DENVER – There's a new RMAC baseball reality that MSU Denver has to deal with this weekend.
 
Adams State appears to offer a significant challenge.
 
The Roadrunners have won 23 straight games against Adams State dating to 2017 by an average score of 13-5 but, just four weeks from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament, the Grizzlies (16-18 overall) are sitting in second place in the league at 11-5.
 
"They've been playing well," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "Their numbers are good, especially offensively. They've got a couple of starting pitchers who are throwing well. Obviously they haven't played us, (CSU) Pueblo and (Colorado) Mesa, and those are three pretty good teams, but they've taken care of business by sweeping (New Mexico) Highlands and (Colorado) Christian, and they  got one from Regis and got two from (Colorado School of) Mines.
 
"I told our guys, they're going to be every bit of a quality team as everyone else in the RMAC and we're going to need to play well to win four games, whereas in the past maybe that wasn't always the case."
 
MSU Denver (21-17 overall) is tied for third in the RMAC at 12-8 as it heads into Alamosa, Colo., for the series, which includes a 3 p.m. game Friday, a noon doubleheader on Saturday, and a single game Sunday at noon.
 
The last time the Roadrunners played at the ASU Baseball Field – in 2022 – they rolled up 80 runs in four games, setting program records for runs in four consecutive games as well as runs in a four-game series – while winning by an average of 20-9. It was that close only because Adams State did some damage against some of MSU Denver's infrequently used relievers.
 
"Playing down there is unique because it's the best place on the planet to hit," Strain said. "It's the greatest doubles park in America because pretty much everything bounces over the fence."
 
Having the reigning National Player of the Week in your lineup – slugger Zach Schuler – will help in that regard. Schuler had six homers and 17 RBIs in a four-game sweep of New Mexico Highlands last weekend.
 
"Hopefully he keeps it going," Strain said. "Guys are joking with him and saying he got his home runs because of the wind – but those we all smoked and they just ended up going further (because of the wind). He hit some other balls really hard, too. He had some loud outs."
 
But Adams State ranks 11^th nationally in batting average (.336) and 35^th in doubles. Brothers Mike and Matt Bathauer continue to lead the Grizzlies, who have outperformed expectations after being the preseason pick to place eighth in the nine-team RMAC.
 
"Four years of hell from those guys," Strain said. "They just continue to get hits."
 
MSU Denver counters with a starting pitching rotation that includes back-to-back RMAC Pitcher of the Week Reichle Arcilise and Jack Slominski, who have both been on point recently.
 
That will be key, since Adams State will also be playing in that hitter-friendly ballpark.
 
"The elevation is higher, and the wind tends to blow, too," Strain said. "We going to have to keep the ball down, not walk people, and make plays behind our pitchers and not give them extra outs."
 
Last year in Denver, the Roadrunners swept the four-game series, winning the first three games by an average of 13-3 before needing Ross Smith's walkoff homer to secure the finale 6-5.
 
Should the Roadrunners be able to match that this season, they would find themselves in second place in the RMAC with two series to play.
 
"These next three weeks are big for us," Strain said. "We need to finish it off well and hopefully that will get us playing our best baseball at the end of the year. Last year, we had such a good team that we kept winning and we weren't challenged a ton and didn't have too many bad breaks.
 
"Hopefully we've gotten some of the bad breaks out of the way and hopefully we've learned from them and it's made us tougher and hungrier. It's also shown us that we can't just show up and play and expect to win."
 
Especially at Adams State.