PUEBLO, Colo. (February 14, 2020) -  Leading 9-7 in the ninth, Colorado State University-Pueblo Baseball could not close out Montana State University Billings as the Yellow Jackets rallied to a 11-9 win Friday at Rawlings Field.
 
Easton Adler (Sr., Mead, Colo.) led the Pack's offensive attack. Adler went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. He also scored two runs. Adler picked up his first extra base hit of the season.
 
Aidan Welch (Jr., Seattle, Wash.) reached base three times. Welch finished the day 1-for-3 with two walks. Welch also scored a run and notched a RBI.
 
The Yellow Jackets got an early lead by hitting a home run on the game's first pitch. They added a run in the second to take a 2-0 lead.
 
CSU-Pueblo answered with a five-run second innings. Welch scored the game's first run when he came around on a Ty Lewis (Jr., Pleasant Grove, Utah) bases loaded walk.  Adler followed by whacking a bases clearing triple to put the Pack up 4-2. Adler crossed home on sac fly by Cody Beck (Jr., Brighton, Colo.).
 
MSU Billings scored a run in each of the first five innings. Their second run in the fifth inning put them back in front 6-5.
 
Reggie Williams (So., Castle Rock, Colo.) tied the game in the fifth with a single that plated Mike Gonzalez (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif.). The Pack picked up two runs in the sixth as Adler and Beck came around on a passed ball and ground out respectively as the Pack reclaimed the lead 8-6.
 
Each team scored a run in the seventh, giving the Pack a 9-7 lead. Williams gave the Pack its ninth run when he scored on a wild pitch.
 
Brett Matthews (Sr., Queen, Creek, Ariz.) mowed down the Yellow Jackets in the eighth, retiring them 1-2-3 on just eight pitches. Matthews began the ninth in a similar fashion, striking out the first two batters he faced.
 
However, a dropped third strike allowed the second punchout victim to reach. Two walks and a hit by pitch allowing the Yellow Jackets to close within one. Dane Kapande (R-Jr., Evergreen, Colo.) entered with the bases loaded and rung up the first hitter he faced.
 
Kapande had the next hit down 2-0, but Tanner Parker battled back to 3-2 before driving a bases clearing double that gave the Yellow Jackets an 11-9 lead. They would hang on in the bottom to escape with an 11-9 win.
 
The Pack will play a doubleheader Saturday at Rawlings Field. CSU-Pueblo will face University of Sioux Falls at 11 a.m. before facing the Yellow Jackets in a rematch at 2:30 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.