Game 1: No. 29 New Mexico Highlands 7, CSU-Pueblo 3
Game 2: CSU-Pueblo 8, No. 29 New Mexico Highlands 7
Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the third inning during the back
end of a non-conference doubleheader Friday vs. undefeated and
29th-ranked New Mexico Highlands, the Pack was aching for a
momentum-turning play.
Mark Sayas (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.) provided
it.
With one out and one runner, Sayas, on third base, the Pack
needed a big inning to upend a hot New Mexico Highlands team which
hadn't lost during 2010. In one of the gutsiest calls
possible on a baseball diamond, Sayas saw that the pitch by
the Cowboys' Derek Grieve had beat him to the plate, and slid
under the tag of catcher of Phil Rodriguez to complete the rare
swipe of home, bringing the Pack to within one, 3-2, and handing
momentum squarely to the ThunderWolves.
The Pack added another run in that third inning, and behind a
resurgent performance on the mound by Dillon Meaney (Sr.,
Westminster, Colo.), the squad's expected ace this season
who struggled in his first two starts, CSU-Pueblo was able to hold
the Highlands bats at bay and ride a five-run fifth inning to
victory.
The Pack's win resulted in the first loss on the season for New
Mexico Highlands, the odds on favorite to win the RMAC this season,
who entered Friday leading the RMAC in conceivably every
statistical category, including a bawdy 19-plus-runs-per game
average.
But CSU-Pueblo's win didn't come without drama. Highlands
responded with four runs in the sixth inning, threating Meaney's
win when it put runners on second and third with one out while
trailing by just one run.
Nate Perlitsh (Sr., Thousand Oaks, Calif.),
emerging as the Pack's workhorse out of the bullpen this season,
came into the precarious situation and calmly mowed down clean-up
hitter Danny Brown on three straight pitches. He then yielded
the game to Zack Richmond (Jr., Chino Hills,
Calif.), who got a popout from the next hitter, and held
up in the 7th inning, pitching 1-1/3 innings, allowing one hit and
securing his first save of the season.
The Pack's impressive win came on the heels of a tough loss to
the Preseason RMAC Pitcher of the Year in New Mexico Highlands'
Drew Vassil, who pitched a complete game seven-hitter in the 7-3
Cowboy win.
CSU-Pueblo will finish its four-game series with the Cowboys
Saturday in another seven-inning doubleheader.
