RIVERSIDE, Calif. (GoThunderWolves.com – Feb. 21, 2014) – The Colorado State University-Pueblo baseball team nearly broke through for a win against the nationally-ranked and undefeated California Baptist University Lancers, but dropped a 3-2 extra-inning decision to the Lancers in the first game before falling 6-3 in the second contest of a Friday twilight doubleheader at Totman Stadium.
Cal Baptist, ranked 10th in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Poll and second in the West Region, improved to 13-0 overall while the Pack, ranked eighth in the South Central Region, fell to 4-5. The ThunderWolves will try to avoid the series sweep when the teams close out a weekend 4-game set at noon (PST) on Saturday.
In the Friday opener, the Pack drew first blood as Mario Sanchez (Sr., Tucson, Ariz.) doubled to lead-off the game before scoring on a Dominick Bregar (So., Pueblo, Colo.) single.
Meanwhile, Pack starter Jesse Bristow (Jr., Heber, Utah) allowed just one hit through five innings. He then got another run of support on back-to-back doubles by Bregar and Scott Hoyt (Sr., Longmont, Colo.) in the top of the sixth.
However, the lead would not last long as Blair Moor hit a 2-run homer to tie the game in the bottom of the inning.
The score would remain tied at two through regulation when Bristow gave way to the bullpen, which could not contain the Lancers. CBU scored the game-winner in the 10th as two walks and an Andy Crowley double finished the visiting Pack off.
Bristow allowed just six hits and two runs in his nine innings of work but did not figure in the decision while Doug Finley (Jr., Bermuda Dunes, Calif.) was charged with the loss for CSU-Pueblo. Caleb Dirks earned the win for the Lancers after a 3-inning relief effort that saw him strike out four while allowing just three hits.
The top four of the Pack lineup led the offensive charge as they registered seven of the ThunderWolves' nine hits in 17 at bats. All four – Sanchez, Bregar, Hoyt and Evan Kenebrew (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) – doubled as well.
In the night-cap, the ThunderWolves again took a 1-0 lead in the third before CBU tied it in the bottom half of the inning.
A Hoyt single the plated Bregar, who had led the fourth off with a double, giving CSU-Pueblo a 2-1 lead. However, single runs in the fifth and sixth gave the Lancers a 3-2 lead, a cushion they extended with a seventh inning tally and two more in the eighth.
Mike Wagner (Jr., Golden, Colo.) went 2-for-3 with a triple to lead the ThunderWolves in the second game.
