DENVER – If past performances are any way to predict what might happen at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference baseball tournament, then you can be positive that prognosticating these playoffs provides a puzzling picture.
"Everybody in the tournament is pretty decent – anybody can beat anybody, and we've seen that this year," MSU Denver coach
Ryan Strain said.
MSU Denver, which tied for second during the regular season, is the double-elimination tournament's third seed and will face CSU-Pueblo in a first-round game Wednesday at the new Bus Bergman Sports Complex on the campus of top-seeded host Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, Colo.
Though nationally-ranked and likely headed for another South Central Regional Tournament, Colorado Mesa (36-12 overall, 23-9 RMAC) at times has looked mortal this season – the Mavericks lost three of four to seventh-place Colorado Christian two weekends ago and had a 15-game winning streak against MSU Denver come to an end when the Roadrunners split a four-game series with them in early April at the Assembly Athletic Complex.
But it's not like MSU Denver (31-19, 20-12) is a clear-cut second choice, either. Regis (27-22-1, 20-12) beat the Roadrunners in three of four two weekends ago to earn the second seed tiebreaker.
Fifth-seeded Colorado School of Mines (32-17, 17-15) has the second-best overall record in the tournament, split with Mesa and Regis, and is capable of beating anyone when ace Tyler Blomster is on the mound. Sixth-seeded UCCS (20-30, 15-17) has beaten Mesa, MSU Denver and CSU-Pueblo and split a series with Mines.
And, despite finishing three games behind MSU Denver at 17-15, CSU-Pueblo (26-24) won three of four league games and four of six overall against the Roadrunners this season.
"Pueblo will be a good challenge," Strain said. "We've played them quite a bit, and we seem to play them all the time – (eight) times last year and this will be the seventh time this year. We haven't played anybody more than them the last couple of years.
"They're a good team and they're playing hard. I told our guys after the last time we saw them that we'd see them in the tournament, and now we're seeing them in the first game, so we'll have to be ready to go."
In this tournament format, the loser of the 3 vs. 4 game plays the winner of the 1 vs. 6 game. So the likely result is that the loser would be playing Colorado Mesa and would have to win to stay alive.
"They (CSU-Pueblo) always play us tough, so I think it's going to be a really good test," MSU Denver outfielder
Chase Anderson said. "If we can get past them, we'll have momentum on our side and look for us to do something really cool."
MSU Denver has a high-powered offense that ranks among Division II's best in doubles (first, 143), slugging percentage (second, .619), home runs (fourth, 98), runs (fifth, 501) and hits (sixth, 590). The doubles and home run totals are school records, the slugging percentage record is on track to fall and the records for runs and hits are within reach.
Pitching will be key, too, as the double-elimination format will require Strain to turn to multiple arms.
Not only is MSU Denver trying to win the tournament, it also needs a high finish to potentially earn an invitation to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The Roadrunners were sixth in last week's regional rankings – those rankings at the end of the week will determine the regional's four at-large qualifiers who will join the automatic qualifiers who win the RMAC and Lone Star Conference tournaments.
The Roadrunners also received promising pitching performances while winning three of four last weekend against Colorado Christian to wrap up the regular season.
"We've struggled with Pueblo a little bit," pitcher
Tyler Phillips said. "But I think if we come out strong right out of the gate and put up a couple of runs, we'll do well. If we can beat them, we'll have some good momentum."
