PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo Baseball return home to Rawlings Field for the first time in nearly three weeks this coming weekend as the ThunderWolves host an important four-game Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference against MSU Denver.
The two teams open the Easter weekend four-game series with a single game on Thursday, March 28 at 3 p.m., before playing a doubleheader on Friday, March 29 beginning at 1 p.m. and then concludes the series with a single game at 12 p.m. on Saturday, March 30.
CSU Pueblo comes into the weekend sitting fifth place in the RMAC standings with a 6-6 record as the Pack are one game in front this weekend's opponent, MSU Denver, who is 5-7 in league play and are one game behind fourth place Mines, who is 7-5, but took three out of four games against the Pack last weekend in Golden, Colo.
Along with being 6-6 in RMAC play, the Pack are sporting a 17-11 overall record, but they have lost three straight games and five of their last eight games overall since opening the season winning 14 of their first 20 games and ranked as high as 15th nationally in the NCBWA Division II poll.
The Pack and MSU Denver have 100 times previously on the diamond in a series that began in 2008. The Pack holds a 54-46 all-time edge in the series, but the Pack have lost eight straight games in the series, including suffering a 16-15 loss to the Roadrunners in an elimination game last season in the RMAC Tournament. The Pack holds a 44-31 record against the Roadrunners in RMAC games and is 36-15 at home in the series, including losing two straight games to MSU Denver at home since earning a 7-2 win on April 1, 2022.
Following this weekend's four-game RMAC series at home with MSU Denver, the Pack will return to road for a four-game series next weekend (April 5-7) in Grand Junction, Colo., against 23rd-ranked Colorado Mesa, who has won 11 straight games and sits atop the league standings with an 11-1 record.
ABOUT CSU PUEBLO
The Pack enters this weekend's action with MSU Denver sporting a 17-11 overall record and a 6-6 in the RMAC after losing three of four games last weekend at Mines. Since opening league play by winning three of four games at home against UCCS, the Pack have split and lost their last two RMAC series' as they split four games at New Mexico Highlands two weeks ago and then lost three of four last weekend at Mines.
Coming into play this weekend, the Pack, who are ranked ninth in this week's latest NCBWA South Central Regional rankings, remain one of the top offensive teams in Division II baseball as they are second in the RMAC and 13th in hitting with a .334 batting average and are second in the league and 16th nationally in scoring as they are averaging 9.2 runs per game and have scored double digit runs in 10 games and are sixth nationally in Division II in slugging percentage at .565. The Pack led the league in hits with 315 and are second in the league in doubles (76), home runs (43), walks (145) and leads the league in on-base percentage at .444.
Leading the way offensively for the Pack is senior leftfielder
Christian Castaneda (El Paso, Texas/Otero JC) is third in the league in hitting with a .406 batting average. He leads the league in runs scored (34), home runs (11), RBI (42) and is second in slugging percentage (.861) and hits (41). His 11 home runs and 42 RBI each rank in the Top 10 nationally in Division II, while his 24 career home runs are 10th on the school's all-time charts.
In addition to Castaneda, junior rightfielder
Elijah Borjas (Denver, Colo./Lakewood) is seventh in the league in hitting with a .386 batting average and has recorded 39 hits, scored 23 runs, hit five doubles, eight home runs and has had 35 RBI, which is fourth-most in the league. His .693 slugging percentage is seventh in the league and leads the team in multi-hit games with 13 and is second in multiple RBI games with 10.
Seven Pack players have recorded at least 20 hits, including four players with 30 or more hits and five have scored 20 or more runs, including three with 30 or more runs scored.
Junior first baseman
Brad Stone (Las Vegas, Nev./Southern Nevada) is tied with Castaneda for the team lead in runs scored with 34, while junior second baseman
Kade Snodgrass (Derby, Kan./Neosho County CC) is hitting .364 and has recorded 36 hits, scored 30 runs, has hit six home runs, and has tallied 29 RBI. Snodgrass also leads the Pack in stolen bases with eight as he is 8-for-10 on the season in stolen bases.
Eight of the nine regulars in the Pack starting line-up are hitting over .300 on the season as along with Castaneda, Borjas and Snodgrass, sophomore infielder
Joseph Quintana (Golden, Colo./Erskine) is hitting .362, while sophomore centerfielder
Jeremiah Sanchez (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West) is hitting .358 and sophomore catcher
Cody Macias (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills) is hitting .355. Stone is hitting .330 and junior shortstop
Rob Mansour (La Verne, Calif./Cuesta College) is hitting .329.
On the mound, the Pack have a team earned run average of 7.05, which is third-best in the RMAC. The Pack pitchers have recorded 226 strikeouts in 229.2 innings of work and opposing hitters are hitting .307 on the season. The 1.97 strikeout-to-walk ratio is third-best in the RMAC, while its 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings is also third-best in the league.
Headlining the Pack pitching staff is senior
Tyler Curtis (Las Vegas, Nev./Southern Idaho). Curtis is tied for the league-lead in wins with 5 as he is 5-1 on the season with a 3.86 ERA. His ERA is fourth best in the league, while his 40 strikeouts are fourth-best in the RMAC. In 44.1 innings of work, Curtis has walked just four and his 10.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio is second-best in the league and fourth nationally in Division II.
The Pack's No. 2 starter this season is junior
Travis Farrell (Las Vegas, Nev./Otero JC) as he is 3-1 with a 4.20 ERA and in 30 innings of work, he has recorded 37 strikeouts and has walked 13.
Sophomore
Luke Ruby (Fort Collins, Colo./Resurrection) is another of the team's starters as he is 1-1 with a 4.60 ERA and in 15.2 innings of work, he has struck out 15 and has walked four.
The top arms out of the bullpen for the Pack this season have been senior
Nick Perry (Denton, Texas/Richland JC), junior
Jacob Petersheim (Broadway, Va./Broadway) and senior
Dylan Weaver (Fruita, Colo./Highland CC). Those three have combined for 29 appearances with Perry and Petersheim leading the way with 11, while Weaver has made seven appearances. Perry is 1-2 with three saves and has struck out 17 in 16.1 innings, while Petersheim is 1-2 with a save and has had 13 strikeouts in 15.1 innings and Weaver is 0-0 on the season and has tossed six innings.
The Pack comes into the weekend with a .956 fielding percentage as they have committed 44 errors in 28 games and have turned 19 double plays, which are fourth-most in the RMAC. The Pack have struggled with leaving runners on base as they have stranded 233 runners in 28 games and are averaging 8.3 runners left on base per game on the season.
Leading the Pack once again this season is
Bobby Applegate, who is in his third season as the program's head coach. Applegate, who was the Colorado Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year in 1995 playing for at the time University of Southern Colorado, has compiled a 66-68 overall record at his alma mater and is 40-36 in RMAC games.
SCOUTING MSU DENVER
MSU Denver comes into this weekend's play sporting a 14-16 overall record and a 5-7 mark in the RMAC. The Roadrunners, though, have lost three of its last four games overall with the lone win being a 9-8 victory in its series finale last weekend at home against Regis. The Roadrunners have lost two of its three series in league play as they opened RMAC action with a 1-3 record against Colorado Mesa and then they went 3-1 against UCCS and was 1-3 last weekend against Regis. Since that 12-0 win in its league opener against Colorado Mesa, MSU Denver has posted a 4-7 record.
The Roadrunners are hitting .307 as a team and have scored 249 runs and are fourth in the league in scoring as they are averaging 8.3 runs per game. In addition, the Roadrunners lead the league in doubles with 83, which is second-best in Division II and have also hit 31 home runs, seven triples and leads the league in walks with 148.
Leading the way offensively for MSU Denver is junior outfielder Andre Chacon, who is hitting .391 with 18 hits, four doubles, 13 RBI and has a .543 slugging percentage and a 1.043 OPA on the year.
In addition to Chacon, junior infielder Jesse Velders is hitting .365 with 23 hits, 19 runs, seven doubles and has a .556 slugging percentage, while senior infielder/catcher Zach Schuler is hitting .347 as he has had 34 hits, 25 runs, 10 doubles, six home runs and has had 29 RBI and a .633 slugging percentage.
Junior outfielder Andrew Biddle leads the league in doubles with 12 and is sixth in hits per game as he averages 1.40 hits per game and has scored 26 runs.
As a team, MSU Denver has recorded 121 extra base hits as along with its league-leading 83 doubles, the Roadrunners have hit seven triples and 31 home runs. They are also 42-for-49 on stolen bases and have struck out 204 times in 983 at-bats and have walked a league-leading 148 times.
Seven MSU Denver players have recorded 20 or more hits with four players have 30 or more hits. In addition, six players have scored 20 or more runs and three have hit 10 or more doubles.
The MSU Denver pitching staff comes into the weekend with a team ERA of 8.26, which is sixth best in the RMAC. The Roadrunner pitchers have recorded 223 strikeouts in 243 innings of work and have walked just 116. The team's 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings is fifth-best in the RMAC, while its 1.87 WHIP is fifth-best in the RMAC.
Headlining the MSU Denver pitching staff is senior Jack Slominski, who is 3-3 with a 4.98 ERA. He has made eight starts and has tossed one complete game and one shutout and in 47 innings of work, he has recorded 43 strikeouts and has walked just three. He is second in the league in strikeouts with 43 and his 10.75 strikeout -to-walk ratio is tops in the league and third best in Division II.
In addition to Slominski, junior Brad Helton is 2-3 with a 5.63 ERA in eight starts and in 38.1 innings of work, he has struck out 41 and has walked 13, while junior Dylan Webber is 3-2 with a 6.53 ERA. He has recorded 22 strikeouts and has walked nine in 30.1 innings of work.
In the bullpen, senior Brayden Brooks has made nine appearances, including one start and in 13.1 innings, he has struck out 12 and has walked four. Junior Zane Covey and senior Brady McLean have each made 11 appearances each out of the bullpen for the Roadrunners.
The Roadrunners are coached by Ryan Strain, who is in his seventh season at MSU Denver as the program's head coach. He has compiled a 182-125 overall record and is 117-69 in RMAC games at the Roadrunners coach. Strain has led the Roadrunners to back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances and three straight 30-plus win seasons.
