kept scoring, that was nice to see. Unfortunately we couldn't sustain that after jumping out front in game two."
 
In the opener, the Roadrunners scored three in the first, three in the second and seven in the third while building the lead to what turned out to be the eventual final score.
 
Alexia Boring capped the scoring with a three-run homer.
 
Boring had four RBIs, while Miah Hartvigsen was 3-for-3 with three RBIs, and DiFabio and Haley Doughty each had two hits.
 
Sarah Norton (10-4) pitched a five-inning complete game for the victory.
 
In the second game, Audey Burt allowed five runs (but just three earned) in six innings of work.

"I was happy to see us get better starting pitching today," Van Wetzinga said. "They were solid and gave our defense opportunities to get outs."
 
The Roadrunners (30-17 overall, 18-12 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) jumped ahead 2-0 in the first on DiFabio's first two-run shot and 4-2 in the fifth on her second blast.
 
Fort Lewis (15-26, 15-17) scored the winning run, unearned, in the bottom of the seventh.
 
"Hopefully we can regroup and work on putting all phases of the game together next week against a tough Regis team," Van Wetzinga said.