DENVER - The Roadrunners won in walk-off fashion on Sunday, thanks to their single-season home run record holder, who hit his 27th long ball in bottom of the 10th inning to lead his team to the 11-10 win over UC-Colorado Springs.
The win earned MSU Denver the four-game sweep over the Mountain Lions and improved their overall record to 29-17 with a 21-7 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
It was a day of celebration and heightened emotions for the Roadrunners, as 17 seniors were playing their final home game at the Assembly Athletic Complex.
This was a back and forth ball game all day, as senior right hander Brad Helton got the start and went six strong innings following in the footsteps of Drew Peters, who excelled in his start the day prior.
After the Mountain Lions scored a quick run in the top of the first inning, the Roadrunner,s as they've done all season, followed that up with a two-out rally scoring three after an RBI single by Gavin Schmeh that scored two.
UCCS came out and scored three in the third to retake the lead at 4-3. Senior Jesse Velders then doubled to lead off the bottom half before back-to-back doubles by Easton Amundson and Royce Vandine put the home team right back up 5-4.
UCCS would tie the game at 5-5 before the Roadrunners responded with a four-spot in the bottom half after Gavin Schmeh led off the inning with a single before stealing second putting him in scoring position. Andrew Biddle and Jesse Velders would both reach base on walks, loading the bases for Cam Yuran. Another wild pitch helped Schmeh score and advance the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Yuran as he's done so often for the team this year would come through with a double, breaking the all-time school record with 66. The double would score fellow seniors Velders and Biddle.
Helton continued to display his dominance in the 5th, as he struck out the side with two of those with Mountain Lions going down
looking. The Roadrunners would take a 10-5 lead heading into the seventh inning. The senior went six innings and struck out nine batters with only one walk surrendered. His nine strikeouts were two off his season-high that he put up vs New Mexico Highlands earlier in the season.
UCCS would not go away though, as they got to the Roadrunners bullpen and eventually clawed their way back by scoring three runs in the seventh inning
and two in the eighth.
Then closer Carter Swan was called upon and they needed every big pitch from him they could get. His control was a little shaky to start but he finished strong. He went 2.2 innings pitched and finished with 71 pitches, a season-high for him. Coach Strain has leaned on him a lot this year and it makes sense when he leads the RMAC in saves with seven. Swan quelled the threat in the 9th as he ended the inning with a huge strikeout and was extremely fired up.
The Roadrunners bats went cold vs Jacob Brown as the Mountain Lion reliever put down nine straight batters at one point to help the game go into extra innings.
Carter Swan led off the 10th inning with a strikeout. However, UCCS got a base runner on and eventually found a way to load the bases. Swan would get another big strikeout to make it two outs with the bases still loaded. Eventually he would get Bryce Peterson to fly out to center and the threat was extinguished.
It was Senior Day, so that means one of the 17 had to come through right? Easton Amundson heard the call as he stepped to the dish. On Friday night he broke the single-season home run record with his 26th bomb. This time in extras, he would deliver once again. The left-handed first baseman blasted a walk-off opposite field round tripper over the left-center wall that sent the team into a frenzy. It was a day of celebration and Amundson delivered with no. 27, that helped the Roadrunners sweep the Mountain Lions and win the final game by a score of 11-10.
Key Players:
Brad Helton: 6IP, 10 H, 9 K, 1 BB
Gavin Schmeh: 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI's, 2 R, SB
Easton Amundson: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI's. 3 R, BB, HR
The Roadrunners will finish out the conference regular season with a road series against the top team in the RMAC in Colorado Mesa that will start on Thursday night in Grand Junction.
