GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – With the No. 25/20 MSU Denver baseball team down to its last strike in what would have been a potentially disastrous loss in the first round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament, Cam Yuran made everything turn out OK.
 
Yuran launched a three-run, walk-off homer to right field to lift the second-seeded Roadrunners to a 16-15 victory Wednesday over CSU Pueblo.
 
"I'm just really happy for Cam," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "He struggled the last series of the season and even last week when we scrimmaged. Hopefully this will get him going."
 
Yuran's homer was the sixth of the day for the Roadrunners (41-10) and capped a rally that started with Tanner Garner's one-out infield single. Garner advanced to second on a wild pitch and then Ross Smith walked.
 
That brought up Jake Williams, who just missed his bid for a third homer on the day with a flyout to deep center field. Instead it was turned into the second out.
 
But next was Yuran, who got ahead in the count 1-0 and 3-1 before finally launching the game-winner on a full-count pitch.
 
"I would've liked to be down only one run going into the ninth inning, but it was two runs and we were at the top of the order," Strain said. "Our top six guys are all really good players, all of them are first-team all-conference players, so I probably felt as good as you can feel going into the ninth inning down by two runs.
 
"Garner hustled his tail off and beat one out for a hit, Ross had a really good at-bat, and then Jake just missed it – that ball is out in any other part of the park for a home run."
 
MSU Denver, in a somewhat uncomfortable position at fifth in the region rankings with only six teams qualifying for the NCAA Tournament's  South Central Regional come Sunday, stayed in the RMAC's winner's bracket and will now play the winner of Wednesday afternoon's game between third-seeded Regis and fourth-seeded Colorado School of Mines on Thursday at 7 p.m.
 
The RMAC Tournament champion earns one of six spots in the regional tournament. If MSU Denver doesn't win a second straight RMAC Tournament title, then it very possibly would have to finish second – and top-seeded tournament host Colorado Mesa would have to win the tournament – in order to reach the regional for the second straight season.
 
That all seemed pretty far off early Wednesday, when MSU Denver fell behind 6-1 after 1 ½ innings and 10-4 after four innings.
 
But the Roadrunners took the lead with an eight-run fifth inning that included RBI singles by Colin Stone and Caleb Albaugh and was capped by three-run shots from Cody Schultz and Williams, with Williams' blast putting the Roadrunners up 12-10.
 
But CSU Pueblo got a run in the sixth and three more in the seventh to take a 14-12 advantage.
 
Strain turned to closer Eric Cox in the seventh, and though he did allow a solo homer in the ninth, Cox (2-3) was effective in working a season-high 2 2/3 innings while striking out four to earn the victory.

In his four RMAC Tournament appearances last year and this year, Cox is now 1-0 with three saves and a 1.04 ERA, allowing one run on five hits with three walks and 13 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings.
 
Gabe Austin was also valuable in relief, allowing one run in his 2 2/3-inning stint in the middle innings.
 
"It was a good win, but unfortunately we had to use a lot of pitchers and some of them for more innings than you'd like," Strain said. "But some other guys will have to step up tomorrow and some of these guys may have to bounce back again tomorrow. It's tournament time, and that's why you keep them healthy and rested throughout the season, because you need them at the end."
 
As usual, the Roadrunners' offense posted gaudy numbers.
 
Garner, Williams and Stone all had three hits, while Williams drove in four runs.
 
In addition to Yuran, Williams and Schultz, Garner and Smith also hit home runs for MSU Denver.