GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Third-seeded Regis scored eight first-inning runs and held off second-seeded MSU Denver for a 14-7 victory Friday in an elimination game at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament.
MSU Denver (42-12) pulled within 11-7 on a grand slam by
Jake Williams in the sixth inning, but Regis added on three late-inning runs and advanced to the tournament's championship round.
"Unfortunately we had the one bad inning in the first inning, and that was the difference in the game," MSU Denver coach
Ryan Strain said. "If we could've gotten out of there, I think we would have been fine. But it happens. It's baseball.
"When you get momentum you've got to try to hold on to it, and when you lose it, it's hard to get it back. We just couldn't get it back in the second half of the game."
Williams' fourth home run on the tournament gave him 85 RBIs for the season, tied for the second most in a season in program history and four short of the program-record 89 by Jake Palmer in 2008.
The game was the third in 24 hours for the Roadrunners.
"They fought hard today," Strain said of his players. "They were dragging a little bit. But I'm proud of them, proud of the effort they gave. We had a tough day today. It's one day, but unfortunately it happened."
The Roadrunners, ranked No. 19 in one of the two national top-25 polls, are hopeful of continuing their season next weekend as one of six teams to move on to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional. The RMAC and Lone Star Conference Tournament champions get automatic berths, while the four at-large berths are based on the decision of the regional ranking committee.
MSU Denver was fifth in last week's regional ranking. Should Regis win twice Saturday to defeat Colorado Mesa for the RMAC Tournament champion, the Rangers would steal one of the berths, however. And region No. 6 Lubbock Christian (Texas) and region No. 7 West Texas A&M (which didn't make the semifinals of the Lone Star Tournament) are in the running for at-large berths as well. Lubbock Christian, one of the three remaining teams in the Lone Star Tournament, seems to be in position to move up to fifth in the region.
The tournament field is announced Sunday night.
"Hopefully we'll get a shot next week to get into the NCAA Tournament," Strain said. "And hopefully we can get some things fixed and play better.
"Forty-two wins is pretty good. We've got one of the best offenses in the country, and we've played really well all year. I think our guys deserve it. I think they've earned the right to get into it. Hopefully when the numbers come down, they'll call our name on Sunday."
