GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo achieved something that hasn't been done since 2022 here Sunday afternoon as the ThunderWolves earned a 12-2 win over 11th-ranked Colorado Mesa in their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference series finale at The Diamond and that win prevented the Mavericks from winning an RMAC series for the first time since the 2022 season at Colorado Christian.
 
Prior to Sunday's loss to the ThunderWolves to help the Pack split this weekend's four-game series, Colorado Mesa had won 14 straight series in league play since that 3-1 series defeat to Colorado Christian on April 29-May 1, 2022. In addition, it was also the first time since 2019 that the Pack won at least two games in a season series against Colorado Mesa as the Pack went 2-2 against the Mavericks in 2019. CMU had swept the season series against the Pack since 2019 as they went 4-0 in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The teams did not play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
With the win, the Pack improved to 20-16 overall and 9-11 in the RMAC, while Colorado Mesa falls to 23-11 overall and 16-4 in the RMAC. Despite splitting the four-game series this weekend, the Pack remain in sixth place in the RMAC standings with three league series' remaining in the regular season.
 
The Pack, who outhit the Mavs in the series, 42-36, collected 11 hits and scored 12 runs in Sunday's series finale. After losing the opener of the series on Friday night, 16-12, the Pack outscored the Mavericks, 23-14. Mesa's defense also committed three errors in Sunday's game that led to three unearned runs. Ten of the Pack's 35 runs in the series were unearned thanks to 11 errors committed by CMU.
 
Junior second baseman Kade Snodgrass (Derby, Kan./Neosho County CC) paced the Pack offense with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate with two runs scored, a home run and an RBI. In addition to Snodgrass, senior leftfielder Christian Castaneda (El Paso, Texas/Otero JC) went 2-for-4 with three runs scored, a home run and 4 RBI. For the series, Castaneda hit .471 and recorded a 1.761 OPS and a 1.235 slugging percentage as he had eight hits, scored seven runs, hit one double, four home runs and 9 RBI.
 
Two other Pack players – junior first baseman Brad Stone (Las Vegas, Nev./Southern Nevada) and junior shortstop Rob Mansour (La Verne, Calif./Cuesta College), each had two hits and combined for two runs and 3 RBI. Mansour hit .500 in the weekend series against CMU.
 
The Pack got the scoring started in Sunday's finale in the top of the second inning as they plated two runs on a hit and an error. Castaneda opened the frame by getting hit by a pitch, stole second and moved to third on an error by Declan Wiesner  before scoring on a sacrifice fly to center by junior rightfielder Elijah Borjas (Denver, Colo./Lakewood) to give the Pack a 1-0 lead. The next hitter, Snodgrass, followed with a solo home run over the wall in left center.
 
CMU got one of those runs back in the bottom of the third on an RBI single up the middle by Jonathon Gonzalez off sophomore Luke Ruby (Fort Collins, Colo./Resurrection), who made his fourth start of the season for the Pack.
 
The Pack was able to blow the game open in the top of the fifth as they sent nine hitters to the plate and scored six runs on three hits to push out to an 8-1 lead. The scoring in the inning got started on a 2-run single by Mansour, before the Pack added its third run of the inning after Mansour scored when CMU hurler Tristan Wolf was called for a balk with the bases loaded and Castaneda followed with a three-run homer over the wall in right. The homer was Castaneda's RMAC-tying 15th of the season, and those 15 homers are sixth on the school's single-season chart.
 
Holding an 8-1 lead going into the ninth, the Pack offense added four insurance runs to push its lead to 12-1. In the inning, Castaneda got the scoring started on his RBI double to left center and on the play, the Pack added a second run on an error by Gonzalez at second base. Later in the inning, junior catcher Brady Ingalls (Parker, Colo./Ponderosa) added a 2-run single through the left side.
 
The Mavericks would add a second run in the bottom of the ninth on a two-out pinch-hit RBI double down the right field line by Paul Schoenfeld off junior reliever Jacob Petersheim (Broadway, Va./Broadway). Petersheim relieved Ruby with one-out in the sixth and tossed the final 3.2 innings and allowed three hits and one run, while striking out three and walking none.
 
Ruby (2-2) picked up the win as he tossed 5.1 innings and allowed three hits and one run, while walking three and striking out five.
 
CMU finished the game with six hits, including two hits from Caleb Thomason.
 
Wolf (1-1), who was one of four pitchers used in the game by the Mavericks, earned the loss on the mound for CMU as he tossed five innings and allowed four hits and eight runs, all earned, while walking two and striking out six.
 
The Pack left seven runners on base and committed three errors, while CMU stranded nine runners on base and turned a double play in the loss.
 
CSU Pueblo will look to continue its momentum next weekend (April 12-14) as they host a four-game RMAC series at Rawlings Field against Colorado Christian. The two teams will open the series on Friday, April 12 with a 3 p.m. game, before playing a doubleheader on Saturday, April 13 at 12 p.m. and concluding the series with a 12 p.m. single game on Sunday, April 14.