DENVER – MSU Denver's bid to move into a tie for first place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference baseball standings came up heartbreakingly short Saturday.
 
As first place and nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa was in the midst of shockingly being swept in a doubleheader at Colorado Christian, the Roadrunners dropped a pair of one-run decisions, 13-12 and 9-8, at Regis.
 
MSU Denver, 28-17 overall and 17-10 in the RMAC, remains two games behind Mesa (32-11 and 19-8) with five games left in the regular season.
 
Regis is 26-22-1 overall and 19-12 in the RMAC.
 
"It was a tough day, and we're just going to have to get back after it tomorrow," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said.
 
In the opener, the Roadrunners recovered from deficits of 6-0 after one inning and 10-3 after three, scoring six in the fourth and then tying the game with a run in the fifth.
 
After scoring two in the top of the sixth to take the lead, MSU Denver saw Regis score three in the bottom half of the inning.
 
In the seventh and final inning, MSU Denver loaded the bases with no outs, but then struck out three consecutive times to end the game.
 
"We just didn't have good at-bats there," Strain said. "We didn't agree with one of the calls, but we had opportunities to drive the runs in. We had pitches to hit."
 
The hangover from the first-game disappointment lingered well into the nightcap, as the first nine Roadrunners were retired in order and MSU Denver had just one hit through five innings while falling behind 8-0.
 
Two bases-loaded walks in the sixth gave MSU Denver its first runs of the game (the Roadrunners didn't have a hit in that inning, either), but Regis tacked on a run in the bottom half of the inning.
 
The Rangers would need that insurance run, too, as MSU Denver sprung to life with six runs in the seventh.
 
Still trailing 9-4 with two outs, MSU Denver got an RBI single by Cam Yuran, and a three-run homer by Blake Mattey to get within a run before Regis got the final out.
 
"We hit a couple of balls well in the first inning but didn't get on base, then we get two quick outs in the bottom of the first and all of a sudden they get three runs with two outs," Strain said. "I think that threw our guys a bit and we didn't have many good at-bats in the middle innings. You knew our offense would get it going at some point, but we just came up a run short."
 
The series concludes with Sunday's single game scheduled for 3 p.m.