DENVER – What's just as good as winning a 10-1, 72-minute game to start a doubleheader?
 
Winning the second game 10-1 in 72 minutes.
 
Both games ended after five innings due to the eight-run rule.
 
MSU Denver churned out the carbon copy while opening Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with a sweep of Black Hills State on Sunday at the Assembly Athletic Complex.
 
"And it's not like we won ugly because the other team played poorly," MSU Denver coach Annie Van Wetzinga said. "We hit the ball really hard – collectively the hardest we've hit it this year, for sure, and it's the hardest we've hit it in a long time.
 
"That's a credit to our girls coming with energy and focus. You've got to be locked in and ready to hit to swing the bat like that. It was fun to watch them do that."
 
Leadoff hitter Hannah DiFabio homered in both games of a doubleheader for the second time in 10 days, Miki Berg smoked a three-run opener in the opener, and Genevieve Bower continued her red-hot hitting by going 2-for-3 for the day and hitting a second-game homer.
 
DiFabio was 4-for-6 for the day and added a double in the first game and a stolen base in the nightcap. The junior shortstop is batting .382 with five homers and 10 RBIs through 12 games.
 
"I've just been keeping it simple," DiFabio said. "And sometimes home runs happen. If it doesn't, then cool I'm on base. I'm still surprised when I hit home runs."
 
What's the key to her rekindled home-run swing?
 
"I got super skinny (last year) and I added some weight this summer and got stronger," DiFabio said. "I think that's a factor."
 
DiFabio, already the reigning RMAC Player of the Week, hit 11 homers while batting .357 as a freshman, then had two last season while batting .352.
 
"Last year she pressed a little bit, and we all knew she was capable of more – even though it was still a very solid season," Van Wetzinga said. "Some people would really like to be able to have that kind of year, but it was about the same as her freshman year. She's stronger this year and feeling healthier, and it's showing."
 
Meanwhile Bower, a junior catcher, is batting a team-best .520 (13-for-25). Playing time was difficult for her to come by last season, her first with the Roadrunners after transferring home from Rhode Island.
 
"Last year was a bit of a rough year, and I just decided to keep it simple this year, take what I can get and prove myself," Bower said.
 
And her first homer, a blast down the left field line?
 
"It was a long time coming," Bower said.
 
Bower gives the Roadrunners yet another viable offensive option in a lineup that has gotten untracked after a slow opening weekend.
 
"It can be hard for a transfer, too," Van Wetzinga said. "She didn't get a lot of opportunities at her previous school, and it can take a while to settle in. But we had been seeing this in scrimmages, especially this semester. She was hitting, and we wanted to give her some opportunities to see if it carried over to the real thing, and it has."
 
MSU Denver had 25 hits on the day, 14 in the opening game and 11 more in game two.
 
In the circle, freshman Natalie Romero pitched a two-hit complete game to start things off, then Cheyenne Prieto (three shutout innings) and Jenna Medhus (two innings) surrendered a total of four hits in the second game.
 
The teams are set to wrap up the series with an 11 a.m. doubleheader Monday.
 
"We're just going to keep our foot on the gas and not let up at all," Bower said.