PUEBLO, Colo. (April 10, 2022) – Two home runs and five RBIs from Brady Prewitt on top of strong work on the mound by Zach Pratt, Jake Lombardelli and Johnathan Ramirez helped lift Colorado State University Pueblo (21-17, 12-8 RMAC) to a 9-7 series finale win over New Mexico Highlands University (12-24, 8-12 RMAC) Sunday afternoon. 
 
Pratt got the nod on the mound for the first time since he was injured in early March. His start saw the sophomore hurler come out of the gates aggressively, as Pratt logged a strikeout in a quick opening inning.
 
The ThunderWolves backed their starter with a strong first inning. Noah Hennings singled up the middle and got on base for Prewitt. The catcher sent a deep homer to left center and put the ThunderWolves on top 2-0 after the first frame.
 
Pratt came back out and struck out two of the three Cowboys faced in the top of the second. The ThunderWolves were unable to score another in the bottom half and the Cowboys were able to tie it up in the top of the third.
 
Once again, the Pack offense came alive. Hennings walked and stole second to get into scoring position for Prewitt. Once again, Prewitt jumped on the third pitch of the at-bat and blasted a no-doubter over the left field wall for his second home run in three swings. The two-run home run put the Pack on top 4-2. Matt Shea soon followed with a double that sent Trey Vasquez home from second base.
 
Lombardelli was able to come onto the mound in the fourth and keep the Highlands bats quiet for the most part. A Cowboys home run lessened the lead for the Pack to 5-3, but CSU Pueblo responded once more.
 
In the ensuing frame, Tyson Pallatt and Jacob Federico drew walks and set Prewitt up once more. Prewitt smacked a double to left field and sent Pallatt home from second. Vasquez grounded to second in his next at-bat and sent Federico across home plate to extend the ThunderWolves' lead to 7-3.
 
Ramirez came on in relief with the bases loaded and one away in the top of the fifth inning. The veteran thrower was able to get the Pack out of the jam with a double play ground ball to third base and send the game into the bottom of the fifth.
 
In the bottom of the frame, Shea doubled to center and was soon batted home off an RBI single from a sharp groundball up the middle by Reggie Williams. 
 
New Mexico Highlands took advantage of a two-out error and pushed in three runs in the top of the sixth. Ramirez settled in on the mound and threw two shutout innings that carried the 8-6 ballgame into the bottom of the eighth. 
 
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Hennings was able to bat home Pallatt from third with a grounder back to the pitcher.
 
Ramirez was able to keep the Cowboys quiet in the top of the ninth and clinch a 9-7 win for the Pack. Lombardelli was credited with the win for the Pack and Ramirez clinched the save.
 
Pratt finished with four strikeouts in three innings pitched while Ramirez struck out three in 4.2 innings.
 
Prewitt highlighted the ThunderWolves' efforts with five RBIs, two homers, two runs scored and a double. Williams, Shea and Vasquez each recorded two hits and an RBI apiece for the Pack. Williams' two hits extended his streak to 13 consecutive games with a base-hit. 
 
CSU Pueblo gets next weekend off for the Easter holiday. The Pack will then look to keep the ball going as the team hits the road for a four-game series to take on Colorado Christian in Lakewood, Colo. at noon on April 22.