PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo returns to the road in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference baseball play this weekend as they travel to Lakewood, Colo., for a four-game series against Colorado Christian University.
Due to weather issues forecast in Denver this weekend, the two teams will open the four-game series at All-Star Park with a doubleheader on Friday, March 28 at noon, before playing another doubleheader on Saturday, March 29 at noon, with Sunday, March 30 serving as the rain date should any games need to be made up.
CSU Pueblo comes into this weekend's series with Colorado Christian sporting a 13-13 overall record and a 3-5 mark in the RMAC after splitting a four-game home series last weekend against Regis. The Pack opened the series with a 10-6 win, before falling 20-12 in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader and then earning a 16-15 victory in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader and losing 12-1 to the Rangers in Sunday's series finale. The Pack has posted a 3-3 record over its last six games and is 7-7 overall in the previous 14 games.
The Pack are 4-4 away from home this season, including a 1-3 mark on the road in RMAC play. They have posted an 18-18 record on the road, including a 7-12 mark in road RMAC contests dating back to the beginning of last season.
CSU Pueblo and Colorado Christian have met 72 times previously on the diamond in a series that began in 2007. The Pack holds a 57-15 all-time lead in the series, including winning seven of their last eight games in the series. The Pack leads the series 31-9 at home and is 24-5 in the series at CCU. In addition, the Pack is 50-14 against CCU in RMAC games and is 8-2 in the last 10 games of the series. Last season, the Pack won three of four games in a series that was played in Pueblo.
Following this weekend's four-game RMAC series on the road against Colorado Christian, the Pack will return home to Rawlings Field next weekend (April 4-6) to host Colorado School of Mines in a four-game RMAC series.
ABOUT CSU PUEBLO
Heading into this weekend's action, the Pack is seventh in the league in hitting with a .322 batting average as they've recorded 260 hits, scored 224 runs, hit 68 doubles, 10 triples, and 24 home runs. The Pack is averaging 8.6 runs per game, which is fourth-best in the RMAC and has scored double-digit runs in 10 games, including three times last weekend against Regis. The Pack is also third in the league in triples with 10 and is fourth in the league and 14th nationally in Division II in doubles with 68.
Fifth-year senior first baseman
Christian Castaneda (El Paso, Texas/Otero JC) currently leads the Pack and is seventh in the RMAC in hitting with a .416 average (37-for-89) and enters this week's action having hit safely in all 26 games this season and is in the midst of 28-game hitting streak dating to last season. Castaneda leads the Pack in hits (37), RBI (35) and has a 1.260 OPS. In addition, he is second in runs scored (27), home runs (6), slugging percentage (.742), and tied for the team lead in doubles with 11. He ranks in the Top 10 in the RMAC in batting average, doubles, RBI, total bases, and on-base percentage.
Senior third baseman
Kysen Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) leads the team in home runs (7), slugging percentage (.831), hit by pitches (9) and is tied for the team lead in doubles (11) and is second in RBI with 31. Howard is hitting .390 on the season and has a 1.315 OPS. He is third in the league in slugging percentage, ninth in home runs and sixth in RBI.
Senior outfielder
Wyatt Reginato (Cottonwood, Calif./Folsom Lake) is the team's No. 2 hitter as he enters the weekend with a .391 batting average and leads the team in multi-hit games with 14 and has had five multiple RBI games. He has recorded 34 hits, scored 24 runs, hit seven doubles, one triple and is 7-for-8 in stolen bases.
Freshman outfielder
Noah Williams (Carson, Calif./Redondo Union) leads the team and is 10th in the RMAC in runs scored with 28 and is third in the league in stolen bases with 16 as he is 16-for-20 on the season in steals. In addition, Williams has recorded 28 hits, six doubles, and is tied for the league lead in triples with three and has hit four home runs and driven in 21 runs.
Castaneda, Reginato, Howard, Williams and senior outfielder
Elijah Borjas (Denver, Colo./Lakewood) have each scored 20 or more runs this season, while Castaneda, Reginato, Howard, Borjas, Williams and senior shortstop
Rob Mansour (La Verne, Calif./Cuesta College) have each recorded 20 or more hits.
The Pack's 24 home runs are eighth-most in the league as along with Howard's seven and Castaneda's six, Williams has hit four and Borjas has had three homers. Borjas' is also fourth in the league in triples with two.
The Pack is third in the league in stolen bases with 51 as they are 51-for-67 on the season. Williams is third in the RMAC with 16 stolen bases, while Reginato is second with seven steals as he is 7-for-8 on the season and Mansour is third with five as he is 5-for-6 on the season.
On the mound, the Pack has the fourth-best ERA in the league at 8.58. The Pack's pitchers are third in the league in strikeouts per nine innings (8.1) and sixth in the league in WHIP (2.01). The Pack's pitchers have struck out 186 batters in 205.2 innings of work and opposing hitters are batting .346 on the season. In addition, the Pack's pitchers have walked just 107 batters and have hit 42 opposing batters.
The top starter for the Pack is senior
Travis Farrell (Las Vegas, Nev./Otero JC). Farrell enters the week second in the RMAC in ERA (3.54) and is tied for the league lead in wins (5) and is second in the league in strikeouts (35) and fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.18). Farrell, who is 5-1 this season, has made seven starts and has had five quality starts and has recorded five or more strikeouts in five of his seven starts. He is tied the league lead in innings pitched at 40.2 and has walked just 11 batters on the year.
In addition to Farrell, the No. 2 starter this season for the Pack is junior
Luke Ruby (Fort Collins, Colo./Resurrection Christian) as he is 0-2 with a 9.31 ERA. In 19.1 innings, he has struck out 18 and walked just eight and has allowed 28 hits hits and 22 runs (20 earned runs), while fifth-year senior
Nick Perry (Denton, Texas/Richland) is the No. 3 starter and he is 2-2 with an 8.62 ERA. In 24.0 innings, he has recorded 26 strikeouts and walked just six.
Leading the way for the Pack bullpen this season has been sophomore
Jack Novak (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge), who is 2-0 with a 3.07 ERA in a team-leading 10 appearances and has earned two saves, which is fifth in the RMAC. In 14.2 innings, he has allowed 10 hits and eight runs (five earned), while striking out eight and walking a team-high 13. Along with Novak, junior
Alex Oliver (Grove, Okla./Coffeyville CC) has the team's other save as he is 0-1 with an 8.03 ERA in eight appearances. In 12.1 innings, he has allowed 17 hits, 14 runs (11 earned), while walking seven and fanning nine.
In addition, junior
Jacob Petersheim (Broadway, Va./Broadway) has been the team's workhorse out of the bullpen as he has made nine appearances and one start and has tossed 22.2 innings, including 19 innings in relief. He is 1-1 with an 8.74 ERA and has recorded 24 strikeouts and walked just two.
Defensively, the Pack is second in the RMAC in fielding percentage at .968 as they have committed just 28 errors in 879 fielding chances and have turned 20 double plays, which is fourth-most in the RMAC. The 28 errors are second fewest in the league behind Colorado Mesa's 23 errors.
Leading the Pack this season is
Bobby Applegate, who is in his fourth 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 91-93 overall record at his alma mater and is 54-50 in RMAC games.
ABOUT COLORADO CHRISTIAN
Colorado Christian comes into its fourth RMAC series of the 2025 season sporting a 6-23 record and a 3-9 mark in the league after dropping all four games last weekend at Colorado Mesa. In the series against the Mavericks, the Cougars were outscored, 56-14. The Cougars opened league play with four losses at UCCS, before taking three of four games at home to Adams State and then were swept at Colorado Mesa. The Cougars, though, are 5-6 at home this season, including being 3-1 at home in RMAC play.
The Pack and UCCS have played two common opponents this season as the Cougars took a non-conference at home against Regis, 10-9, and were swept at Colorado Mesa, while the Pack went 2-2 against Regis last weekend and 1-3 at Colorado Mesa the previous weekend.
In the Preseason RMAC Coaches Poll, the Cougars were tabbed to finish eighth as they earned 14 points in the poll voted on by the league's head coaches. Last season, CCU went 8-41 overall and 6-26 in the RMAC.
Statistically, CCU is ninth in the league in hitting as they are batting .273 (248-for-907) as a team. The Cougars have recorded 248 hits, scored 159 runs, hit 50 doubles, three triples, and 37 home runs. The Cougars have also recorded 144 RBI and are averaging 5.5 runs per game, is fourth in the league in home runs with 37 and second in the league in sacrifice bunts with 14.
Leading the way offensively for the Cougars is junior infielder Mason Hagel-Pitt. Hagel-Pitt is hitting .360 as he is tied for the team lead in hits with 32 and tied for the team lead in runs scored with 20. In addition, he has hit six doubles, one triple, four home runs, and has had 16 RBI.
In addition to Hagel-Pitt, senior pitcher/designated hitter William Brassil is hitting .344 with 32 hits, 17 runs scored, seven doubles, seven home runs, and 19 RBI, while senior first baseman Major Mayden leads the team in home runs (8) and RBI (25) and has hit eight doubles and has scored 20 times.
The Cougars have stolen 18 bases as they are 18-for-26 on steals this season and have had six players hit at least three home runs.
Meanwhile, on the mound, the Cougars have a 9.12 ERA as a pitching staff. They have struck out 160 and was 143 batters in 218 innings of work and have recorded two saves.
The Cougars' top pitcher is sophomore Chad Naf as he is 2-3 with a 7.02 ERA. He has made nine appearances and seven starts and in 33.1 innings of work, he has struck 13 and walked 17.
Senior Saxton Sorenson is 1-3 with an 8.19 ERA in eight starts this season. He leads the team in innings pitched with 40.2 and has tallied a league-leading 40 strikeouts and has walked 22, while senior Brady Ritzmann is 0-3 with a 6.66 ERA in five appearances and four starts. In 25.2 innings, he has struck out 17 and walked 10.
The top arms out of the bullpen for the Cougars are graduate student Jack Cauzin, senior Jaxson Simmons and freshman Austin DeMello. Cauzin is 1-2 with a 9.18 ERA and leads the team with 10 appearances and in 16.2 innings, he has walked 14 and struck out 14, while Simmons is 0-2 with an 8.27 ERA in five appearances, including two starts and DeMello is 0-1 with a 6.48 ERA and is fifth in the league in saves with two. In six appearances and 8.1 innings, he has struck out eight and walked seven.
Defensively, CCU is fifth in the league in fielding percentage at .962. The Cougars have turned just 10 double plays and have committed 35 errors in 913 fielding chances, which is tied for the fourth-fewest errors in the league.
CCU is coached by Andrew Liberty, who is in his first season as the Cougars head coach after spending the past five seasons as an assistant coach. As a collegiate player, Liberty played at Nova Southeastern and earned First-Team NCBWA All-American honors as a senior in 2018 after hitting .429 with 48 runs scored, 37 RBI, and 26 extra-base hits.
