PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo baseball team will step out of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play for the final time this season as the ThunderWolves travel to Greeley, Colo., for a 2 p.m. game on Wednesday, April 26 against NCAA Division I foe University of Northern Colorado at Jackson Field.
Wednesday's game will mark the 18th and final non-conference game this season for the Pack and its third contest on the year against an NCAA Division I foe as the Pack split two games on April 11-12 at the University of New Mexico. Overall this season, the Pack are just 4-13 in non-conference games.
The game with UNC on Wednesday will mark the 64th all-time meeting between the two schools since the series began in 1969. UNC holds a commanding 45-18 all-time lead in the series, including collecting a 17-7 win in Greeley in the most recent meeting on April 19, 2019. Prior to that win, the Pack had won three straight games in the series.
CSU Pueblo comes into Wednesday's mid-week match-up with UNC sporting an 18-27 overall record and the Pack have won six of its last nine games overall with the losses coming at Colorado Christian (12-7) on April 16 and at Adams State in back-to-games of a doubleheader last Saturday – 9-5 and 3-2 in 13 innings. The Pack are 14-14 in the RMAC and is currently fourth in the RMAC standings with two weekends left in the regular season.
The Pack are off this coming weekend and will conclude the regular season at home next weekend (May 4-6) with a four-game series against Regis at Rawlings Field. The Regis series will begin with the annual Pack the Park Game on May 4 at 7 p.m., before playing a doubleheader on May 5 starting at 2 p.m. and then concluding the series with a 1 p.m. Senior Day game on May 6.
ABOUT CSU PUEBLO
The Pack comes into Wednesday's non-conference finale with the Bears having won two of its last three non-conference games as they split a two-game mid-week series at New Mexico on April 11-12 and collected a 26-3 win at UCCS in a non-conference contest on March 21.
Coming into Wednesday's game, the Pack are hitting .333 as a team (512-for-1,537) with 350 runs scored, 116 doubles, 19 triples and 40 home runs. The Pack are averaging 7.8 runs per game on the year. The team also has a .512 slugging percentage and a .414 on-base percentage, which are fourth and fifth respectively in the RMAC.
Senior first baseman
Reggie Williams (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County) continues to be one of the top hitters in the RMAC as he enters this week's action sporting a .440 batting average, which is fourth-best in the RMAC and 16th in NCAA Division II. Williams leads the team in runs scored (52), hits (74), doubles (19), walks (26) and on-base percentage (.534) and is second in slugging percentage (.583), third in steals with nine and fifth in RBI with 35.
In addition to Williams, who has had a hit in 40 of 45 games and has been on base in 41 of 45 games this season, junior leftfielder
Christian Casteneda (El Paso, Texas/Otero JC) is hitting .393 and leads the team in home runs with nine and is second in RBI with 40 and has had 59 hits, scored 36 runs, hit 15 doubles, one triple and leads in slugging percentage at .667.
Three other ThunderWolves have hit five or more home runs this season as along with Casteneda, junior catcher
Brady Prewitt (Raytown, Mo./Iowa Western CC) and sophomore third baseman
Kysen Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) have each hit six home runs, while sophomore rightfielder
Elijah Borjas (Denver, Colo./Lakewood) has had five home runs. Prewitt leads the team in RBI with 55 and has hit 14 doubles and has a .567 slugging percentage.
Seven Pack players have recorded 40 or more hits on the season, while six have scored 20 or more runs and five have hit 10 or more doubles on the year.
The Pack have recorded a total of 175 extra base hits, including leading the RMAC and sitting ninth nationally in Division II in triples and is second in the league and fourth nationally in doubles with 118. The Pack are averaging nearly three doubles per game. In last weekend's four game RMAC series at Adams State, the Pack hit 14 doubles, one triple and eight home runs, including tying an NCAA Division II single game mark with two grand slams in the same inning in the fifth inning of Friday's series opener.
On the mound, the Pack have a team ERA of 6.98, which is fourth-best in the RMAC. The Pack's pitchers have recorded 304 strikeouts and have walked 158 in 367.1 innings of work. Opposing hitters are batting .331 on the season against Pack pitching. The team's 1.82 WHIP is fifth-best in the RMAC, while their 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings are fourth-best in the league.
Junior
Tyler Curtis (Las Vegas, Nev./Southern Idaho) has been the team's top pitcher this season as he is 4-2 with a team-best 4.52 ERA. In a team-best 67.2 innings of work, he has tossed a league-best three complete games and has struck out 46 and walked 10. His 4.60 strikeout-to-walk ratio is tops in the league. In addition to Curtis, junior
Zach Pratt (Belton, Mo./Metropolitan CC) has a team-best 65 strikeouts, which is second-best in the RMAC. He is 4-2 with a 5.03 ERA and is second in innings pitched with 52.2 and along with his 65 strikeouts, he has walked 22 and his 1.34 WHIP is third-best in the RMAC.
Along with Curtis and Pratt, the team's other primary starter this season has been junior
Nick Perry (Denton, Texas/Richland JC), who is 2-5 with a 6.53 ERA in 10 appearances and eight starts. Perry has pitched 41.1 innings and has recorded 46 strikeouts and has walked 20.
The top arms out of the bullpen so far this season for the Pack has redshirt junior
Edwing Corrales (Delicias, Mexico/Otero JC), sophomore
Travis Farrell (Las Vegas, Nev./Otero JC) and junior
Dylan Weaver (Fruita, Colo./Highland CC). Those three pitchers have combined to make 39 appearances with Weaver leading the way with 15 appearances, while Corrales and Farrell have each made 12 appearances. Corrales is 1-2 with a 5.46 ERA and has tossed 28 innings and has struck out 19 and walked 18, while Farrell is 1-1 with a 5.67 ERA and has tossed 27 innings and has struck out 10 and walked 15 and Weaver is 3-4 with a 5.87 ERA and has tossed 23 innings and has struck out 22 and walked 14. Corrales and Farrell have each recorded a save on the year.
Graduate student pitcher
Ruben Portillo (Thornton, Colo./Eastern Arizona CC) and sophomore
Jacob Petersheim (Broadway, Va./Broadway) have each recorded two saves apiece on the year.
CSU Pueblo is one of the top defensive teams in the league as their .965 fielding percentage is fourth-best in the RMAC as they have committed 55 errors in 45 games and have turned 33 doubles plays, which is second-best in the league. The Pack have struggled leaving runners on base they have stranded 351 runners in 45 games and are averaging 7.8 runners left on base per game this season.
SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO
The Bears, who are members of the Summit League, comes into Wednesday's game sporting a 7-27 overall record and are 5-10 in conference play. UNC has won two of its last three games last weekend at Western Illinois. Prior to the WIU series, the Bears had lost five consecutive games, including a 9-8 loss on April 11 at Colorado School of Mines. UNC is scheduled to play a game on Tuesday at Mines, before hosting the Pack on Wednesday.
As a team, UNC is hitting .260 (293-for-1,126) as they have scored 180 runs, hit 54 doubles, 12 triples and 21 home runs and have an on-base percentage of .349 and a slugging percentage of .385. The Bears are averaging 8.6 runs per game and are allowing 12.9 runs per game.
Leading the way offensively for the Bears is sophomore outfielder Jake King as he is hitting .320 and leads the team in hits (39) and is third in runs scored (21) and second in doubles (8). He has a .426 slugging percentage and has drawn 17 walks and is 3-for-4 on stolen bases.
In addition to King, junior first baseman Caden Wagner is hitting .297 and has scored 20 runs, hit 35 hits, six doubles, five home runs and a team-best 29 RBI and a .492 slugging percentage, while senior outfielder Hayden Heinze is hitting .283 and has had 34 hits, scored 22 runs, hit nine doubles and is 5-for-8 on stolen bases.
On the season, UNC has had four players record 30 hits and four players have scored 20 runs on the year.
The Bears have recorded 87 extra base hits on the year as they have hit 54 doubles, 12 triples and 21 home runs and are averaging 1.6 doubles per game.
On the mound this season, UNC has recorded a 10.78 ERA and have tossed 268.0 innings and has recorded 220 strikeouts and walked 205. Opposing hitters are hitting .370 against the Bears this season.
Headlining the Bears pitching staff is freshman Dylan Smith, who is 3-6 with a 6.66 ERA. He has made 11 appearances and nine starts and has tossed one complete game and one shutout on the year. In a team-leading 51.1 innings, Smith has struck out 28 and walked 11. In addition to Smith, senior left-hander Trey Cruz is 0-5 with a 10.12 ERA and has made 11 appearances and nine starts. In 34.2 innings of work, he has 37 strikeouts and 28 walks, while sophomore Zach Herrick is 0-4 with an 8.79 ERA. In 28.2 innings, he has recorded 13 strikeouts and walked eight in 11 appearances and six starts.
The top arm out of the bullpen for the Bears has been sophomore Kevin Sharp as he is 1-0 with a 5.09 ERA. In 23 innings, he has struck out 13 and walked nine in 14 appearances. Junior Murphy Gienger is 0-3 with a 6.03 ERA in 14 appearances and one start. In 37.1 innings of work, he had struck out 51 and walked 25. Both Sharp and Gienger has each recorded a save this season.
UNC is coached by Mike Anderson and is in his first season as the head coach at his alma mater after spending the past three years as the Colorado Scouting Director for Prep Baseball Report (PBR). Anderson, who played at UNC from 1983-86 and was drafted in the eighth round of the 1986 MLB Draft by the then California Angels, spent nine seasons (2003-2012) as the head coach at Nebraska and compiled a 337-196-2 record with the Huskers and helped lead the Big Red to five NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2005 Division II Men's College World Series.
