POMONA, Calif. – Colorado State University Pueblo baseball hit the road for the first time in 2026 here Friday evening as the ThunderWolves rallied from a 3-0 deficit to take a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning, before ultimately falling 5-4 to Cal Poly Pomona in 10 innings in the series opener at Scolinos Field.
Friday's loss was the fourth straight for the ThunderWolves, who fell to 5-4 on the season, while Cal Poly Pomona improved to 7-4. The teams will continue the four-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 21, beginning at 3 p.m. MT and then conclude the series with a single game on Sunday, Feb. 22, beginning at 1 p.m. MT.
The Pack was held hitless for seven innings until sophomore leftfielder
Dax Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) opened the eighth with a double down the left-field line. Senior catcher
Cody Macias (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills) followed with a single, and after junior catcher
JJ Fontana (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) was hit by a pitch as a pinch hitter to load the bases with one out, senior rightfielder
Jeremiah Sanchez (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West) pushed his hit streak to nine straight games with a 2-run double to right center to bring the Pack within 4-2. Senior
Taehyung Kim (Marana, Ariz./St. Cloud State) followed with a pinch-hit 2 RBI double down the left field line to give the Pack a 4-3 lead.
CPP would respond in the bottom of the eighth as they used a walk, an error by junior third baseman
Jason Arriola (Riverside, Calif./Norco), and a wild pitch from sophomore reliever
Casey Clair (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Ellsworth CC) to tie the game at 4-4.
After neither team was able to score in the ninth to force extra innings, the Pack used a hit batsman and a bunt single from junior second baseman
Yahir Ramirez (Fontana, Calif./Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) to put the go-ahead run at second, but Gavin Smith retired Sanchez on a fly out and struck out freshman centerfielder
Josiah Giron (Aurora, Colo./Grandview).
CPP loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 10th before Julian Angulo delivered the game-winning RBI single to seal the extra-inning victory.
Fifth-year senior
Jacob Petersheim (Broadway, Va./Broadway) was strong on the mound for the Pack as he tossed 6.2 innings and allowed just three earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts and no walks. The three runs were the first allowed this season by the right-hander. On the season, Petersheim, who was named this week's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week, is 2-1 with a 1.53 ERA, and in 17.2 innings, he has allowed 10 hits, three runs, while walking four and fanning 13.
Clair (0-2) was charged with the loss after surrendering the walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning. Clair tossed two-plus innings and allowed four hits and two runs (one earned), while striking out two and walking one.
Sanchez led the Pack offense with a double, 2 RBI, and a run scored, while Howard added a double and scored once as the Pack finished the night with five hits.
The Broncos jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third thanks to two hits, a hit by pitch, and an error by Arriola to plate three runs.
Dylan Esquival started on the mound for the Broncos and tossed six no-hit scoreless innings as he walked two and struck out seven. Esquival has yet to allow a run in 20 innings this season and has had 25 strikeouts and has walked five.
Smith (1-0), who was the fourth pitcher of the game for the Broncos, tossed two innings and allowed one hit and no runs, while striking out four and walking one.
Daniel Ruiz and Sebastian Arguelles each had two hits for CPP as they finished the night with nine hits.
The teams stranded a combined nine runners on base as the Pack left four runners on base and turned a double play, while CPP left five runners on base and had a double play.
