GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Regis University Baseball team, seeded No. 2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Tournament, suffered a 9-0 loss to No. 4 Metropolitan State University of Denver (Colo.) on Thursday night. The Rangers fall to 35-15 on the year, while the Roadrunners improve to 32-20.
Regis will need to win out to stay alive in the tournament. MSU Denver will take on No. 1 Colorado Mesa University in the tournament semifinals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Roadrunners would take the lead in the top of the first, and never look back, bringing in a run on a bases-loaded walk and another on a sacrifice fly. Garrett Rede reached base in the bottom of the first, but was stranded on base. Ryan Garcia had two strikeouts over the next three innings, as neither team would record a hit.
In the fifth inning, Dylan Hearn singled with two outs, but was also left on base. Metro led off the top of the sixth with a solo home run to go up 3-0. Rede singled in the bottom of the frame, and Adam Paniagua was intentionally walked, but a line out to right field left RU scoreless. MSUD used two hits and two Regis errors to score three more runs in the seventh. Peter Goldy was walked in the Regis half of the inning, but he was caught stealing before Hearn's double could advance him.
After a hitless eighth inning, the Roadrunners added three more insurance runs with a three-run, two-out home run. In the bottom of the final inning, Matt Graf singled, but no other Ranger would reach base, losing 0-9.
GAME NOTES
· Hearn was 2-3 at the plate for the Rangers
· Rede and Graf both added one hit
· Six Roadrunners had at least one hit
· Ryan Garcia (7-2) recorded the loss, earning five strikeouts
· Brad Helton (4-4) collected the win with seven K's in 7.0 innings pitched
UP NEXT
The Ranger take on No. 5 Adams State University (Colo.) in an elimination game on Friday, May 9 at 3 pm. Regis defeated Adams State in their first-round game on Wednesday, 17-2.
The winner will face the loser of Colorado Mesa and MSU Denver at 7 pm.