PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo Baseball will open the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference portion of its 2026 schedule here this weekend as the ThunderWolves play a four-game series against preseason league favorite Colorado Mesa University.
Due to weather concerns on Sunday, the two teams have agreed to play back-to-back doubleheaders on both Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14 with the doubleheaders beginning at noon each day.
CSU Pueblo, who is 8-9 overall on the season, enters the weekend having lost four of its last five games with the lone win being a 14-7 victory in last Saturday's series finale at Northwest Nazarene. Since opening the 2026 season with a 5-0 record, the Pack has posted a 3-9 record and have lost two of its last three series against Northwest Missouri State and Northwest Nazarene and split a four-game series at Cal Poly Pomona.
The two RMAC rivals have met 146 times previously on the diamond in a series that began in 2000. Colorado Mesa holds a 105-41 all-time lead in the series as the Mavericks won four of the five meetings last season, including a 9-6 win in an elimination round game at last year's RMAC Tournament held in Grand Junction, Colo. CMU leads 53-14 at home and is 46-22 in the series in Pueblo. The Mavs are 76-23 in RMAC games against the Pack.
Following this weekend's four game RMAC series at home with Colorado Mesa, the Pack will travel to Denver, Colo., for a four-game RMAC series next weekend (March 20-22) at Regis University.
ABOUT CSU PUEBLO
The Pack enters this weekend's action first RMAC series of the 2026 season looking to get back on track at home as the Pack is 5-3 at home this season, but concluded its last home series on Feb. 13-16 with three straight losses to Northwest Missouri State. Prior to the three-game home losing skid, the Pack opened the season with five straight home wins, including sweeping three games from MSU Billings and collecting wins over both Regis (8-4) and Northwest Missouri State (10-1) in the series opener.
Coming into this weekend's action, the Pack is tied for sixth in the league in hitting with a .310 batting average as they've recorded 177 hits, scored 138 runs, hit 30 doubles, eight triples, and 12 home runs. The Pack is averaging 8.1 runs per games, which is sixth-best in the RMAC and has scored double-digit runs in six games, including a season-high 16 runs in an 18-16 loss at Regis on Feb. 25. The Pack is second in the league in triples with eight and also second in the league and 19th nationally with 15 sacrifice hits, including three each from junior utility player
Jason Arriola (Riverside, Calif./Norco) and junior outfielder
Logan Kelly (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley Christian), which is tied for fourth-most in the league.
Senior outfielder
Jeremiah Sanchez (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West) currently leads the Pack in batting average at .380 and has hit safely in 13 of 17 games and leads the team with eight multiple-hit games, including three four-hit outings. Sanchez leads the team in hits (27), and doubles (6) and is second in runs scored (17) and has a .950 OPS.
In addition to Sanchez, Kelly is hitting .354 with 17 hits, 14 runs, two doubles, a triple, a home run and 10 RBI and has been hit by five pitches and has a .918 OPS, while junior catcher
JJ Fontana (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) is hitting .348 with and is 4-for-4 on stolen bases.
Senior utility player
George Andrews (Overland Park, Kan./Coffeyville CC) leads the team in home runs (4), runs scored (19), slugging percentage (.694), and OPS (1.161) and has had 17 hits, three doubles, one triple and 13 RBI, while Arriola leads in RBI (18) and has tallied 13 hits, 10 runs, three doubles, two triples and two home runs.
Six Pack players have scored 10 or more runs and nine players have recorded 10 or more hits. The Pack has two players ranked in the Top 10 in the RMAC in slugging percentage as Andrews is eighth (.694) and senior second baseman
Taehyung Kim (Marana, Ariz./St. Cloud State) is 10th with a .677 slugging percentage.
Eight regulars in the Pack line-up are hitting over .300 on the season and five Pack players have drawn seven or more walks with sophomore outfielder
Dax Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) having walked 10, while Sanchez has walked nine times and Kim and senior catcher
Cody Macias (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills) have each walked eight times.
As a team, the Pack is 18-for-25 on stolen bases as along with Fontana's four stolen bases, Howard is 3-for-4 on stolen bases, while Sanchez, Arriola and junior third baseman
Jimmy Pelletier (Lavel, Quebec/University of San Francisco) has each had two stolen bases.
On the mound, the Pack has the second-best ERA in the league at 6.10. The Pack's pitchers are third in the league in WHIP (1.73) and is fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.44). The Pack has recorded 108 strikeouts in 141.1 innings of work and opposing hitters are batting .300 on the season. In addition, the Pack's pitchers have walked just 75 and hit 39 batters.
The top starter for the Pack is sophomore
Tyler Clementz (Gilbert, Ariz./Basha). Clementz enters the week leading the RMAC in ERA at 3.68 and is second in wins (3) as he is 3-0 on the season and in 22 innings of work, he has recorded 15 strikeouts and walked eight. The reigning Co-Freshman Pitcher of the Year has pitched at least five innings in his four starts and has allowed less than two earned runs in two of his four starts.
In addition to Clementz, fifth-year senior
Jacob Petersheim (Broadway, Va./Broadway) is second on the team in ERA at 4.30 as he is 2-1 and leads the league in WHIP (1.13) and walks allowed per nine innings (1.96) as he has walked just five and struck out a team-best 17 in 23 innings of work. His 3.40 strikeout-to-walk ratio is second in the RMAC and his 11 hit batters is second-most in the league. Petersheim has struck out at least four in each of his four starts and has allowed three or fewer runs in three of his four starts.
Leading the way for the Pack bullpen this season has been senior
Alex Oliver (Grove, Okla./Coffeyville CC), who has made six appearances and has an 0-1 record and a 7.11 ERA. In 6.1 innings, he has tallied a save and has struck out five and walked four, while junior
Jackson Adam (Windsor, Colo./Missouri Western) has made four appearances and is 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA and has a save. In 3.1 innings of work, he has recorded three strikeouts and walked two, while senior
Cole Bloomer (Arapahoe, Colo./Lamar CC) has made five appearances and is 1-0 with a 4.70 ERA. In 7.2 innings, he has struck out three and walked four.
Defensively, the Pack is fourth in the RMAC in fielding percentage at .963 as they have committed just 23 errors in 614 fielding chances and have turned an RMAC-best 20 double plays. The 20 double plays are ninth-best in NCAA Division II baseball, while the 1.2 doubles plays per game are sixth-best nationally in Division II.
Leading the Pack 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 University of Southern Colorado, has compiled a 118-109 overall record at his alma mater and is 73-55 in RMAC games.
SCOUTING COLORADO MESA MAVERICKS
Colorado Mesa, who is ranked No. 7 in this week's latest ABCA Division II Coaches' Poll, comes into its second RMAC series of the 2026 season having won 17 of its last 18 games with the lone loss being a 6-4 setback on Wednesday at Division I Utah Valley State and is sporting an 18-3 overall record and a 4-0 mark in the RMAC after opening league play last weekend with a four-game home sweep over New Mexico Highlands. In the series, the Mavericks outscored the Cowboys, 37-15, including a 16-0 win in the second game of last Saturday's doubleheader. The Mavs have played 16 of their 20 games at home this season as they are 16-0 at home and 2-2 away from home with those two losses coming in the season opening series at Cal Poly Pomona.
The Mavs took home its 13th straight RMAC title last season and was a unanimous selection in this year's preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll to win their 14th title in a row. Since 2009, the Mavs have posted a 508-110 record in RMAC play and have won nearly 82 percent of its league games.
Statistically, the Mavericks are hitting .322 as a team (215-for-667) as they have scored 179 runs, hit 38 doubles, five triples and 18 home runs. CMU is fifth in the league in scoring as they are averaging 8.5 runs per game.
Leading the way offensively for the Mavs is redshirt freshman infielder Trevor Tse, who is hitting a team-best .389 with 21 hits, 12 runs scored, three doubles, two home runs and 9 RBI and has walked 12 times. In addition to Tse, redshirt sophomore outfielder Ezra Farmer is hitting .368 and he leads the team in hits (32), doubles (8), RBI (25) and is second in home runs (3) and slugging percentage (.586) and is 7-for-8 on stolen bases.
Three Mavs have scored 20 or more runs this season as senior outfielder Kolby Felix leads the team and is fifth in the league in runs scored with 26 and is second in the league in stolen bases with eight and has been hit by 12 pitches, which is second in the league and fourth nationally. In addition to Felix, senior infielder Kennedy Hara has scored 23 runs and junior infielder Joey Blank has scored 21 runs and has stolen six bases.
As a team, the Mavs lead the RMAC in stolen bases with 46 as they are 46-for-52 on steals and is also third in the league in walks as they have drawn 108 in 21 games, including four players having already drawn 10 or more walks on the season.
On the mound, CMU leads the league in ERA at 4.06 and also leads the RMAC in WHIP (1.40), and hits allowed per nine innings (8.85). The Mavs pitchers have struck out 198 and walked just 73 opposing hitters in 175 innings. The team's 2.71 strikeout-to-walk ratio is tops in the league and 10th nationally in Division II baseball.
The Mavericks' top starters this season have been senior Liam Hohenstein and freshman Jackson Eisenhauer. Hohenstein is 1-1 with a 3.32 ERA as he has made six appearances and five starts and in a team-best 19.0 innings, he has struck out 26, which is third-most in the league and walked 19, while Eisenhauer is 1-1 with a 3.57 ERA as he has made five appearances and five starts and in 17.2 innings, he has struck out 20 and walked three.
Redshirt senior lefthander Caleb Ruter is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA as he has made five starts and in 18.0 innings, he has recorded 16 strikeouts and walked 10.
The top arms out of the bullpen for the Mavs in the early going this season has been senior Sage Ferguson, sophomore Justin Schramm and senior CJ Zwahlen. Those three have combined to make 21 appearances and have combined for a 1.92 ERA in 37 innings of work. Ferguson has made nine appearances, tossed 12 innings and has an 0.75 ERA as he is 1-0 with two saves and has recorded 17 strikeouts and walked one, while Schramm is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in six appearances and has tossed 12.0 innings and has tallied 16 strikeouts and six walks and Zwahlen has made six appearances and one start and is 0-0 with a 2.77 ERA and two saves and in 13.0 innings, he has 12 strikeouts and three walks.
Another top arm out of the bullpen for the Mavs is senior Cayden Clark as he has made eight appearances and is 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA and in 11.2 innings, he has struck out 10 and walked four.
Defensively, CMU is the top defensive team in the league as they lead the RMAC in fielding percentage (.970) and is second in doubles plays (15). The Mavs are averaging 0.7 double plays per game and have committed just 21 errors in 710 fielding chances this season.
The Mavericks are coached by Chris Hanks, who is in his 27th season at his alma mater and has compiled a 1,129-431 career record, including a 688-193 mark in RMAC games and had led the program to 20 RMAC regular season titles, 22 NCAA Tournament appearances, four Division II World Series berths and two NCAA Division II National Runner-up finishes. In addition, he has won 13 RMAC Coach of the Year awards, earned five ABCA Regional Coach of the Year honors and was a two-time National Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2021 by NCBWA.
