Box Score PUEBLO, Colo. (April 30, 2016)— The heavy rain and wind that cancelled Friday's Pack the Park event continued to wreak havoc Saturday when the Colorado State University-Pueblo baseball team finally took the field against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe, New Mexico Highlands University.
Playing in swirling winds and threatening storm clouds, the Pack's bats went as cold as the 40 degree temperatures at Rawlings Field as they fell 5-3 (14 innings) and 2-0 to the Cowboys.
CSU-Pueblo (25-15, 17-10 RMAC) definitely pitched well enough to win each game as junior starting pitchers Cameron Weinberg (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and Brandon Conlin (Norco, Calif.) each threw gems.
In Game One, Weinberg pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowed two runs, one earned, and struck out four in the no-decision. The bullpen followed suit as junior Jorge Venegas (Las Lunas, N.M.) tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and junior Josh Nuernberg (Las Vegas, Nev.) threw a season-high 4 1/3 innings in relief before the Cowboys rallied for three unearned runs in the top of the 14th.
The Pack scored their first run of the game in the fourth when senior Dominick Bregar (Pueblo, Colo.) led off with a double and came around to score on a 4-6-3 double-play off the bat of Gilbert Sauceda (Fr., Indio, Calif.).
They pulled even in the home-half of the ninth when Brandon Castaneda (Azusa, Calif.) laced a one-out, RBI single to score senior Manny Menocal (Las Vegas, Nev.). Castaneda went 4-for-6 for the game.
CSU-Pueblo had its chances to come away with the win as it had baserunners on in four of the five extra innings — including the bases loaded in the 12th and 13th innings — but could not push across a run.
The Cowboys (13-31 overall, 10-21 RMAC) took advantage of their opportunity in the 14th. A lead-off single, sacrifice bunt, and fielding error by the Pack set up runners on the corners with one out for Cody Castro, who successfully dropped down a bunt on a suicide squeeze play to put his team up 3-2. They'd add two more unearned runs in the inning to own a 5-2 lead heading to the bottom of the 14th.
CSU-Pueblo would scratch out a run to make the score 5-3 on an RBI single by Menocal, but couldn't inch any closer.
Menocal's RBI single in the 14th inning was the last offense of the evening for the Pack, who fell 2-0 in seven innings to conclude Saturday's action.
Conlin (4-4 overall) took the tough-luck loss after pitching a complete game and notching a personal NCAA Division II record for strikeouts with nine. The only two runs allowed by the right-hander came in the fourth inning on a wind-aided RBI triple by Jeremy McCarty and a sacrifice fly for Frankie Silva to score McCarty.
Bregar, who was 2-for-5 in the first game, continued his solid Senior Night performance. He tallied two more hits in Saturday's nightcap. Bregar ranks third in the RMAC with a .430 batting average.
The Pack will look to get the bats going Sunday when they conclude this three-game set against the Cowboys. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Rawlings Field.
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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.