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Roadrunners clean Cougars' clock in near sweep
Metro runs win streak to eight games before falling in series finale
By Josh Speranza
speranza@mscd.edu

Photo by Emily Mehring • emehring@mscd.edu Metro catcher Kyle Christensen swings at a belt-high pitch April 21 against Colorado Christian at Regis Memorial Field. Metro took three wins in the four-game series and have won eight of its last nine games.

Metro’s baseball team extended its winning streak to seven games April 20 by sweeping a doubleheader against Colorado Christian and put itself one step closer to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference playoffs.

The ’Runners once more faced off against the Cougars the following day and split two games of a second doubleheader, holding onto sixth place in the conference.

On the first day, Metro starting pitcher Braden Ham turned in a great performance, pitching a complete game while giving up only two runs for the first win.

When asked about their playoff chances, Ham likened the ‘Runners to another local team.

“It’s like the Nuggets getting hot at the end of the season, looking into the playoffs,” Ham said.

Ted Jamison threw six strong innings in the second game, pitching his way out of trouble in the fourth and sixth and holding the Cougars to two runs.

The heart of the offense provided the majority of the firepower as the third, fourth and fifth hitters finished a combined 12-for-25 with nine RBIs. The ‘Runners took the first game 6-2, and won game two by a final of 5-2.

Outfielder Jake Palmer finished the two games hitting 5-for-8 with six RBIs. Third baseman Brent Bowers went 3-for-4 in the first game driving in two runs, and reigning player of the week, catcher Reece Gorman, went 3-for-4 in the second game while driving in a run.

The Cougars committed four errors during game two, which helped fuel the ‘Runners four-run outburst in the fifth inning, with 10 Metro batters seeing the plate.

There were some missed opportunities for the ‘Runners offense, as it stranded five men on base in the first two innings of game one, and left the bases loaded again in the fifth inning of game two.

“We wanted to score a few more runs,” Metro head coach Bobby Pierce said. “Every person in the lineup hit the ball hard, a lot were just right at people”.

On the following day, the Roadrunners took game one of the doubleheader by scoring 15 runs on 20 hits, while starting pitcher Josh Eckert put together his second consecutive win. Eckert gave up three runs in seven innings and struck out four Cougars for his third victory of the season. The win extended the ’Runners’ winning streak to a season-high eight games.

Palmer led Metro with five hits, two runs and three RBIs to add to his team-leading 44 on the year.

The winning streak finally came to an end in game two of the second doubleheader, as Colorado Christian roughed up Metro’s pitchers in a 12-6 victory. The Cougars put up two four-run innings to avoid the sweep. Cougars starting pitcher Justin Quador recorded the win for his fourth victory.

Metro (12-17, in the RMAC, 14-26 overall) is tied with Regis (12-17, 20-23), with Regis holding the tiebreaker in head-to-head play. Passing Regis for the fifth slot would allow the team to avoid top seed Mesa State in the conference tournament.

“Right now we’re playing relaxed, having fun out there,” Pierce said.

With the playoffs looming, Ham believes the team is finally coming together.

“At the beginning of the season our potential was real high, but we were not playing that well,” he said. “Now we are playing up to that.”