DENVER, Colo.- The Regis University baseball team swept the Monday doubleheader against cross-town rival Metropolitan State University-Denver, winning the first game 6-5 in walk-off fashion and 11-3 in the second game.
 
With the two wins on Sunday, the team improves to 21-10 on the season, including a 14-6 record in conference play, surpassing and tying their win totals from a season ago, respectively.
 
Game One: The Roadrunners jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning coming by way of a solo home run and an error that allowed a baserunner to come around to score an unearned run.
 
Neither team scored in the third, fourth or fifth innings but MSU-Denver added two more runs in the top of the sixth to take a 4-0 lead. Regis finally broke into the scoring column as they put up three runs to cut the deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Senior Josh Newell singled to right field with the bases loaded bringing around two runners, and then a single from junior Andrew Bryniarski gave the Rangers their third run.
 
RU tied the game at four runs apiece in the bottom of the seventh inning on a single to left field from senior Max Fabricant, bringing redshirt-sophomore Logan Heflebower in to score from third base.
 
With the score knotted at four runs apiece, the teams headed into extra innings after Regis stranded a baserunner at third base in the bottom of the ninth. The Roadrunners came to bat in the top of the tenth and the leadoff man got on board with a double to right field. That runner would later come in to score giving the visitors a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom half of the tenth.
 
The Rangers responded with a run of their own on a sacrifice fly from junior Christian Bitar to tie the game 5-5. Later on in the inning, with runners on first and second, redshirt-senior Geordy Smith sent a shot through the left side scoring Newell and giving RU their fifth walk-off win of the season, 6-5.
 
Game Notes: Senior Nick DiPaola picked up his third win in relief work as he pitched 2.1 innings, allowing four hits and only one earned run. The biggest hit of the day came from Smith, but it was Heflebower (2-3) and Newell (2-5, 2 RBI, 2R) who led the team with two hits apiece. Junior Andrew Bryniarski (1-4, RBI), Bitar (0-4, RBI), and Fabricant (1-4, RBI) each knocked in one RBI apiece.
 
Game Two: Regis got on the board early in this one, putting up two runs in the bottom of the first on a double from Heflebower down the left field line bringing Fabricant in to score, followed later in the inning by a sacrifice fly from Bitar that allowed Heflebower to score from third base.
 
The Rangers added to their lead on a solo home run to left center from freshman Coby Zimmerman to take a 3-0 lead. Trailing by three runs, MSU-Denver got their first run of the game on a balk call with the bases loaded in the top of the third inning. They added one more with a sacrifice fly a couple batters later bringing the score to 3-2 in favor of the home team.
 
With two outs in the bottom of the third, junior Garrett Skillings laced a double down the left field line scoring two on the play to put RU ahead by three runs again, 5-2. In the bottom of the fourth, Regis scored two runs for the third time in four innings of play to extend their lead to 7-2.
 
Trying to get back into the action, the Roadrunners got a run back in the top of the fifth, but redshirt-sophomore Matt Heibult stopped his opponents from doing any more damage in the inning.
 
For the fifth-straight inning, the Rangers put runs on the board, scoring three in the bottom of the fifth, to take a commanding 10-3 lead over the visitors. RU scored one run in the bottom of the sixth, having scored in every inning of the game, finishing off the day with a 11-3 win and earning the 3-1 series win over their cross-town rivals.
 
Game Notes: Heibult (W, 3-2) picked up the victory in this one going six innings allowing only two earned runs on five hits. The lefty struck out four and walked three batters in his third win of the season. Heflebower led the way going 3-for-3 from the plate with three RBI's, but three other players including Fabricant (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI's), Zimmerman (2-3, 3B, HR, 2 RBI's), and freshman Ryan Tierney (2-4, 2B, RBI) on a day that saw Regis collect 11 runs on 13 hits.
 
The Regis University baseball team will return to action this weekend playing two games with MSU-Denver, and two games with University of Colorado-Colorado Springs on the campus of Metropolitan State University-Denver for all four games.