PUEBLO, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com – Apr. 5, 2014) — After using some late heroics to claim a series opening win over No. 13 Colorado Mesa University on Friday night, the Mavericks turned the tables on Saturday afternoon as they swept a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader over the host Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves at Rawlings Field.
The Mavericks scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning of Game 1 to come from 2-1 down en-route a 6-4 win. They then scored six times, while hitting a grand slam, in a controversial seventh inning of Game 2 to claim a 10-4 victory and the series lead heading into Sunday's 9-inning series finale at high noon.
With the wins, CMU, improved to 23-7 overall and to 17-4 in RMAC play extending their conference and Mountain Division lead. The Pack saw their 3-game winning streak snapped and fell back to .500 at 16-16 while slipping to 12-9 in the conference and out of first place in the Plains Division standings as New Mexico Highlands swept a home doubleheader against Regis to improve to 14-8 in the RMAC, assuring the Cowboys of the division lead until at least next weekend.
In the Saturday opener, the ThunderWolves got off to a quick start as senior third baseman Mario Sanchez (Tucson, Ariz.) led off the bottom of the first with a home run to left, his second of the series. The Pack then extended the lead to 2-0 on a Evan Kenebrew (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) RBI single that plated Dominick Bregar (So., Pueblo, Colo.), who now has an active 21-game hitting streak thanks to a pair of 2-hit games.
Sanchez, who went 3-for-3 in the game and 5-for-7 on the day then plated Lonny Schoon (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) in the second inning as the Pack went up 3-0.
However, the ThunderWolves would not score again until the seventh and final inning as a solid relief effort from Matt Allen helped the Mavericks stay in the game.
Meanwhile, in the top of the fifth, the Mavs would get on the scoreboard thanks to a RBI double by pinch-hitter Jordan Liester before cashing in for the 4-spot in the sixth. Lead-off man Sergio Valenzuela, who went 3-for-3 in the game, and Leister, who remained in the game to serve as the designated hitter, had the biggest blows as they registered back-to-back 2-run singles that tied and gave the Mavericks a 5-3 lead, respectively.
Both teams then scored runs in the seventh to complete the scoring as Allen improved to 5-1 with the win after giving up just five hits and a single run in 4 2/3 innings of work as CMU's third pitcher. Garrett Carpenter earned a 1-batter save, his third of the campaign, while Jesse Bristow (Jr., Heber, Utah) suffered a hard-luck loss thwarting what was a respectable start. He went 5 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and four earned runs but fell to 4-3 on the campaign.
In the second game, the Mavericks were the ones to get out to the quick start, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. However, Sanchez scored on a double play in the bottom of the first before a Bregar RBI single in the third tied the game at 2.
Kenebrew, who now has a RMAC co-leading 14 doubles, and Schoon then traded spots with 2-baggers in the bottom of the fourth to put the Pack up 3-2 before reserve catcher Derek Goodwin (Jr., Diamond Bar, Calif.) drove in Schoon with a run-scoring single to extend the ThunderWolves' lead to 4-2 after four.
The Mavericks would answer right back with two runs in the top of fifth, including a game-tying Austin Kasier bomb to left. Things then spiraled out of control for CSU-Pueblo in the top of the seventh. After a 1-out Carpenter single, Kaiser, a strong RMAC Player of the Year candidate, laced a double that was ruled fair to the chagrin of the Pack players, coaches and fans. That play put the Mavericks in front 5-4.
Moments later, a walk, wild pitch, RBI single by Liester and hit batsman then loaded the bases for Kevin Mitchell, who hit a grand slam off the right field scoreboard to complete the day's scoring.
Reliever Cody Lahman (2-1) earned the Game 2 win for CMU while Ricky Casler (0-2) (Jr., Vail, Ariz.), the third of six Pack pitchers to work in the strategy-filled game, suffered the loss
The Mavericks tallied 11 hits in each game while the Pack finished with nine in each contest.
