ThunderWolves off to losers' bracket after falling to Mesa State

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com - May 13, 2011) - Friday night, everything seemed to be falling into place for the CSU-Pueblo baseball team.

In its Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament game with tourney host Mesa State, it would be facing RMAC strikeout-leader, Nolan Snell, whom the Pack had beaten twice already this season.  CSU-Pueblo was also the home team on the scoreboard, despite playing on the Mavericks' home field.

If that weren't enough, the public address announcer unwittingly played the Pack's signature song, AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" during their pre-game introductions.

But all the omens in the world weren't enough to derail Snell, who was absolutly locked in all night long, striking out 13 ThunderWolves en route to a 6-2 Mesa State win.

With the loss, CSU-Pueblo is moved over to the other side of the bracket in the double-elimination tournament and will play New Mexico Highlands in an elimination game Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

The ThunderWolves had trouble connecting off of Snell, who hurled an unreal 162 pitches and allowed just six hits.  The Pack registered just two extra base hits in the game - a pair of doubles - but couldn't otherwise crack the recently minted All-RMAC selection.

The closest CSU-Pueblo came to a big inning was in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Kyle Wager (Sr., Globe, Ariz.) doubled in a run with no outs.  After another walk made it two runners on base with no outs, the Pack couldn't cash in, going down in order after that and losing out on its best threat of the night.

"[Snell] had command of his pitches and he absolutely dominated us at the plate," Pack coach Stan Sanchez said.

The back-breaking moment of the night, Sanchez said, was giving up three runs with two outs in the top of the first inning, forcing the Pack to play catch-up.

"We started off rough with that three [in the first inning]," Sanchez said.  "It was tough to chase that."

With four teams remaining, CSU-Pueblo puts itself in a position that it would need four wins to claim the RMAC title.  The early game Saturday features Nebraska-Kearney and Mesa State, each of which has not yet lost a game in the double-elimination tournament.  The Pack would play back-to-back games if it can defeat New Mexico Highlands, drawing the loser of the Kearney/Mesa State game at 7 p.m.