PUEBLO, Colo. (April 5, 2019) – A seven-run sixth inning vaulted Colorado State University-Pueblo Baseball past No. 1 Colorado Mesa University 15-8 Friday night at Rawlings Field.
The Pack's 15-run outburst in game one of the series is the highest output surrendered by the Mavericks this season. They had four extra-base hits compared to just one for the Mavericks.
Dakota Popham (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) crush a home run. Popham plated three runs and scored four times in the win. He went 3-for-5 at the plate. Popham also whacked a double.
Robbie Espinosa (Sr., Yorba Linda, Calif.) cracked four hits in five trips including a double. Espinosa also drove in three runs. He scored twice out of the clean up spot.
Aidan Welch (So., Seattle, Wash.) led the Pack with four RBIs. He had two hits in four trips. Welch swatted a three-run triple that broke the game open in the sixth inning. His four-RBI performance set a career-high.
JP Hopkins (R-Jr., Chino Hills, Calif.),
Rion Santamaria (Jr., Yorba Linda, Calif.) and
Gilbert Sauceda (Sr. Indio, Calif.) all scored two runs. Sauceda went 2-for-4. Santamaria and Sauceda each drove in a run.
Daniel Abiles (Jr., Chandler, Ariz.) went 2-for-5. Abiles scored a run and added a RBI.
Beau Brieske (Jr., Chandler, Ariz.) earned the win to even his record at 4-4. He threw six innings, surrendering four earned runs. Brieske struck out four.
Justin Jaime (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) picked up his first save of the season. Jaime threw three innings, allowing two unearned runs. He fanned two Mavericks.
The Mavericks scored the game's first run in the first inning. In the bottom of the first, the Pack responded with two runs of their own to jump in front 2-1.
Colorado Mesa knotted the game up at two with a run in the second. They reclaimed the lead in the top of the third with another run that made it 3-2. Popham launched his fifth home run of the season. His solo shot in the bottom of the third tied the game at three.
A two-run fourth put the Mavericks back in front 5-3. Once again the Pack tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Abiles knocked in Santamaria with a single. Hopkins scored on a squeeze bunt from
Jesse Holguin (Fr., Colton, Calif.) to tie the game at five after four.
The Mavericks scored once again in the top of the fifth. Once again, the Pack retaliated. Espinosa mashed a double to bring in Popham. He scored on a Welch single that gave the Pack a 7-6 lead.
Brieske stranded the bases loaded in the top of the sixth. The Pack continued this momentum into the bottom of the sixth. CSU-Pueblo erupted for seven runs, all of which came with two runs.
Popham doubled to bring in Abiles and Sauceda. Popham scored on an Espinosa single. With the bases loaded, Welch belted a triple into right field to bring in three runs. He scored on a balk to make it 14-6.
The Pack added to its lead in the seventh.
Kodee Martin (Jr., Platte County, Mo.) singled, stole a base, and later scored on a Sauceda single to make it 15-6. The Pack would hang as they upended the Mavericks 15-8.
The ThunderWolves and Mavericks will do battle again Saturday in a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 1 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.
