DENVER – The MSU Denver softball team, facing one of the best teams in the country in Division II softball, didn't score quite enough runs in the opening game and gave up a few too many runs in the second game and dropped a doubleheader to 12^th-ranked Colorado Christian by scores of 4-2 and 12-7.
 
Colorado Christian improved to 45-3 overall and 35-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while MSU Denver dropped to 26-19 and 22-12.
 
MSU Denver took the lead in the bottom of the first inning of the opening game, as Jaiden Geist tied the game 1-1 with a squeeze bunt RBI and Miah Hartvigsen followed with a run-scoring single up the middle.
 
Colorado Christian kept the Roadrunners at bay the rest of the way, though, tying the game in the third, going ahead in the fifth and adding an insurance run in the sixth.
 
True freshman pitcher Cheyenne Prieto (7-4) was outstanding while keeping the high-scoring Cougars just over three runs below their season average, allowing four runs on seven hits in a complete-game effort.
 
MSU Denver fell behind 5-0 in the second game, but bounced back with three runs in the fourth inning on Geist's RBI single and Hartivgsen's two-run homer.
 
Colorado Christian added a run in the fifth for a 6-3 lead, but RBI singles by Shelby Robb and Jenna Medhus cut the deficit to one run and put runners on first and second. Hartivgsen nearly tied the game, or potentially put the Roadrunners ahead, with a drive to right center, but the Cougars' right fielder made a diving catch to end the inning.
 
The Cougars then responded with five runs in the top of the sixth for an 11-5 lead.
 
Robb and Medhus each had three hits for the day, while Hartivgsen had three RBIs and Prieto added a late home run.