PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo baseball opened Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play here Friday, dropping both ends of a day-night doubleheader against seventh-ranked Colorado Mesa.
The ThunderWolves, who were playing their first home games in almost a month, opened Friday's doubleheader with a 15-0 loss in a game called after seven innings due to the 12-run mercy rule and then fell 9-1 in the nightcap of Friday's twinbill.
With the two losses, the Pack fell to 8-11 overall and 0-2 in the RMAC, while Colorado Mesa improved to 20-3 overall and 6-0 in the RMAC. The two games will complete the weekend series with another doubleheader on Saturday at Rawlings Field beginning at noon.
The start of Friday's first game of the doubleheader at Rawlings Field was delayed nearly five hours due to air quality in the Pueblo area, thanks to wildfires burning in Nebraska and Kansas, and began at 4:45 p.m., while the second game of the doubleheader was moved to Runyon Field and began at 9:45 p.m.
In Friday's doubleheader opener, the Mavericks used a nine-run second inning to break open game one. Then they capitalized on four CSU Pueblo errors in the nightcap to complete the doubleheader sweep.
Colorado Mesa struck for one run in the opening inning of Friday's first game of the doubleheader and then erupted for nine unearned runs thanks to two errors in the top of the second inning to take a 10-0 lead.
The Mavericks, who have won 19 of their last 20 games, added another run in the third to take an 11-0 lead. CMU completed the scoring with four runs in the fifth inning to cap the scoring.
In Friday's opener, the Pack finished with five hits and did not draw a walk against CMU starting pitcher Caleb Ruter (2-0), who tossed seven shutout innings, while striking out four in his 80-pitch outing.
Tate Blasi paced the Mavericks offensively by going 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBI, and three runs scored, while Ezra Farmer added two hits and three RBI, and Cameron Cartwright also had two hits, scored two runs, and had 2 RBI in the win.
The Pack's hits were recorded by junior centerfielder Logan Kelly (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley Christian), senior leftfielder Cooper Latino (Parker, Colo./Douglas County), senior second baseman Devean Alvarez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Chaffey College), and junior outfielder Jake Hixenbaugh (Atascadero, Calif./Monterey Peninsula).
Fifth-year senior hurler Jacob Petersheim (Broadway, Va./Broadway) took the loss in game one after allowing nine runs, all of which were unearned, in 1.2 innings and had two strikeouts and one walk. Junior Casey Clair (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Ellsworth CC), senior Dominic Corgiat (Brookfield, Ill./Tarleton State), junior Jackson Adam (Windsor, Colo./Missouri Western) and sophomore Dax Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) combined to cover the rest of the contest, with Adam and Howard each posting a total of three scoreless outings in relief.
Meanwhile, in the second game of Friday's doubleheader, Colorado Mesa seized control early, getting a solo home run from Farmer in the third and adding a second run on a Pack error, and added two runs in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead.
The Pack answered in the bottom of the fourth as junior third baseman Jason Arriola (Riverside, Calif./Norco) walked, moved into scoring position on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI double by Howard to cut the deficit to 4-1, but the Mavericks answered with a four run sixth and added a solo homer in the seventh by Joey Blank to cap the scoring.
Howard finished 2-for-3 in the nightcap as he had the Pack's lone RBI on the day, while Arriola doubled and scored, and redshirt senior shortstop Kyle Miller (Pueblo, Colo./Colorado Mesa) and Hixenbaugh also added hits in the loss.
Junior Jack Novak (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge) was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs, three earned, over five innings and tallied four strikeouts and two walks.
Farmer was 2-for-3 with a homer, 2 RBI, and two runs scored in the nightcap, while Kolby Felix and Kennedy Hara each had two hits in the win. The Mavericks scored nine runs despite only four being earned, taking advantage of four CSU Pueblo errors and Novak and two other relievers.
Cole Steward (2-0) earned the win for CMU as he tossed four innings and allowed three hits and one run, while striking out three and walking two.
