PUEBLO, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com - March 1, 2013) - CSU-Pueblo opened up conference play on a strong note Friday as new Friday night starter Jeremiah Struble (Sr., Divide, Colo.) shut down Metro State to earn his third win of the young season.

Struble improved to 3-0 with a strong three-hit, six-inning performance, striking out five.  The only thing that kept Struble from powering through toward a complete game was a high pitch count, ceding the game to the more-than-capable arms of Dillon Given (Jr., Salinas, Calif.) and Bodacious Ball (Jr., Canon City, Colo.).  Given was nasty in two innings of work, allowing two hits and striking out two before giving the rawhide to Ball in the ninth, who pitched one inning and struck out one.

While the mound was held down, the Pack bats teed off on Metro State pitching to the tune of 13 hits, getting early baserunners to start innings and turning them into runs.

Only five of the Pack's eight runs came on base hits as the ThunderWolves got a total of 19 runners on base.  No ThunderWolf visited the base paths more than Brett Montague (Sr., San Mateo, Calif.), who went 3-for-4 along with a walk in five plate appearances, scoring three runs from the clean-up spot.  Five- and six-hole hitters Dominick Bregar (Fr., Pueblo, Colo.) and Scott Hoyt (Jr., Longmont, Colo.) each collected two RBI as the ThunderWolves scored runs in five of eight innings played Friday.

CSU-Pueblo improves to 4-5 with the win as well as claims the all-important first conference win of the season.  CSU-Pueblo will continue its conference-opening series with the Roadrunners Saturday with a doubleheader at noon.