PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University capped off a wild Sunday afternoon here with a dramatic walk-off win, defeating New Mexico Highlands 18-17 in the teams' Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference series finale at Rawlings Field.

With the victory, the ThunderWolves extend their win streak to five straight games and improve to 18-19 overall and move to 10-10 in the league, while New Mexico Highlands fell to 6-32 overall and 1-19 in the league. The win also helped the Pack secure its first RMAC series sweep and its second series win in RMAC play as the Pack went 3-1 against Colorado Christian two weeks ago.

In a game that featured 35 combined runs and 43 hits, the ThunderWolves rallied late before redshirt senior shortstop Kyle Miller (Pueblo, Colo./Colorado Mesa) delivered the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the ninth on a safety squeeze play to secure the victory and series finale win. Miller's safety squeeze bunt to the pitcher allowed senior pinch runner Yahir Ramirez (Fontana, Calif./TAMU-Corpus Christi) to score from third with the game-winning run. Ramirez was running for senior catcher Cody Macias (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills), who led off the inning with a double down the right field line. The double was Macias' fifth hit of the game as he finished 5-for-6 at the plate with two runs scored and 3 RBI. The five hits are tied for second-most in a game in school history.

Miller's game-winning bunt was needed after Highlands, who led 5-0 after the opening inning of play, scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning, including tying the game at 17 following a pinch-hit RBI double by Tamden Webb-Tate off of senior hurler Cole Bloomer (Parker, Colo./Lamar CC), who improved to 5-1 on the season with the win.

The Cowboys jumped out quickly in Sunday's finale as they used five hits and a Pack error to plate five runs in the top of the first inning off of sophomore hurler Tyler Clementz (Gilbert, Ariz./Basha). The first six hitters in NMHU's lineup reached base in the inning, five due to hits and the sixth due to an error at second base by senior Devean Alvarez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Chaffey College).

CSU Pueblo answered immediately, erupting for six runs in the bottom half of the first behind RBI hits from senior leftfielder Cooper Latino (Parker, Colo./Douglas County), Macias, and Miller to grab a 6-5 lead.

The back-and-forth contest continued throughout the afternoon as CSU Pueblo answered with a four-run fourth that included a 2-run homer by junior first baseman Jason Arriola (Riverside, Calif./Norco), while New Mexico Highlands erupted for four runs in the fifth to force a tie at 11.

With the game tied at 11, the Pack rallied to plate five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to RBI singles from junior third baseman Jimmy Pelletier (Laval, Quebec/University of San Francisco), junior centerfielder Logan Kelly (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley Christian) and Macias and a 2-run single by Miller to give the Pack a 16-11 lead.

The Pack added an insurance run in the sixth thanks to a double by Latino and RBI single by Pelletier to give the Pack a 17-11 advantage.

NMHU, though, chipped away at the deficit as they plated two runs in the seventh and then added four more runs in the ninth to set up the dramatic finish.

The Pack finished the day with 22 hits as along with Macias' five hits, Pelletier went 4-for-6 at the plate with three runs scored and 3 RBI, while Latino and Miller each had three hits and combined to four runs scored and seven RBI, including a career-high five from Miller. The middle three hitters in the Pack order (Latino, Pelletier, and Macias) went a combined 12-for-17 at the plate with nine runs scored and 8 RBI. Latino's four runs scored were tied for the ninth-most in a game in school history.

Bloomer earned the win in relief after throwing two innings in relief and allowed four hits and four runs, while striking out one and walking one. Clementz tossed 4.2 innings and allowed 14 hits and 11 runs (nine earned runs), while walking one and fanning one.

Along with a combined 35 runs and 43 hits, the game also featured six errors, including four from Highlands and two by the Pack.

Highlands totaled 21 hits and scored 17 runs as Adrian Castenada was 4-for-5 at the plate with four runs scored, while Nico Hilger and Alex Galvan added three hits each. In fact, the top four hitters in the Cowboys' lineup went 12-for-21 at the plate with eight runs scored and 12 RBI.

Brin Osterman (0-2), who was the fourth pitcher of the game for Highlands, took the loss as he tossed 3.1 innings and allowed five hits and two runs, while striking out three and walking two. Jimi Weisher started for NMHU, and he lasted one inning as he allowed seven hits and six runs (five earned).

The teams combined to leave 19 runners on base and turned a combined three double plays, including two by the Pack.

CSU Pueblo will look to continue its winning ways next weekend (April 17-19) as they travel to Denver, Colo., for a four-game series at 30th-ranked MSU Denver (31-7 overall, 19-1 RMAC). The two teams will begin the series with a single nine-inning game on April 17 at 2 p.m., before playing a doubleheader on Saturday, April 18 at noon, and concluding the series with a noon single game on Sunday, April 19.