GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Two days into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference baseball tournament, MSU Denver has moved ahead of the field.
 
The Roadrunners earned a second straight narrow victory Thursday night, this time 6-4 over Colorado School of Mines, and are now the only undefeated team of the five still remaining in the double-elimination event.
 
While the other four teams battle it out to stay alive throughout the day Friday, the Roadrunners don't have to play until 7 p.m., when they'll face the winner of the 11 a.m. elimination game between Colorado School of Mines and top-seeded tournament host Colorado Mesa.
 
"You keep playing hard and you earn the right to be undefeated," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "But I told our guys, we didn't come out here to win two games. There's a lot of work to do ahead of us, and whoever we play will be a good team that will be scratching and fighting. We'll have to play well and with the same intensity as we've had the last two days."
 
For the second straight day at the tournament, the Roadrunners' pitching staff came up big.
 
Starter Andrew Hayes allowed three runs in four innings before turning it over to relievers Conner Nantkes and Eric Cox the rest of the way.
 
"I'm really happy for them," Strain said of the pitching staff. "They've taken some ripping from Coach Strain from time to time this season -- to say it mildly. But they've stepped up, and we don't win these two games if they don't pitch the way they have."
 
Nantkes allowed a run on three hits in the fifth inning but yielded just one hit in his final two innings of work, then Cox closed it out for his second two-inning save in as many days. The right-hander allowed two hits while striking out three.
 
"Hayes was great," Strain said. "He has the arm talent, and it's just a matter of getting him comfortable and in the right frame of mind. Then Nantkes was great in the middle, and Cox was tremendous again those last two innings."
 
The Roadrunners scored the game's go-ahead run in the seventh, as Bill Ralston crushed a two-out, two-strike double to center field to cap an eight-pitch at-bat and then scored on Ross Smith's line-drive single to left center.
 
"For some reason our offense hasn't really been able to get going," Strain said. "Part of that is us not taking as many hacks as I'd like, but you have to credit the teams we've faced. They've thrown the ball well."
 
MSU Denver (33-19) got an insurance run in the eighth with a little bit of help: Cam Yuran reached on an error, moved to second on a Chase Anderson sacrifice, and then scored on a Colin Stone fly ball down the left field line that was misplayed for a double.
 
Mines scored a run in the top of the first on a homer, but MSU Denver countered with three in the bottom of the second inning on Yuran's two-run homer and an RBI double by Cody Schultz.
 
Mines tied it back up with two runs in the top of the third, but the Roadrunners moved back in front in the bottom of the inning on Yuran's RBI single.
 
Yuran, the RMAC Freshman of the Year, finished with two hits and three RBIs and is batting .403 for the season with 12 homers and 53 RBIs.
 
"He's been just a little bit off the last couple of weeks, but he's been having good (batting practices)," Strain said. "We feel good about him, and the home run gave him some confidence back.
 
"The last couple of games we've had somebody different in the lineup step up, and that's what can happen when you've got a good lineup. Even when you aren't going really well, you still got a chance because you have good hitters who are capable. That's a good feeling to have when things aren't going perfect."
 
Cox now has a career-high eight saves, putting him tied for third in program history for saves in a season with Eric Smith (1992) and Cale O'Donnell (2017). Cox increased his program career record for saves to 18.
 
Cox has a streak of 17 consecutive scoreless innings to put his ERA for the season at 1.52. And don't be surprised to see him again Friday if the situation calls for it.
 
"We've been smart all year in not using him too much – although the way he's thrown we could've used him more," Strain said. "But we wanted to be smart with his arm. Now that it's tournament time, every out counts and every out he's gotten us has been huge."