PUEBLO, Colo. (March 12, 2022) – Colorado State University Pueblo (12-8, 5-1 RMAC) swept Metropolitan State University Denver (12-8, 3-3 RMAC) in a baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon, as the ThunderWolves emerged victorious 14-13 and 10-9 in two tightly contested games. Ty Lewis arose as the Pack hero, as the third baseman tallied three home runs and seven RBIs across the two games and hit the go-ahead RBI double in the second contest of the day.
 
Game 1 | CSU Pueblo 14 – MSU Denver 13
 
The opening game of the day saw the Pack jump ahead early. Brady Prewitt logged the first RBI of the day, as the catcher batted home Noah Hennings off a triple to centerfield. Prewitt crossed home after Trey Vasquez was thrown out trying to steal second base. 
 
MSU Denver tied it up in the top of the second but that would be the only scoring by the Roadrunners for a long time, as Tim McIntyre began to dominate on the hill.
 
In the third inning, the Pack struck for some more runs. Prewitt kicked off the frame with a single and eventually came around to score from third off a balk by the Roadrunners' pitcher. Tyson Pallatt followed up the balk with a single and then moved around the bases thanks to singles from Reggie Williams and Brodie Blackford. Blackford's single was able to score Pallatt from third to expand the Pack lead to 4-2 after the third inning.
 
McIntyre followed up the inning with a strong inning on the mound and sent the game into the bottom of the fourth with the Pack in a position to take extend their lead even more and take advantage of the 4-2 lead.
 
The Pack did take advantage and unleashed their bats in the fourth. Hennings doubled home Jacob Federico to start the inning off. Then, Vasquez homered to dead centerfield and brought home Prewitt and Hennings with him. Lewis followed with additional home run to mark the first back-to-back home run succession of the 2022 season for the Pack.
 
The ThunderWolves offense was not done and Jacob Federico hit a double down the right field line to knock in Williams. Federico and Brock Rodrigues scored the final two runs of the inning thanks to a solid single through the left side by Hennings.
 
When the marathon inning finally ended for the Pack, CSU Pueblo had tallied eight runs off six hits and took a convincing 12-2 lead after four innings of play.
 
In the fifth, Lewis struck again with another solo shot home run and was followed by another RBI single from Blackford to lock the Pack in at a 14-2 lead after five full frames.
 
MSU Denver crossed in two runs in the top of the sixth and then another six in the seventh to turn the game into another dogfight for the ThunderWolves. The Pack still maintained a 14-10 lead headed into the eighth inning.
 
CSU Pueblo surrendered three more runs in the eighth before Frank Wierman came in and shut down the Roadrunners' bats to keep the ThunderWolves ahead 14-13 headed into the bottom of the eighth. 
 
The Pack were unable to add insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, but Wierman came back out in the ninth and closed out the Roadrunners to clinch the high-scoring 14-13 win for the ThunderWolves.
 
McIntyre (4-0) claimed the win for the Pack after six innings of work while Wierman claimed his second save of the season. Lewis helped back his pitchers with a pair of homers to go with Vasquez's three-run blast.
 
Prewitt, Vasquez, Lewis and Hennings all tallied three hits to lead the Pack to the game one victory.
 
Game 2 | CSU Pueblo 10 – MSU Denver 9
 
The second game of the day somewhat reflected the day's opener due to the early Pack lead and the late MSU Denver pushes.
 
Beginning the second game, CSU Pueblo was once again in control. After the Roadrunners scored a run in the opening frame, the Pack once again jumped on the MSU Denver starting pitcher.
 
Prewitt opened up the scoring for the ThunderWolves with an RBI single to score Federico. Just two batters later, Lewis once again came through for the Pack and smashed a no-doubter three-run home run to right field to jump CSU Pueblo ahead of MSU Denver 4-1.
 
Edwing Corrales shut down the Roadrunners in the top of the second and the Pack capitalized once more on offense.
 
Hennings kicked off the inning with a double to deep right center that scored Federico from first. Despite two strikeouts later on in the inning, the Pack were able to load the bases for Williams. 
 
Williams drew a walk to score Hennings from third. Blackford cleaned up the inning for the ThunderWolves and drove in Pallatt and Vasquez to put CSU Pueblo ahead 8-1 after two innings.
 
The Roadrunners responded with three runs in the top of the third inning. Lewis then answered with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half to give CSU Pueblo a 9-4 lead after three.
 
To the dismay of the Pack, the Roadrunners offense continued to hit well at the plate and tied up the ballgame in the fourth inning.
 
After being knotted up at 9-9, the Pack and Roadrunners started to focus on defense and pitching. Charlie Williams took the mound for the ThunderWolves and silenced MSU Denver bats in order in the fifth.
 
In the bottom of the fifth with two outs, Lewis once again came in clutch for the Pack and hit a double off the top of the right field wall to score Vasquez from first and give CSU Pueblo a 10-9 advantage.
 
Charlie Williams took care of business in the sixth, as the reliever shut down the Roadrunners in order and then earned his second win of the season after retiring the side in the top of the seventh.
 
Lewis once again led the Pack in game two with five RBIs off two hits that included a home run. Blackford, Vasquez and Hennings all had two hits apiece to round out the Pack batting efforts.
 
The doubleheader sweep is the Pack's second of the season and extends the team's win streak to four games. CSU Pueblo now sits at 12-8 on the season and 5-1 in RMAC. 
 
CSU Pueblo looks to claim its second straight RMAC series win Sunday, as the ThunderWolves host Metro State Denver Sunday afternoon with another doubleheader beginning at noon at Rawlings Field.