DENVER, Colo. – The Regis University baseball team (9-20 – 4-12 RMAC) used hot bats and a solid starting performance on the mound by freshman
Colin King to down Metropolitan State University Denver (20-8, 13-3 RMAC) 6-4 on Monday evening. Junior
Cobe Karhoff was awarded his second win of the season after shutting the door with a scoreless three innings of relief work.
How It Happened: Juniors
Ryan Tierney and
Coby Zimmerman got the hitting started for the Rangers in the first inning. Zimmerman followed Tierney's single with a ground-rule double, but both runners were left in scoring position. It was not long after that RU took a 1-0 lead in the third inning.
Freshman
Miguel Marquez laid a bunt down the third base line and used his speed to reach base as the lead-off batter. Marquez then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior
Mickey Meinhofer before tagging up and scoring on a sacrifice fly to center field by Tierney. The back-to-back sacrifices gave Regis a 1-0 edge.
King, who dealt four strikeouts in the first three innings, and the Rangers defense kept the Roadrunners scoreless through three. Just one inning later, however, MSU Denver took their first lead of the game with two runs on two hits and an error.
The Roadrunners added another pair of runs on one hit in the sixth inning to extend their lead to 1-4, but RU answered back with three runs in the very next frame.
Regis used four hits, three of which resulted in extra bases, to even the game at four a piece. Freshman
Thomas Alexander got the top of the seventh started with a base-knock to left center. The next batter up, senior
Logan Heflebower, doubled down the left-field line, placing himself in scoring position and scoring Alexander with no outs. Heflebower then came around to score when freshman
Jacob Barr recorded his second collegiate triple. Marquez hit an RBI-double to score Barr and tie the game.
The Rangers took the lead for the second time in the game after scoring one run on two hits and an error in the eighth inning. Zimmerman, who reached base via a walk, scored the go-ahead run when Heflebower hit an RBI-single to left field. RU then added to their lead with one more run in the ninth inning to cap the game 6-4.
Game Notes: RU recorded double-digit hits for the 11
th time this season, outhitting the Roadrunners 11-6. Marquez, the designated hitter, tallied a game-high three hits, going 3-3 with a double, an RBI and a walk. He also scored twice. Heflebower (2-4, 2 RBI, 1 2B) and Alexander (2-4) were the other two Regis batters with multiple hits.
Karhoff (2-5) held the Roadrunners scoreless through the last three innings to earn his second win of the season. He struck out one of the 11 batters he faced. Karhoff allowed just two hits and zero runs.
King went 4.2 innings after getting the start for the Rangers. He fanned six batters and allowed two runs on three hits.
Up Next for the Rangers: The Regis University baseball team will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada for a four-game series against New Mexico Highlands University on April 5.
