COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Colorado State University Pueblo baseball team powered past the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, 12-4, on Saturday at Mountain Lion Park, taking Game 3 of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) regular season series finale.

Behind a strong outing from starter Tyler Clementz, the ThunderWolves (31-18, 21-10 RMAC) improved their postseason positioning and kept their hopes alive for a third-place finish in the conference standings. Clementz went 5.2 innings, allowing just four earned runs, as he picked up his third win of the season (3-2). With the loss, UCCS dropped to 23-23 overall and 12-17 in RMAC play, locked into the No. 6 seed heading into the RMAC Tournament next week at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction.

After falling behind 1-0 on a UCCS sacrifice fly in the first inning, the ThunderWolves erupted in the third with three runs, highlighted by a Noah Williams RBI double, a Wyatt Reginato RBI single, and a Christian Castaneda RBI single to take a 3-1 lead.

Logan Kelly provided the spark in the fourth, launching a two-run homer to center to extend the lead to 5-2, and then added a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Despite nursing a semi-broken hand, star third baseman Kyson Howard blasted a two-run homer in the fifth to give the ThunderWolves an 8-2 cushion.

UCCS tried to claw back with a solo homer and an RBI double in the sixth, cutting the deficit to 8-4, but CSU Pueblo slammed the door in the seventh. Howard came through again with a two-RBI single, followed by a Cody Macias sacrifice fly and a Brad Stone RBI single, sealing the 12-4 win. Reliever Cole Bloomer closed out the final frame without allowing a run.

The ThunderWolves will go for the series win in the regular-season finale later this afternoon, looking to take three of four from the Mountain Lions before both teams head to the RMAC Tournament.