PUEBLO, Colo. - Colorado State University Pueblo Baseball continued its hot play in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play here Saturday with an 11-6 win over Colorado School of Mines at Rawlings Field.
Saturday's win was the Pack's fifth consecutive in league play as they improved to 18-13 overall and 8-5 in the RMAC, while Mines falls to 10-24 overall and 5-12 in the RMAC.
In Saturday's opener, the Pack offense recorded 18 hits and scored all of its runs in just three innings as they plated four runs in the second, six runs in the third, and a single run in the fifth and got solid starting pitching from senior
Travis Farrell (Las Vegas, Nev./Otero JC) in earning the series-opening victory.
Farrell, who improved to 7-1 on the season, tossed 6.2 innings and allowed eight hits and four runs while walking one and striking out six. Farrell has now struck out 47 and walked just 14 batters in 54 innings this season and has recorded at least five strikeouts in seven of his nine starts this season.
The Pack offense was led by six players recording multiple hits, including senior left fielder
Wyatt Reginato (Cottonwood, Calif./Folsom Lake) and senior right fielder
Elijah Borjas (Denver, Colo./Lakewood), each recording three hits and tallying an RBI each. In addition, fifth-year senior first baseman
Christian Castaneda (El Paso, Texas/Otero JC) was 2-for-6 with a run scored and 2 RBI, while senior third baseman
Joseph Quintana (Golden, Colo./Erskine) and junior catcher
Cody Macias (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills) each had two hits in three at-bats and scored two runs each. Freshman designated hitter Noah Wiliams (Carson, Calif./Redondo Union) was 2-for-6 with a run scored, two stolen bases and an RBI.
Mines got on the scoreboard first in Saturday's series opener as Tyler Pina delivered a 2-out double to left field that plated Jackson Babcock with the game's first run. Babcock had opened the inning on an infield single, moved to second on a bunt, and reached third on a balk by Farrell.
In the bottom of the second, the Pack sent 10 hitters to the plate and scored four runs on six hits and a Mines error to take a 4-1 lead. In the inning, sophomore center fielder
Logan Kelly (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Capistrano Valley Christian) was hit by a pitch to open the frame, stole second, and advanced to third on an error by Mines, and scored on an RBI single by Macias. Quintana followed with a double, and junior second baseman
Devean Alvarez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Chaffey College) brought home two runs on an infield single to give the Pack a 3-1 lead. Later in the inning, with two runners on base, Castaneda brought home a run on his RBI single through the left side to give the Pack a 4-1 lead.
The Pack added six runs on four hits and a Mines error to take a 10-1 lead after three innings. The scoring began on an RBI triple to right center by Quintana and Quintana would score the second run of the inning on a wild pitch by Jackson Kay. With the bases loaded, Reginato hit a sacrifice fly to right center to give the Pack its third run of the inning. Following the sacrifice fly, Castaneda hit an RBI single to center, and Borjas hit an RBI double to center and Kelly followed with an RBI ground out to score the sixth run of the inning.
Mines, though, used two hits and scored a run in the top of the fourth to cut the Pack's lead to 10-2. The big hit was a lead-off triple by Babcock, who scored one batter later on an RBI ground out off of Farrell.
The Pack added its 11th run of the game in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Kelly to give the Pack an 11-2 lead.
Mines cut into the Pack's lead in the top of the sixth thanks to a double by Canon Humphreys and an RBI single to center by Pina.
The Orediggers added another run in the top of the seventh as Wayne Moeck was hit by a pitch leading off the inning, moved to third on a double by Jackson Woolwine, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Evan Bilter.
Mines made things interesting in the top of the eighth as they loaded the bases with two outs thanks to four hits and scored a run on an RBI single by Tyler Hummel, but freshman hurler
Danny Retzlaff (Corona, Calif./Centennial) got out of the jam by forcing Babcock to fly out to left to end the inning to pull within 11-5.
The Orediggers got another run in the top of the ninth thanks to an RBI on a fielder's choice grounder by Alex Dunagan off of Retzlaff to pull Mines within 11-6.
Retzlaff pitched the final 1.1 innings and allowed one hit and one run, while walking one and striking out one.
Mines finished the game with 13 hits, including a 3-for-5 day at the plate by Pina. In addition to Pina, Hummel, Babcock, and Humphreys each had two hits in the loss.
Kay (0-1) took the loss on the mound for the Orediggers as he tossed two-plus innings and allowed eight hits and seven runs, all of which were earned while walking three and striking out three.
Mines' three pitchers in the game combined to hit six Pack hitters, including Quintana being hit twice, while Farrell hit two Orediggers. Mines has now hit an RMAC-leading 89 batters on the season.
The two teams combined to leave 26 runners on base as the Pack stranded 14 runners, while Mines left 12 runners on base.
Mines committed three errors and turned a double play, while the Pack had one error.
The series will continue with a doubleheader on Sunday, April 6 beginning at noon, before concluding the weekend set with a single nine-inning game on Monday, April 7 beginning at noon.
