DENVER – MSU Denver pitchers
Natalie Romero and
Maddy Wilson limited Colorado School of Mines to one run on Monday as the Roadrunners wrapped up their regular-season home schedule at the Assembly Athletic Complex with a doubleheader sweep of 2-0 and 5-1.
"That's how we want our pitchers to pitch, pitch to contact, get weak ground balls, and have our defense show up behind them," MSU Denver coach
Annie Van Wetzinga said. "Natalie threw well. She kept the ball at a good level, kept them off balance, kept it on the corners, and pitched to her strengths.
"And obviously Maddy had a huge weekend."
Wilson, after pitching her first career seven-inning complete game in a 6-0 shutout win Sunday, doubled that total with a 5-1 win in the second game. Mines' only run came on a fourth-inning homer.
Wilson, outfielders
Kami Grammerstorf and
Shelby Robb, and first baseman
Miah Hartvigsen all played their final home game. Despite a 31-9 record in league play, MSU Denver can finish no better than third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
"All of them had really good moments, which was really nice to see," Van Wetzinga said of her seniors. "They all played hard. For them to go out on this field, winning a series against a crosstown rival, was big."
Said catcher
Genevieve Bower: "It was sad for me. I'm really close with every one of the seniors, but we still have two weeks left and possibly three if we go to regionals."
A freshman stole the show in the opener, as Romero (9-4) allowed only three infield singles while pitching her first career shutout.
"I felt like today was one of my best days in a long time," Romero said. "I just trusted my defense and let my pitches work. I wasn't trying to do too much, wasn't trying to strike people out."
Her defense came up huge in the sixth, after a leadoff single and a stolen base. Shortstop
Hannah DiFabio made an excellent play for the first out and, after the Roadrunners committed a two-out error, right fielder
Katie Maney made her second excellent running catch on a line drive of the game, ending the inning.
After being shut out by Mines' Sadriena Rodriguez in Sunday's opening game, MSU Denver scored single runs in each of the first two innings and Romero made them stand up.
Hartvigsen drove in the run in the first with a single, while
Jaiden Geist's double plated the second-inning run.
"Natalie is pretty steady," Van Wetzinga said. "Like with any freshman there's a learning curve, but she's a pretty mature freshman and that's her biggest strength. She doesn't get rattled. She's pretty unflappable, and that's a great trait for a pitcher.
"To get a complete game from her this late in the season is pretty impressive. She's been in a lot of roles for us and she's been very consistent with them."
In the nightcap,
Adriana Bueno gave the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the second, but Mines tied it with the fourth-inning homer.
MSU Denver scored the go-ahead in the fifth on a fielder's choice grounder by
Hannah DiFabio, then tacked on three in the sixth on an RBI double by
Aaliyah Arellano and a two-run, opposite-field homer by Bower.
"Aaliyah was great today," Van Wetzinga said. "She gave us some really good at-bats, and that double was huge.
"(Bower) has sneaky power like that, especially in that direction. For her to put a good swing on one and put a charge into it, that was nice to give us some breathing room."
The homer by Bower was the first of the series by MSU Denver.
"I've been struggling with the outside pitch all weekend – for a couple of weeks now," Bower said. "I just tried to stay through it, and I'm glad I did."
The Roadrunners (38-14) had lost six straight after dropping the first game of the series, but came on strong and got themselves back on track with three straight wins heading into a big series at No. 7 Colorado Christian.
"It's been a struggle the last couple of weeks – we've lost more games than we wanted," Bower said. "But to see everyone come together has been big. We're happy to get some wins."
