DENVER, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo baseball dropped both ends of key Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference doubleheader here Saturday to MSU Denver at the Assembly Athletic Complex.
 
The Pack opened the doubleheader with a 4-3 loss to the Roadrunners and then rallied from a 6-1 deficit to take an 8-6 lead in the fifth inning of the nightcap, before MSU Denver closed the nightcap by scoring five straight runs to pull out an 11-8 win.
 
With the two losses, the Pack fall to 12-17 overall and move into a second-place tie in the RMAC standings with MSU Denver with a 9-5 record, while MSU Denver improves to 24-8 overall and 9-5 in the league.
 
The two teams will conclude the four-game weekend series with another doubleheader on Sunday, April 2 beginning at 12 p.m. Sunday's series finale became a doubleheader after Friday's series opener was postponed due to high winds in the Denver area.
 
GAME 1 | MSU Denver 4, CSU Pueblo 3
Saturday's opener was mostly a pitcher's duel between CSU Pueblo junior Zach Pratt (Belton, Mo./Metropolitan CC) and MSU Denver's Reichle Arcilise.
 
Those two combined to toss 15 innings and allow 10 hits, four runs, while walking one and striking out 14. Pratt (2-2) tossed seven of those 15 innings and allowed six hits and three runs, while walking one and recording a career-high eight strikeouts but got just one run of support from his offense, while Arcilise (4-1) tossed eight innings and allowed four hits and one run, while striking out six and walking none.
 
The Pack were outhit 8-7 in the opener with senior first baseman Reggie Williams (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County) went 2-for-4 with a run scored to extend his hit streak to 24 consecutive games.
 
Cody Schultz and Tanner Garner each had two hits in the win for the Roadrunners.
 
MSU Denver got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second on a solo home run off the bat of Cam Yuran to give the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead.
 
The Roadrunners pushed its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jake Williams. Pratt, though, would leave the bases loaded to end the inning.
 
CSU Pueblo would get one of those runs back in the top of the seventh thanks to a 2-out, solo home run by sophomore third baseman Kysen Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest). The homer by Howard was his second of the season.
 
The Roadrunners would add an insurance run off of Pratt in the bottom of the seventh on a 2-out solo home run off the bat of Schultz, who scored two of MSU Denver's runs in the opener.
 
CSU Pueblo, though, would mount a rally in the top of the ninth as they sent seven hitters to the plate and scored two runs on three hits and a Roadrunner error. In the inning, Williams led off with a single off of MSU Denver reliever Gabe Austin and moved to third on a double by senior centerfielder Noah Hennings (Draper, Utah/Southern Idaho) and would score the second run of the game on a sacrifice fly by junior catcher Brady Prewitt (Raytown, Mo./Iowa Western CC). Howard would eventually drive home the Pack's third run of the game on an RBI groundout. But that would be all the scoring the Pack would muster as Eric Cox came in to slam the door as he struck out freshman rightfielder Jeremiah Sanchez (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West) to end the save and earn his seventh save of the season.
 
MSU Denver's defense committed three errors and they left seven runners on base, while the Pack had an error and left four runners on base. Two of MSU Denver's errors came on catcher's interferences from Colin Stone with redshirt senior shortstop Trey Vasquez (Greeley, Colo./Dodge City CC) drawing both of those interference plays from Stone.
 
GAME 2 | MSU Denver 11, CSU Pueblo 8 (7 inns.)
Meanwhile, in the nightcap, the Pack offense outhit the Roadrunners, 13-12 as Williams, Hennings and Prewitt went a combined six-for-11 at the plate with three runs scored and Hennings recording four RBI.  All three of those players finished with two hits and Sanchez also had two hits for the Pack.
 
The Pack jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first of the nightcap thanks to a double by Williams, a single by Hennings, a ground out and scored their run on a wild pitch by MSU Denver starting hurler Andrew Hayes.
 
MSU Denver, though, would strike for two runs in the bottom of the first off junior hurler Tyler Curtis (Las Vegas, Nev./Southern Idaho) to take a 2-1 lead. The runs were scored on RBIs double by Ross Smith and Yuan.
 
The Roadrunners pushed its lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the second on a lead-off homer by Stone.
 
MSU Denver pushed its lead to 6-1 in the bottom of fourth as they used four hits and plated three runs with two of those runs coming home on a 2-run homer by Gavin Sehmeh off Curtis.
 
Trailing 6-1 heading into the top of the fifth inning, the Pack rallied to score seven runs on 10 hits to take an 8-6 lead. The first run came home on an RBI single by sophomore second baseman Kolton Miller (Parker, Colo./Ponderosa) and then scored four runs on a grand slam by Hennings. Hennings' slam was his third homer of the season. The other two runs came home on an RBI double by Howard and Vasquez added a run on his RBI single.
 
MSU Denver would answer right back in the bottom of the fifth against sophomore reliever Travis Farrell (Las Vegas, Nev./Otero JC), who replaced Curtis to open the frame. In the inning, Farrell allowed two hits and three runs and recorded a wild pitch that led to run.
 
The Roadrunners added two more runs in the sixth inning off graduate student pitcher Ruben Portillo (Thornton, Colo./Eastern Arizona CC), who was the third pitcher of the game for the Pack. The big hit in the inning was a two-out, 2-run homer by Zach Paschke.
 
The Pack would open the top of the seventh with a single by Prewitt, but he would be erased on a double play hit by junior designated hitter Christian Casteneda (El Paso, Texas/Otero JC) and then Brady McLean would force Howard to foul out to Williams at first to end the game and preserve his first save of the season.
 
Smith went 3-for-3 at the plate in the nightcap, while Schultz, Stone, Paschke and Schmeh each had two hits in the win.
 
Curtis tossed four innings and allowed nine hits and six runs (four earned), while striking out two and walking none. Farrell (1-1) took the loss as he pitched 0.2 innings and allowed two hits and three runs, while walking three and fanning none.
 
Gabe Austin (2-0) earned the win in relief for MSU Denver as he tossed 0.2 innings and allowed four hits and two runs, while striking out one and walking none.
 
The Pack left three runners on base and MSU Denver stranded seven in the nightcap.