PUEBLO, Colo. (April 2, 2022) – Three first innings were not enough for Colorado State University Pueblo (19-13), as the ThunderWolves fell to a scrappy Colorado Christian squad (9-18) 9-5 Saturday afternoon.
 
The Cougars scored a run off the Pack in the opening inning and put the home team on the defensive early on. Despite the early deterrence, the ThunderWolves offense responded in a big way in the bottom frame with three runs.
 
Noah Hennings made his way aboard via a fielder's choice to second base. After a Brady Prewitt ground out, Hennings was sent home off a Trey Vasquez single to right and tied up the ballgame at 1-1. Vasquez stole second and Ty Lewis made his way on base thanks to a walk which set Matt Shea up for an RBI single to centerfield.
 
Reggie Williams added one more run to the ThunderWolves' tally with an RBI single through the left side that sent Lewis home from third. The three-run first inning gave the Pack a two-run advantage after the opening frame.
 
The Cougars equaled the score in the top of the second and loaded the bases to grab more. With no outs in the inning, pitcher Jake Lombardelli needed to find a way out of the inning. Ramirez served up a pitch to a Cougars batter who turned it into a sharp line drive to first base. Williams was there to snag the liner and quickly step on first base to double up the runner, but the play continued and the savvy first baseman winged it over to second for the third out.
 
The Williams triple play limited the damage done by the Cougars and sent the game into the bottom of the second knotted up at 2-2.
 
In the third and fourth innings, Johnathan Ramirez silenced the Cougars bats and sent the game into the fifth still tied at 3-3. The fifth saw a run by Colorado Christian, and the Pack were unable to answer.
 
Colorado Christian continued its hot streak in the top of the sixth and tacked on five runs in the half inning. The big inning put the Pack in a 9-3 deficit and shifted the momentum in the Cougars' favor.
 
Ruben Portillo came on in relief for the Pack in the seventh and silenced the bats for good from Colorado Christian. By the conclusion of the contest, Portillo had hurled three innings and totaled four strikeouts while he only allowed one hit.
 
After two scoreless innings from each squad, and the ninth inning looming, the Pack were able to bring some bats to life.
 
Trailing by six runs headed into the ninth inning, pinch hitters brought some life to the Pack efforts. Max Pawela led off the ninth with a single up the middle and was soon brought around to score off a pinch hit double by Elijah Borjas. Borjas was brought home by a Williams double to right center, but it was not enough for the Pack's comeback efforts.
 
CSU Pueblo fell to Colorado Christian 9-5 despite the two-run ninth.
 
Williams highlighted the Pack's efforts with a. 4-5 performance from the plate with two RBIs to go with his triple play in the second. Kysen Howard batted 2-4 on the afternoon to help out the efforts at the plate.
 
CSU Pueblo logged 13 hits to Colorado Christian's 14 on the day. 
 
The ThunderWolves close out the weekend pod Sunday with a doubleheader. First pitch with the Cougars is slated at 11 a.m. on Sunday while the match-up with MSU Denver will take place at approximately 2:30 p.m.