Photo by Matthew Jonas • jonasm@mscd.edu Metro lefty Vincent Vasquez throws a curve ball in the eighth inning helping to close the book on the Roadrunners’ 14-4 victory over the University of Nebraska-Kearney April 2 at Auraria Field. After going 3-1 against the Lopers, and beating Colorado School of Mines 7-3 April 4, Metro improved its record to 14-14 overall.

Lopers freeze in ‘Runners’ headlights

Metro goes 4-1, reaches .500 at friendly confines

By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

   Metro baseball came into the series against Nebraska-Kearney looking to rebound after being swept by Mesa State the previous weekend. With a 5-7 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the Roadrunners got some much-needed conference wins as they won three of the games against the    Lopers last weekend, and followed them with a 7-3 win over Colorado School of Mines April 4 at Auraria Field.
   “ Anytime you can win a series from someone in the RMAC, you’ve done well.” Metro head coach Vince Porreco said about his team’s performance this weekend. “They (Nebraska-Kearney) have had our number. They beat us twice early on this year and then on Friday. So, to get three of four shows our guys played well this weekend.”
   The Lopers took game one and extended Metro’s losing streak to five by a final score of 10-4. After giving up four runs to Nebraska-Kearney in the fourth inning, the Roadrunners charged back by scoring a single run in the fourth inning and a three spot in the sixth.
   After sophomore Jake Palmer doubled and junior Alex Krohn singled, senior Randy Lashua tied the game at four by taking Lopers sophomore pitcher    Seth Svoboda deep for a three-run homerun. It was his first long ball of the season after a relatively slow start for the right fielder. But, it proved to be the spark he needed as he went on to have an enormous weekend for the ‘Runners.
   With the game knotted at four apiece, senior Ryan Bright gave up four more runs to the Lopers in the seventh inning. Junior Ryan Bucher began the inning by hitting a solo homerun that opened the floodgates for three more runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth. Svoboda logged his fourth win of the season (4-2) as Bright lost his second in a row (3-4) after giving up eight runs on thirteen hits in seven innings.
   Metro ended the losing streak in game two of the series by sophomore Josh Eckert’s great pitching and Lashua’s second homerun in two games. Eckert, who did not allow a single run through the first five innings, did not make it easy for himself as he had base runners in all but one inning.
   After hitting two consecutive batters, Eckert loaded the bases with a walk. But Eckert stood strong and struck out senior Rich Eber to exit the inning unscathed. Nebraska-Kearney finally got to Eckert as they managed four singles and another hit batsman in the sixth inning to score four runs and tie the game at four. Lashua changed that score by one swing of the bat as he took a 1-2 pitch to deep left field that gave Metro a 5-4 lead and the eventual final score.
   Lashua said the coaches told him he was swinging too hard at pitches and needed to patient. Porreco said Lashua is just relaxing a little bit more these days and not trying to do so much.
   Senior Mike Hoefs, who failed to finish the game in the series finale against Mesa State last week, got his first save of the season. Metro used a six-run first inning to outlast Nebraska Kearney 7-4 in game three. After Hoefs’ RBI on a fielder’s choice started the scoring, the bases became loaded for the mighty    Randy Lashua, who singled in two runs off junior pitcher Ulysses Roque.
   Freshman Dakota Nahm hit his third triple of the year, scoring two runs, and junior Kyle Christensen finished the first inning scoring with a sacrifice fly that scored Nahm. Junior Braden Ham used the run support to win his fourth game of the season and allowed only four runs on eight hits while striking out four Lopers.
   The final game of the series turned into a blowout for Metro as they man handled Loper pitching with 14 runs on 16 hits. The onslaught began in the third inning when Sophomore Reece Gorman and Hoefs had RBI singles off senior pitcher Jason Stergiadis. With the score at 3-1 and the bases full of Roadrunners,    Lashua once again came up with the big hit as he drove in two runs and ended the day for Stergiadis, who pitched two innings giving up five hits, six runs, a walk, a wild pitch, and a two hit batters.
   The relief pitching for Nebraska-Kearney fared no better as Metro put up three runs in the sixth inning and five runs in the eighth. Every Roadrunner got into the action and every player who had an at-bat had at least a hit, a run, or an RBI.
   Some of the players who stood out in the rout included Gorman, who went 5-for-5 with four runs and two RBI, Hoefs with three runs and two RBI, and    Lashua, who had two hits, three RBI and two runs scored. Junior Mike Bilek won his first game of the season as he held the Lopers to only three runs in seven innings while striking out three.
   “ The biggest thing was I needed the win,” Bilek said. “I went after batters today and when they did put the ball in play, the defense really stepped up. If we continue to play like this we can definitely make a run at the RMAC.”
   The three RMAC victories brought Metro’s record to 9-8 in the conference with five weeks to make a run toward the playoffs.
   “ We have to be consistent.” Porreco said. “We have had too many highs and too many lows and if we come out and just play consistent then we are going to be successful. Anything can happen in the next five weekends in the RMAC and we need to stay focused.”