DENVER – It was Zach Schuler's series, but Cam Yuran put on the finishing touch, launching a walk-off homer in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday as MSU Denver completed a four-game sweep of New Mexico Highlands with victories of 17-0 and 9-8.
 
"I got ahead in the count, and I was sitting on a fastball, and he gave me the pitch I wanted," Yuran said. "And I did what I could with it."
 
No doubt about it?
 
"Especially with the wind blowing straight out as hard as it was … I had a feeling," Yuran said.
 
The two victories mean the Roadrunners (21-17 overall) are suddenly the hottest team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, with eight wins in their last nine games to surge into a tie for third place at 12-8 in league play.
 
The four-game sweep was the team's first of the season.
 
"We have a very good team that wasn't playing to its capability early, and there's reasons for that – some of them we've been able to take care of," MSU Denver coach Ryan Strain said. "And we've had some guys step up. … We've put ourselves in a position where we're playing well and now let's see what happens."
 
Reichle Arcilise pitched six dominant, three-hit shutout innings in the seven-inning opener, striking out six while facing the minimum 18 batters, to pick up his 18^th career win.
 
But we mentioned it was Schuler's series, right?
 
The All-American posted his second straight two-homer, seven-RBI game in the opener and he launched another long ball onto Rio Court in the nightcap. The four-game damage: .667 batting average (10-for-15), with six homers and 17 RBIs – that's right, six homers and 17 RBIs! He chipped in a couple of doubles, too, for a sublime 2.000 slugging percentage for the series.
 
"I'm definitely glad he's on my team," Arcilise said. "He was a problem for me in the fall (team scrimmages), too. He's a big dude who crowds the plate, and if he gets a hold of it, it's gone."
 
Said Strain: "You get a guy in the middle of the order who starts doing that, it really gets you going, especially with the way the guys in front of him are hitting. He's getting RBI chances, and the power is starting to come back. … He's seeing the ball well, and even some of his outs he was smoking some balls. … He had a lot of barrels this weekend."
 
In the opener, Arcilise (4-1) carved up the Cowboys with his ability to throw his breaking ball for strikes. Two double plays and a caught stealing allowed him to face just 18 batters through his six innings.
 
The program's all-time strikeout leader with 225, his 18^th win tied Dan Lee (1980-83) for fourth place in program history.
 
"Watching the first two games, I thought if I could set it up with the fastball, something hard away, then soft away for the rest of the ABs were going to go in my favor," Arcilise said. "And I had excellent defense behind me all day. Big props to them."
 
Said Strain: "We knew going into the day that he was going to have a pretty good day. I would have been shocked if he didn't."
 
MSU Denver scored in every inning but the fifth, and Jesse Velders and Tyler Tobey each matched Schuler with three-hit games.
 
Game two was a different story, though, as Highlands broke an 11-inning scoring drought with a five-run third to put the Roadrunners into a four-run deficit. The Cowboys made it 8-3 with three more runs in the fifth.
 
"We started off pretty slow in that game, but I don't think anybody lost confidence," Yuran said. "We just kept doing our thing and got the job done."
 
Said Strain: "It's really hard to sweep people. And most of it is focus. You win three and think you're just going to win again – especially when you just won by 17 runs. … Every game is different, and I think sometimes kids forget that."
 
MSU Denver tied it with five in the fifth. Tobey's two-run homer made it 8-8.
 
"We had some big hits in big situations in that inning," Strain said.
 
Lefties Zane Covey and Brady McLean (2-2) pitched a combined 3 2/3 scoreless relief innings as the game stretched to an extra frame. The wind, a factor all weekend, picked up noticeably late in the game, but McLean was able to overcome it – both in pitch-by-pitch challenges and working around a wind-blown double.
 
"If you get a gust once you lift your leg (in a pitching windup), it can throw you off," Strain said. "And when you're pitching, if it throws you off a little bit it can make a big difference. But he pitched through it. … He did a nice job, got some big outs and pitched around a popup that fell on a really tough play."
 
ROADRUNNERS MILESTONES: When Yuran touched home to end the day, he scored his 184 career run, which is tied for the program's all-time lead with legends Rusty Befus (1988-92) and Reece Gorman (2005-18). Teammate Caleb Albaugh is fourth with 183 runs. … Schuler passed Yuran and tied teammate Jake Williams on the career home run list with 42, three behind Befus' record of 45. Yuran is fourth with 39. … Schuler's monster weekend moved him from 12^th to fourth in career total bases with 367, just behind Yuran (369), who went from sixth to third. Schuler also jumped from 10^th into a tie for seventh with 166 career RBIs – Williams is tied for fifth with 167 and Yuran is eighth with 159. Williams is tied for ninth with 345. … Yuran also moved into sole possession of second place in career walks (114), while Schuler also ranks ninth in career runs (155). … Gabe Austin made his 50^th career pitching appearance, tied for 10^th in program history.