GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – After another stirring victory over top-seeded tournament host Colorado Mesa to move into the championship round, MSU Denver put together a thrilling late-game comeback before ultimately falling short against Colorado Christian on Saturday at the final day of the RMAC softball tournament.
 
In the opener, Ari Valdez hit a three-run homer and Sarah Norton made it stand up with last-out relief help from Julia Heitz in a 3-1 win over Colorado Mesa – MSU Denver's second win in the tournament against a team was 35-3 in league play to win the regular-season championship.
 
Against Colorado Christian, which was second in the RMAC at 34-4, the Roadrunners trailed 6-0 after five innings but scored five in the top of the sixth to get back into it. Colorado Christian, however, scored three in the bottom of the sixth and held on for a 9-5 victory to advance to the NCAA Tournament's South Central Regional with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's automatic bid as tournament champion.
 
MSU Denver, the tournament's No. 4 seed, would have had to beat Colorado Christian twice to win the championship in the double-elimination event.
 
"I know we came up short in the last game, but the fight we showed to work back into the game showed what this group is about and what it can do," MSU Denver coach Annie Van Wetzinga said. "We have nothing to hang our heads about. This team represented Roadrunner Softball very well this weekend."
 
Valdez, pitcher/designated player Audrey Burt and shortstop Hannah DiFabio were all named to the RMAC's All-Tournament Team.
 
Valdez had four hits in the tournament while driving in five runs. Burt had five hits, while DiFabio had five hits and five RBIs.
 
"Ari Valdez is another player who stepped up huge for the team," Van Wetzinga said. "Obviously the three-run home run was huge, but she was coming up with tough at-bats and clutch hits all weekend. And even when she wasn't getting on base, she was being a tough out. That's the type of leadership you need from a senior."

Interestingly, neither Norton (who was 2-0 with one save, a 3.00 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 16 innings) nor Heitz (two saves and a 3.36 ERA in 8 1/3 innings) earned all-tournament recognition.
 
Against Mesa, Norton took a three-hit shutout into the seventh inning before yielding a two-out homer to make it 3-1. After surrendering a double that brought the tying run to the plate, Heitz came on to induce a game-ending groundout.
 
"Sarah Norton was tough in game one," Van Wetzinga said. "She stepped up for the team and gave one heck of a performance. And Julia came in and closed the door in a tight situation. It was a great pitching and defensive performance."

MSU Denver mustered seven hits, including two each by Burt and Rebecca Gonzales.
 
The Roadrunners got all the runs they would need in the second as Burt and Miah Hartvigsen each singled ahead of the fourth homer of the season by Valdez.
 
Against Colorado Christian, after falling behind 6-0, MSU Denver rallied in the sixth after the Cougars opened the door with two errors to start the inning.
 
Kami Grammerstorf followed with an RBI double, then DiFabio had a two-run double that made it 6-3 and forced a pitching change.
 
Katie Maney walked, then Burt delivered a run-scoring single to make it 6-4. Miah Hartivgsen produced a one-out single that loaded the bases, and then Jaiden Geist followed with a sacrifice fly that made it 6-5.
 
The Roadrunners, however, could no further damage.
 
MSU Denver is now 38-22 after going 23-15 in RMAC play. Colorado Christian is 49-8, while Colorado Mesa is 45-9.
 
Next week's eight-team South Central Regional will most likely have no more than two, and perhaps one, RMAC team in the field as the Lone Star Conference has dominated the regional rankings. Colorado Mesa was ranked sixth in the region prior to this weekend, while Colorado Christian was 10^th.
 
Counting regular-season and RMAC tournament play this season, Colorado Christian and Colorado Mesa were a combined 70-5 against RMAC teams when not playing one another. Three of those losses came to MSU Denver – besides the two tournament wins over Mesa, the Roadrunners also split a regular-season doubleheader with Colorado Christian. Colorado Christian also needed a two-run, walk-off homer for a one-run win over MSU Denver in Friday's winner's bracket final.
 
"The last time we were on Mesa's field (the Roadrunners were swept in four games in late February), we didn't compete well," Van Wetzinga said. "We talked about that, and that no matter the result, we wanted to represent and compete better. We definitely did that.

"I'm very proud of how this team has grown from the beginning of the season to now."