Home > Sport

Roadrunners split in home opener
By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

Photo by Jeremy Billis • jbillis1@mscd.edu Metro catcher Reece Gorman tags out a Cougar baserunner March 3 as Metro wins two games at home.

After weeks of postponements, the baseball team finally played some home games as they split the weekend series with Colorado Christian in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play March 3 and 4 at Auraria Field.

“We talked about intensity,” Metro pitcher Braden Ham said about his team finally putting some wins together. “It’s got to be there every game and it was there Sunday, and there was no doubt who was going to win on Sunday.”

The Roadrunners were looking to rebound from their four-game series in Pueblo, where they lost a pair of games to New Mexico Highlands and two more to CSU-Pueblo. It didn’t start well, as the ’Runners dropped the first two games of the series against the Cougars (6-7, 2-2 RMAC) a 7-6 loss in the opener and a 6-3 loss in the nightcap.

“They had a confidence on Saturday that we didn’t have,” Metro pitcher Braden Ham said. “They came to play and we didn’t. I know it’s cliché, but it’s as simple as that.”

In the first game on March 3, the score was notched at three apiece entering the seventh inning. Metro pitcher Josh Eckert, who had given up only three earned runs in the first six innings, gave up two in the top of the seventh. With two outs and Cougars center fielder McCoy Worthington on third and catcher Patrick Garcia on second, first baseman Joseph Candelaria doubled to left field, clearing the bases and giving the Cougars a 5-3 lead.

Colorado Christian added another run in the top of the eighth, extending their lead by three. Metro rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the inning by scoring three runs off three Cougars errors. But with catcher Reece Gorman on second, left fielder Jake Palmer struck out swinging, ending the inning.

In the top of the ninth, the Cougars brought in Bud Wilborn to pinch-hit, and he came through by doubling to left-center field off of Metro relief pitcher Tony Weber. Worthington drove in Wilborn, the game-winning run for Colorado Christian, to edge the ’Runners 7-6.

Although pitching has been the undoing for most of Metro’s losses, their hurlers did a better job keeping the runs below 10 all weekend. Eckert gave up five runs on five hits, but struck out 12 in seven innings pitched.

“I think guys are realizing their strengths now,” Ham said of the team’s improvement in pitching. “They are pitching to their potential a little bit more, and it’s obviously going to continue to improve.”

In the second game of the weekend, starting pitcher Braden Ham took the mound for Metro and gave up only three earned runs while fanning eight Cougars.

Once again the game was tied up at three heading into the seventh inning when Colorado Christian found a hero in Garcia, who slapped a three-run home run over the right-field wall for the 6-3 victory.

It was the sixth loss in a row for the Roadrunners, and their eighth in nine games. The early season struggles were reminiscent of last season when the team lost their first seven games before winning four straight.

Metro finally turned their game around March 4 as they swept the two-game set against the Cougars. They took the early game 14-5 and the late game 8-2.

In their first win since Feb. 11, the Roadrunners exploded for 14 runs, the most they have put on this scoreboard this year. Right fielder Mike Molinar went 4-of-5 from the plate, scoring three runs and driving in three RBIs. First baseman Josh Marner added three RBIs, including two in the four-run first inning that set the tone for the game.

Starting pitcher Mike Bilek allowed five runs on nine hits in the first three innings, and Pierce quickly brought in relief pitcher Armando Casas. Casas pitched five innings of scoreless baseball and recorded the win, striking out five batters and allowing only two hits.

In the final game of the series, Metro got a great pitching performance from Ted Jamison, who started his first game as a Roadrunner after only being used in relief situations earlier this season. He pitched six out of the seven innings, giving up only one earned run, striking out six and walking one batter as he recorded his first win of the year. Relief pitcher Matt Backes came into the seventh inning and pitched out of a jam to end the game and give Metro its first two-game winning streak of the season.

The weekend split puts Metro’s record at 3-8 overall and 2-2 in the RMAC. Metro will stay at home to host a four-game set against New Mexico Highlands March 9 to 11 at Auraria Field.