PUEBLO, Colo. (April 3, 2022) – The Colorado State University Pueblo baseball team (20-14) split its doubleheader Sunday afternoon, as the ThunderWolves defeated Colorado Christian (9-19) 12-7 in game one and then fell to Metropolitan State University Denver (21-13) 8-2 in the four-game pod finale. The weekend pod series that featured two games against MSU Denver and two against CCU saw the Pack split with two wins and two losses.
 
Game 1 | CSU Pueblo 12 – Colorado Christian 7
 
In the opening nine inning contest of the day, the Pack led early and never let their foot off the gas. The first inning saw two runs scored by the ThunderWolves after Reggie Williams was brought home off a Trey Vasquez single and Brady Prewitt was knocked in off the bat of Ty Lewis.
 
On the mound, Owen Rudolphi was able to keep the Cougars quiet and send the game into the bottom of the third still holding a 2-0 lead. The ThunderWolves were able to tack on some insurance runs in the bottom of the third and help Rudolphi's cause.
 
Vasquez tallied another RBI off a sacrifice fly and Noah Hennings was able to bring home Prewitt off a double down the right field line. The two runs expanded the CSU Pueblo lead to 4-0 after three innings.
 
Rudolphi surrendered his first run of the game in the top of the fourth but was able to limit the bleeding and eventually forced the contest into the sixth inning with the Pack maintaining a 4-1 lead.
 
Another Cougar run came across in the sixth, but the ThunderWolves were able to respond with some insurance. Manny Sierra singled up the middle and scored Lewis from third base. The next at-bat saw another sacrifice fly, this time Kysen Howard hit a deep enough fly ball to center to score the tagged-up Hennings from third.
 
Rudolphi made his exit after 6.1 innings pitched and was relieved by Dylan Weaver who came on in the seventh and retired the two batters he faced in the frame.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Hennings batted home Prewitt from third off a sacrifice fly and Vasquez was soon able to score off a passed ball. Sierra drove home Lewis and with another RBI single up the middle, the Pack lead grew to 9-2 after seven innings a three-run frame.
 
The Colorado Christian bunch was scrappy and scraped three runs together in the top of the eighth, only to be answered by three more from the ThunderWolves. Vasquez batted home Williams off an error at third and was soon followed by two RBIs from Hennings who sent home Prewitt and Vasquez. 
 
The 12-5 cushion headed into the ninth inning was enough insurance for the ThunderWolves to comfortably coast through the final frame and clinch a 12-7 win over Colorado Chrisitian.
 
Hennings led with Pack, as the centerfielder batted 2-3 with four RBIs and a stolen base. Vasquez totaled three RBIs to go with Sierra's two while Prewitt and Williams each hit 3-5 in the opening game win. Rudolphi claimed his second win of the year on the mound. Prewitt's 3-5 performance extended his hit-streak to 16 games.
 
Game 2 | MSU Denver 8 – CSU Pueblo 2
 
The pod series finale saw a positive start from the Pack. CSU Pueblo took advantage of a MSU Denver error and Prewitt cross home plate off a Vasquez batted ball that gave the Roadrunners' shortstop trouble. 
 
Edwing Corrales had his way with the Roadrunners through the top of the third inning and looked for more insurance from the Pack bats. The ThunderWolves loaded the bases after Williams singled to left center, Lewis was hit by a pitch and Hennings singled down the leftfield line. Williams was brought home by a Matt Shea sacrifice fly to left center and gave the ThunderWolves a 2-0 advantage after three innings.
 
Unfortunately, the Roadrunners tied it up in the fourth and then took a 3-2 lead after five. CSU Pueblo was unable to come up with an answer for the MSU Denver pitcher despite mustering up a handful of baserunners.
 
The Roadrunners expanded their lead to 5-2 in the seventh inning after pushing two runs across in the frame. 
 
In the eighth inning, the Pack attempted to shift the tides, as Hennings and Shea opened up the bottom of the frame with a pair of base-hits. The early successes in the inning were ultimately shut down after the Roadrunners were able to pull off a non-conventional triple-play on a flyout and thwart the CSU Pueblo rally.
 
The Roadrunners scored three more runs in the ninth and the Pack were unable to mount a rally, as CSU Pueblo ultimately fell 8-2.
 
Hennings led the game two efforts with two hits and an RBI while Kolton Miller, Shea and Williams accounted for the other base knocks. 
 
The Pack move to 20-14 on the year after the non-conference weekend split. On Friday, CSU Pueblo gets back in the conference groove and hosts New Mexico Highlands at 2 p.m. to kickstart a four-game RMAC set at Rawlings Field.