PUEBLO, Colo. (April 7, 2019) – Colorado State University-Pueblo Baseball battered No. 1 Colorado Mesa University 12-8 Sunday in the final game of their four-game series at Rawlings Field.
With the win, the Pack split their series with the Mavericks. The Pack has recorded the two highest run totals of the season against Colorado Mesa after scoring 15 runs on Friday. All nine Pack starters had at least one hit.
Easton Adler (Jr., Mead, Colo.) scored three runs for the home team. Adler reached base four times with three hits and a walk. He also stole a base.
Aidan Welch (So., Seattle, Wash.) drove in three runs for the Pack. Welch finished 2-for-5. He scored a run.
Rion Santamaria (Jr., Yorba, Linda, Calif.) picked up two hits including a double. Santmaria plated a pair of runs and came home once.
Dakota Popham (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) delivered two hits in four trips. Popham walked once. The Pack's third baseman scored two runs and drove in a run.
Robbie Espinosa (Sr., Yorba Linda, Calif.) blasted his third home run of the season. Espinosa's two-run shot got the Pack off to a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
The Mavericks tied the game in the second with two runs of their own. Facing a tie game, the Pack caught fire in the third inning.
CSU-Pueblo scored seven runs and sent 13 batters to the plate in the third. Santamaria brought home the first two runs of the inning on a double. He scored on a Welch single.
Stone Romero (Jr., Albuquerque, N.M.) slugged a single that scored Welch and
JP Hopkins (R-Jr., Chino Hills, Calif.).
The Pack continued to pour it on as
Gilbert Sauceda (Sr., Indio, Calif.) singled home Romero. A Popham base knock brought in
Jesse Holguin (Fr., Colton, Calif.) as the Pack had nine hits in the third to take a 9-2 lead.
Colorado Mesa rallied with a run in the fourth. They hit a grand slam as part of a five-run seventh to make it 9-8.
With their lead trimmed to one, the Pack bounced back with three runs in the eighth. With his team down to their final out of the inning,
Logan Gibbons (Jr., Taylorsville, Utah) was plunked by a pitch. Welch smacked a two-out single to make it 12-8.
Andrew Coverly (Jr., Centennial, Colo.) shut the door on the Mavericks in the ninth.
Timmy Burtzloff (Sr., Thousand Oaks, Calif.) picked up the win thanks to three solid innings of relief.
The Pack will continue their eight-game homestand when Colorado School of Mines makes a trip to Southern Colorado April 12-14. Game one of this four-game series between the Pack and Orediggers is set for 6 p.m. Friday April 12 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.
