PUEBLO, Colo. - Colorado State University Pueblo baseball concluded its two-game season opening series here Saturday with 16th-ranked St. Edward's University by suffering a hard-fought 4-2 setback to the Hilltoppers in non-conference action at Rawlings Field. 

Saturday's game came one day after the ThunderWolves opened the season with a 22-5 loss to the Hilltoppers, who are now 6-0 on the season. The Pack fall to 0-2 on the season.

Saturday's game was a tale of the long ball as St. Edwards scored all four of its runs off of three home runs, while the Pack's two runs came off a 2-run pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the eighth from sophomore Brady Ingalls (Parker, Colo./Ponderosa). For the series, St. Edwards hit seven home runs in the two games. 

One day after getting outhit 19-9, the Pack outhit the Hilltoppers in Saturday's game, 10-6, but struggled with runners on base as they left eight on base in the game, including leaving the bases loaded in fourth inning. 

Sophomore Elijah Borjas (Denver, Colo./Lakewood) and senior centerfielder Noah Hennings (Draper, Utah/Southern Idaho) each recorded two hits in Saturday's game. Six other Pack players had a hit on the day. 

Trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth, sophomore leftfielder Elijah Borjas (Denver, Colo./Lakewood) reached on a one-out single up the middle and then Ingalls stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter and drove the first pitch he saw from Luke Short over the wall in left center to tie the game at 2-all. The homer by Ingalls was the first of the season for the Pack. 

With the scored tied at 2-all heading to the ninth, the Hilltoppers would get those two runs back thanks to a 2-run homer over the wall in left field off the bat of Cullen Ainsworth off of sophomore Frank Wierman (Surprise, Ariz./Shadow Creek), who was the second pitcher of the game for CSU Pueblo. Ainsworth's homer gave SEU a 4-2 lead and made a winner out of Short (2-0), who replaced SEU's starter, Jack Granack, in the fifth inning. 

In the bottom of the ninth, sophomore third baseman Kysen Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) led off with a single to left off of SEU's closer, Jack Engelmann. But, Howard would be stranded at first as Engelmann struck out the next three Pack hitters in order to record his second save of the season. 

The Hilltoppers got on the scoreboard in the top of the second inning as Connor Cox drilled a 3-2 pitch from junior Tyler Curtis (Las Vegas, Nev./Southern Idaho) over the left field wall to give SEU a 1-0 lead. 

Curtis (0-1) pitched six strong innings for the Pack as he allowed three hits and two runs, while striking out three and walking none in his first start on the mound since high school. Wierman tossed two-plus innings as he allowed three hits and two runs, while walking one and fanning none. 

CSU Pueblo put two runners on base in the bottom of the second, thanks to double down the left field line by Hennings and a one-out walk issued to redshirt senior shortstop Trey Vasquez (Greeley, Colo./Dodge City CC), but Howard lined out to second for a double play to end the inning. 

SEU added another run in the top of the fourth on a 2-out homer over the wall in right center off the bat of Davis Drewek to push out to a 2-0 lead. The homer was Drewek's third of the season and second of the series.

The Pack would load the bases in the bottom of the fourth as Borjas and Vasquez each reached on singles and Howard was hit by a pitch with two outs, but Granack got out of the jam by striking out sophomore rightfielder Tyson Pallatt (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) to end the threat.

SEU would replace Granack in the bottom of the fifth with Luke Short and is all Short was retire the first eight hitters he faced, untii running into trouble in the bottom of the seventh as Short walked pinch hitter Joseph Quintana (Golden, Colo./Erskine College) with two outs and then allowed a single to left by Miller, before retiring senior first baseman Reggie Williams (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County) on a deep fly ball to warning track in right.