PUEBLO, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com – Apr. 26, 2014) — The New Mexico Highlands University Cowboys jumped out to early leads and went on to win a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference baseball games over the host Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves, Saturday afternoon at Rawlings Field.
The Cowboys' 5-2 and 15-8 victories allowed them to clinch the RMAC Plains Division title as they are now 5 ½ games ahead of the Pack with five games to go in the regular season, including Sunday's 9-inning single game, which will wrap up the series between the top two teams in the division.
First pitch is slated for noon.
The Cowboys (28-16, 25-9 RMAC) tallied five doubles and 11 total hits in the opening game, scoring single runs in the first, second and third innings. Meanwhile, NMHU starter Greg Hansen pitched a gem taking a perfect game into the fifth before Mike Wagner (Jr., Golden, Colo.) was hit before stealing second. Wagner then scored on an Evan Kenebrew (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) single up the middle.
Kenebrew, who advanced to third on an error in center field, then scored moments later on an Austin Mascorro (Jr., Oxnard, Calif.) RBI groundout before the Pack left a potential tying run on base later in the inning.
The Cowboys then got out of the sixth inning with a 6-4-3 double play before tacking on a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh to complete the scoring.
Hansen, who went six innings, earned his seventh win of the year against three losses. He gave up just three hits and two runs, only one of which was earned. Meanwhile, Ben Ruff earned his seventh save as he struck out two ThunderWolves in the seventh.
NMHU's leading hitter Matthew Chavez, the designated hitter, led the way going 2-for-2 with two walks and a pair or runs scored while Morgan McCasland also tallied two hits, including an RBI double in the seventh.
In the second game, the Cowboys jumped out to score six runs in the top of the first.
However, the Pack chipped away at the deficit scoring their first run on a Mascorro infield single in the bottom of the first before a 2-run Dominick Bregar (So., Pueblo, Colo.) homer to left made the score 7-3 through two innings.
Wagner then led off the bottom of the third with an inside-the-park homer to center, moments before a Shane Richins (Jr., Heber, Utah) RBI single plated Kenebrew to make the score 8-5 through three innings.
However, the Cowboys scored four runs in the top of the fourth, three of which were team unearned, to extend the lead to 12-5 before a Scott Hoyt (Sr., Longmont, Colo.) homer to left highlighted a 3-run Pack fourth.
Down just 12-8 at the time, the ThunderWolves reliever Bodacious Ball (Jr., Canon City, Colo.), one of six pitchers to work in the game, held the Cowboys scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings.
However, the ThunderWolves hit into a inning-ending double-play in the fifth and stranded a runner at third in the sixth allowing a McCasland RBI single and a Nick Gonzales homer in the top of the seventh to ice the game for the visitors, who have now won seven straight against the Pack in Pueblo and 14 of their last 15 overall this season.
Zach Settles, who came in to relief starter Erick McRae in the fourth after Bregar's homer, earned the win for the Cowboys as he spread four allowed hits over four hits. He improved to 3-2.
Gonzales went 3-for-4 with four runs and four RBIs to lead the Cowboy bats while Bregar's 3-for-3 effort, along with a 3-for-4 effort by senior catcher Eddie Williams (Castle Rock, Colo.) led the Pack, who had a season-high three homers and 13 total hits in the second game.
CSU-Pueblo, now 23-21 overall and 19-14, has slipped into fourth place in the overall RMAC standings behind Colorado Mines, which entered into a twilight-doubleheader against Colorado Christian with a 20-12 conference mark. However, the Pack clinched a spot in the 4-team, May 8-10 RMAC Tournament on Friday as Regis dropped two games to RMAC Mountain Division clinching Colorado Mesa.
