PUEBLO, Colo. - The No. 16 nationally-ranked Colorado State University Pueblo baseball team opened Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play here Saturday afternoon with a dramatic 11th-inning walk-off win thanks to a three-run homer by senior third baseman Cole Knightley (Solvang, Calif./Santa Ynez) to give the ThunderWolves a 6-3 victory over UCCS at Rawlings Field. 

With the win, the Pack improves to 12-5 overall and 1-0 in the RMAC, while UCCS falls to 3-14 overall and 0-1 in the league. In addition, the Pack is now 3-0 this season against the Mountain Lions.

The two teams continue the four-game series with a doubleheader on Sunday at 12 p.m. and concludes the series with a single game on Monday at 12 p.m.

CSU Pueblo, who entered the game averaging 10.9 runs per game, was held six runs, but scored only three runs through the first nine innings and also added 10 hits, but had only six hits through the first eight innings, before recording two hits each in the ninth and 11th innings. In fact, junior first baseman Brad Stone's (Las Vegas, Nev./Southern Nevada) lead-off single in the ninth was the first hit for the Pack since junior designated hitter Wyatt Reginato (Cottonwood, Calif./Folsom Lake) recorded a single in the fifth inning.

Knightley's homer, which was his second of the season and 36th of the year for the Pack, came on the first pitch he saw from Matthew Gonzales (0-1) as he smacked the ball over the left field wall with two outs. Prior to Knighley's homer, senior leftfielder Christian Castaneda (El Paso, Texas/Otero JC) drew a one-out, full-count walk and after Stone popped up to left field, freshman centerfielder Logan Kelly (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Capistrano Valley Christian) reached on a single to put runners on first and second to set up Knightley's heroics. Knightly entered the game in the 10th as a defensive replacement for junior third baseman Kysen Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest). 

Howard and Reginato each had two hits in the game, while Castaneda scored two runs as he was on base three times thanks to a single in the first inning and two walks. 

The Pack got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first as they plated three runs on three hits thanks to a sacrifice fly by Stone, an RBI single to right by junior rightfielder Elijah Borjas (Denver, Colo./Lakewood) and an RBI double by Howard that was hit down the left field line. Those would be the only runs in the game for the Pack until the 11th inning.

UCCS answered back in the top of the second thanks to back-to-back one-out doubles by Alec Gomez and Kasey Campbell and an RBI single by Vander Hodges off senior hurler Tyler Curtis (Las Vegas, Nev./Southern Idaho) to pull the Mountain Lions within 3-2.

The Mountain Lions tied the game with an RBI single to left from Kit Wigington to tie the game at 3-all. 

UCCS had a chance to take the lead in the top of the fourth as they put their first two runners on base thanks to back-to-back singles and after a bunt moved the runners up a base for the first out, Curtis got out of the jam as Campbell was tagged out at third base on a failed squeeze play and Pastorello then struck out to end the inning. 

In the top of the ninth, UCCS put two runners on base thanks to a pop up single in the infield and an error by second baseman Quintana, but Curtis got out the inning without allowing any of those runs to score as he got Pastorello to pop out to right center to end the inning. 

Curtis (4-0) tossed nine innings and allowed 10 hits and three runs, all earned, while striking out a season-high eight and walking none in his 118-pitch outing. Curtis has now tossed 34 innings this season and has recorded 30 strikeouts and walked just three. 

The Pack had a chance in the bottom of the ninth to win the game as they recorded two hits in the inning, but Gonzales, who relieved Garrett Shriver earlier in the inning, got out of a jam by inducing senior pinch hitter Edmund King (Imperial Beach, Calif./Southwestern) to hit into a double play to force extra innings. The Pack hit into three double plays on the day. 

Freshman Jack Novak (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge) relieved Curtis on the mound in the 10th and is all he did was strike out the side in the 10th and retired the Mountain Lions in order in the top of the 11th. Novak (1-0) earned the win as he retired all six batters he faced and had three strikeouts. Novak has now recorded 14 strikeouts in 11 innings of work this season.

Campbell and Tyler Richardson each had two hits for UCCS as they finished with 10 hits for the game. 

Gonzales (0-1) took the loss for UCCS as he tossed 2.2 innings and allowed three hits and three runs, while walking one and striking out none. Marko Siplia started the Mountain Lions and he pitched five innings and allowed six hits and three runs, while walking one and striking out seven and Shriver tossed three-plus innings and allowed just one hit, while striking out four and walking one. 

The Pack left four runners on base, while UCCS stranded seven runners and the Pack had the lone error in the game.