PUEBLO, Colo. (February 19, 2015) – The Colorado State University-Pueblo baseball team opened its three game series versus the University of Sioux Falls with a doubleheader sweep Friday at Rawlings Field. The Pack won game one, 14-7, before coming from behind to win game two, 8-5.

With the two wins, CSU-Pueblo improves to 7-2 on the season. The two setbacks drops the Cougars to 0-5 on the year.

ThunderWolves' starter Zac Wittmus (Sr., Brighton, Colo.) earned the victory in game one to improve to 2-0 on the season. Wittmus tossed five innings, giving up three hits and one run, while striking out six Cougars.

Henry Ojeda took the loss for Sioux Falls to fall to 0-2 on the year.

CSU-Pueblo recorded a season-high 18 hits and 26 total bases. Mike Wagner (Sr., Golden, Colo.) tallied his second four-hit game of the season, falling a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. Jordan Godman and Manny Menocal (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev.) each notched three hits apiece, with Godman registering a home run and driving in a game-high four RBIs. Menocal added three RBIs. Austin Mascorro (Sr., Oxnard, Calif.) and Tyler Landrith (Sr., Tucson, Ariz.) both notched multiple hits with two each.

The ThunderWolves jumped on the scoreboard first, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Godman led off the inning with a walk and then advanced to second on a stolen base. After a ground out and a pop out, Wagner reached on an infield single, moving Godman to third base. Menocal followed with a bloop single to right field, scoring Godman and sending Wagner to third. The next batter Cebulski was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two outs and the bases full, Chavez laced a single through the left side on a 3-2 pitch to drive home Wagner and Menocal to give the ThunderWolves a 3-0 lead.

After the Cougars tallied a run in the top of the fourth to cut the deficit to 3-1, CSU-Pueblo exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the inning. Godman started the scoring spree with his second home run of the season, a two-run shot to right field. Three batters later with a one out and a runner on second, Wagner belted a triple over the centerfielder's head to score Dominick Bregar (Jr., Pueblo, Colo.) with the Pack's sixth run of the contest. Menocal then drove in Wagner with a single and came around to score on a single by Cebulski. Later in the inning, with two outs and the bases loaded Vigil was hit by a pitch to drive home a run. Godman capped the offensive onslaught with a two-run single to give the ThunderWolves an 11-1 lead heading into the fifth inning.

Sioux Falls climbed back into the contest thanks to a six-run top half of the sixth inning, trimming the CSU-Pueblo advantage to 11-7.

The Pack added insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, plating three two-out runs. Menocal lined an RBI double into the gap in right centerfield to score Mascorro for the first run of the inning. The next batter, Landrith, singled through the right side, driving in Wagner and Menocal to give the ThunderWolves the final winning score of 14-7.  

In game two, Doug Finley (Sr., Bermuda Dunes, Calif.) earned his second win of the season after working a scoreless sixth inning. Wyndam Williams (Sr., Golden, Colo.) tossed a perfect seventh inning to pick up his third save of the year.

Sioux Falls' starter Alex Wall suffered the loss to drop to 0-1 on the year.

The Pack outhit the Cougars, 12-5, with Godman leading the way with three hits. Seven different players recorded a RBI for the home team. Wagner finished the contest 1-for-1 to conclude the day 5-for-5 with a pair of walks and two hit by pitches.

CSU-Pueblo took an early 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Mascorro singled up the middle. Two batters later with two outs and Mascorro still on first, Wagner belted his second triple of the day to deep centerfield, scoring Mascorro with the game's first run.

The Cougars responded with three runs in the top half of the second inning. Sioux Falls tallied three unearned runs with two outs in the inning to move in front, 3-1.

The visitors tacked on two more unearned runs in the fourth inning to extend their lead to 5-1.

The Pack cut into the deficit with three runs in their half of the fourth inning. With one out and runners at the corners, Daniel Vigil (Sr., Pueblo, Colo.) singled up the middle to score Beau Cebulski (Jr., Las Animas, Colo.). On the play, the ball squirted under the glove of the centerfield, allowing Gavin Brady (Jr., Golden, Colo.) to score from first and Vigil to advance to third base. The next batter Godman roped a single up the middle, scoring Vigil and pulling CSU-Pueblo to within a run, at 5-4.

The ThunderWolves evened the contest at 5-5 with a run in the bottom of the fifth frame on a sacrifice fly out by Cebulski.

CSU-Pueblo tallied the eventual winning runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Godman singled with one out and then swiped second base. Mascorro followed with a RBI double to left centerfield, driving in Godman with the go-ahead run. Mascorro came around to score on a double by Bregar. Bregar ended up scoring when Landrith was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, giving the ThunderWolves an 8-5 advantage.

Williams made the score stand up, pitching a one-two-three ninth inning for his third save of the season.

The ThunderWolves and Cougars wrap up their three-game series Friday with a single game beginning at 1:00 p.m.

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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Colorado State University – Pueblo competes in 22 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.