GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo baseball squad split Saturday's doubleheader on the road against No. 11 Colorado Mesa University.
With the 1-1 Saturday outing, CSU Pueblo trails 2-1 in the series to the Mavericks. The Pack are now 19-16 overall and 8-11 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. The Mavericks are now 23-10 overall and 16-3 RMAC play.
Saturday's games were played in a snowstorm, however both games were low scoring for RMAC standards. CSU Pueblo won the first match-up in dramatic comeback fashion 8-7. The Pack scored seven runs in the seventh inning to take the lead and win the game. Colorado Mesa won game two 5-3.
GAME ONE
The Mavericks dominated most of game one, despite taking the loss. Senior pitcher
Tyler Curtis (Las Vegas, Nev./Southern Idaho) picked up the complete game win to improve to 6-2 on the season, pitching seven strong innings, allowing six runs in the favorable hitting conditions.
The Mavericks took a quick 5-0 lead through four innings. CSU Pueblo got their first run of the game, when junior third-baseman
Kysen Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) singled in junior catcher
Brady Ingalls (Parker, Colo./Ponderosa) to cut the lead 5-1.
The Mavericks scored a run in the fifth and six innings to extend the lead to 7-1. The seventh inning is where the Pack made their run.
Freshman
Logan Kelly (San Juan Capistranao, Calif./Capistrano Valley Christian) started the rally with an RBI single through the left side to score Ingalls. Sophomore
Cody Macias (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills) then proceeded to single in a run and the score was now 7-3.
Trailing by four runs and rallying, senior
Christian Castaneda (El Paso, Texas/Otero JC) walked to score another run to make it 7-4. Junior
Brad Stone (Las Vegas, Nev./Southern Nevada) doubled to knock in a couple of runs and just like that the Pack were threatening to take the lead.
Down 7-6, junior
Elijah Borjas (Denver, Colo./Lakewood) hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 7 apiece. Freshman
Jason Arriola (Riverside, Calif/Norco) knocked in the go ahead run with a single to center to score Stone and take the lead 8-7.
Curtis came out for the bottom of the seventh and secured the comeback victory.
GAME TWO
CSU Pueblo took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Arriola homered to right. The Mavericks got a run back on a bases loaded walk to cut the lead to 2-1.
In the third inning, Castaneda hit a solo homerun to left to put the Pack up 3-1, however the Mavericks tied the game 3-3 when Jonathon Gonzalez singled in two runs.
Mesa continued their comeback Max Valdez hit the go-ahead RBI single in the fifth inning to score a run. The Mavericks got an insurance run in the sixth with an RBI single to put Colorado Mesa up 5-3.
The Pack were unable to mount another comeback and fell 5-3 in game two.
UP NEXT FOR THE PACK
Both teams conclude the series tomorrow for game four, with first pitch starting at noon from Grand Junction. The game can be streamed on the RMAC Network.
