PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo Baseball hits the road for the first time in the 2026 season this weekend as the ThunderWolves travel to Pomona, Calif., for a four-game, three-day non-conference series against Cal Poly-Pomona.
The two teams open the weekend series with a single nine-inning game on Friday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. MT, before playing a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 21 starting at 2 p.m. MT and concluding the weekend with a 12 p.m. MT game on Sunday, Feb. 22.
CSU Pueblo, who received votes in this week's latest ABCA/Division II Coaches' Poll and is ranked No. 7 in the latest NCBWA South Central Region rankings, comes into the weekend sporting a 5-3 overall record after opening the season with eight straight home games at Rawlings Field, including dropping three of four games last weekend to Northwest Missouri State. In those four games set, the Pack outscored (29-24) and outhit the Bearcats (47-37), but lost two one-run games and a two-run game and had leads in all three of those games.
The Pack and Cal Poly Pomona have met six times previously on the diamond with the most recent match-up coming on Feb. 10, 2008, as the Pack collected a 9-6 win in Pomona. The Pack leads the all-time series 4-2 with all but one of the games being played in Pomona. The other game was played in St. George, Utah, on Feb. 11, 2007, a game the Pack won 17-4.
Following the four-game set at Cal Poly-Pomona, the Pack will remain on the road as they play a non-conference game on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at Regis, before traveling to Nampa, Idaho, for a four-game series on March 5-7 at Northwest Nazarene University. Northwest Nazarene advanced to the Division II World Series last season.
ABOUT CSU PUEBLO
The Pack enters the weekend with a balanced attack at the plate and strong starting pitcher in the early going as the Pack is outscoring their opponents, 70-46 through eight games, including three games with 10 or more runs.
Coming into this weekend's play, the Pack is one of the top offensive teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as they are second in the league in hitting with a .354 batting average and are averaging 8.8 runs per game and have an on-base percentage of .453 and an OPS of .944. The Pack leads the league in triples with five, and has hit 16 doubles and four home runs and has had 62 RBI and drawn 35 walks. The Pack is also 9-for-14 on stolen bases.
Leading the way individually for the Pack is senior rightfielder
Jeremiah Sanchez (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West) as he is hitting a league-leading .588 and he leads the team in hits (20) and is second in runs scored (10) and has a 1.357 OPS. He has hit safely in all eight games this season and has had six multi-hit games, including a three four-hit games.
In addition to Sanchez, junior catcher
JJ Fontana (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) is hitting .538 as he had had seven hits, four RBI and has a 1.163 OPS and is 2-for-2 on stolen bases, while sophomore first baseman/pitcher
Tyler Clementz (Gilbert, Ariz./Basha) is fifth in the league in hitting with a .450 batting average and a 1.192 OPS as he has had nine hits, scored six runs, hit four doubles and has 3 RBI and senior utility player
George Andrews (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West), who has also hit safely in all eight games this season, is sixth in the league in hitting with a .448 batting average and has a team-best 1.465 OPS as he leads the team in runs (14), home runs (4), RBI (11), and slugging percentage (.897) and is second in hits (13) .
Along with Andrews' four home runs, sophomore leftfielder
Dax Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) has also provided some pop to the line-up as he has hit the other home run this season and has had nine hits, scored eight runs, has been walked seven times and has a 1.058 OPS.
Junior third baseman
Jason Arriola (Riverside, Calif./Norco) is second on the team in RBI with nine and has recorded seven hits, including two doubles, one triple, while redshirt senior shortstop
Kyle Miller (Pueblo, Colo./Colorado Mesa) has also tallied nine RBI and has had eight hits, including a double and a triple.
Perhaps the biggest strength for the Pack in the early going has been their starting pitching as the Pack starting pitchers – redshirt senior
Jacob Petersheim (Broadway, Va./Broadway), sophomore
Frank Flores Jr. (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy), Clementz, senior
Luke Ruby (Fort Collins, Colo./Resurrection Christian) and junior
Jack Novak (Highlands Ranch, Calif./Thunder Ridge) - have recorded a 3.32 ERA in their eight starts this season. The Pack has used five different starters on the year and they have combined to post a 4-1 record and in 41.1 innings, they have allowed 40 hits, 18 runs (16 earned runs), while walking 17 and striking out 36. The Pack's opponents are hitting .252 against the starting pitchers.
Overall, the Pack pitching staff is second in the league in ERA at 4.50 through 72 innings and are limiting opponents to a .282 batting average, while recording 60 strikeouts and 31 walks.
Leading the way for the starting staff is Petersheim as he is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA. He has tossed 11 shutout innings and has allowed five hits, while striking out eight, walking four and opposing hitters are hitting just .143 against the right-hander. Petersheim was named this week's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week.
Ruby is 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA as he has tossed 8.1 innings in two appearances and one start and has allowed seven hits and two runs (one earned), while walking two and fanning nine, while Clementz, who was the Co-Freshman Pitcher of the Year last season, is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts and he has tossed 12.0 innings and has allowed 10 hits, four runs (all earned), while striking out a team-best 10 and walking four.
The top arms out of the bullpen for the Pack through the first eight games have been junior
Jackson Adam (Windsor, Colo./Missouri Western), freshman
Coleman McBride (Spring, Texas/Klein Cain), senior
Cole Bloomer (Arapahoe, Colo./Lamar CC) and sophomore
Casey Clair (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Ellsworth CC). Adam has made three appearances and has an 0.00 ERA and has recorded two strikeouts and two walks in two innings, while McBride has made two appearances and has a 2.70 ERA as he has tossed 3.1 innings and has had four strikeouts and no walks. Bloomer has made three appearances and is 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA as he has tossed 4.1 innings and has had two strikeouts and two walks and Clair is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA and has tossed 4.0 innings and has had four strikeouts and two walks.
The Pack comes into the weekend with a .977 fielding percentage, which is third in the league as they have committed seven errors in eight games and have turned an RMAC-leading 14 double plays. The Pack, though, has struggled with runners on base as they stranded 72 runners in eight games and are averaging 9.0 runners left on base per game this season.
Leading the Pack once again this season is
Bobby Applegate, who is in his fifth 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 playing for the University of Southern Colorado, has compiled an 115-103 overall record at his alma mater and has led the Pack to four straight 20-plus win seasons, including a 32-win campaign in 2025.
ABOUT CAL POLY POMONA
Cal Poly Pomona enters the weekend sporting a 6-4 overall record as the Broncos have lost four of its last six games, including going 1-3 last weekend at home against Hope International, after opening the season with four straight win, including a 5-1 win over then seventh-ranked Colorado Mesa at home on Feb. 6. In fact, the Broncos took two of four games in the series against the nationally-ranked Mavericks.
The Broncos are hitting .261 as a team as they have recorded 85 hits and 51 RBI, while posting a .380 team slugging percentage. Four regulars in their line-up are hitting over .300, led by redshirt senior outfielder Jack Sanders, who is hitting a team-best .394 with four home runs and 12 RBI and has a 1.338 OPS.
In addition to Sanders, redshirt freshman outfielder/catcher Tyler Blade is hitting .355 with 11 hits, two doubles and 7 RBI, while junior Julian Angulo is hitting .350 with 11 total bases and redshirt junior catcher Evan Nahra has hit .333 and has posted a .571 on-base percentage.
Sanders has been the primary power threat in the middle of the lineup, already launching four home runs while posting an .879 slugging percentage in eight starts this season.
On the mound, Cal Poly Pomona owns a 4.97 team ERA over 87 innings pitched, allowing opponents to hit .260 against them.
Senior left-hander Dylan Esquival has been dominant in his three starts this season as he is 1-0 with an 0.00 ERA. In 14 innings, he has allowed nine hits, no runs, while striking out 18, walking three and opposing hitters are hitting just .191.
Senior Andrew Campbell has provided stability in the rotation as well, posting a 3.00 ERA with 13 strikeouts in a team-high 15 innings across three appearances and two starts. Campbell is 2-1 on the season with a 1.47 WHIP.
Redshirt juniors Matthew Leyva and Geo Hernandez have been solid out of the bullpen for CPP as those two have made a combined seven appearances and tossed a combined 14.2 innings and have recorded eight strikeouts and 10 walks. Leyva is 1-1 with a 5.23 ERA and Hernandez is 1-0 with a 6.00 ERA and has one of the Broncos two saves.
Defensively, the Broncos are fielding at a .970 clip through 10 games with 25 double plays turned as a team. In addition, they have left 74 runners on base and are averaging 7.4 runners stranded per game.
Cal Poly Pomona is coached by Randy Betten, who is in his 15th season as the Broncos head coach. He has guided the Broncos to an overall record 437-304 and has led the program to nine NCAA Tournament appearances and two NCAA West Region Championships in 2015 and 2016 and was named the ABCA West Region Coach of the Year accolade in 2016. Betten is the program's second all-time winningest coach and has led the program to winning seasons in 13 of his previous 14 seasons at the helm.
In the Preseason California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Coaches' Poll, CPP was tabbed to finish fourth as they received 56 points in the poll.
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