PUEBLO, Colo. — Colorado State University Pueblo Baseball continues Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play this weekend with back-to-back doubleheaders in Denver against 26th-ranked MSU Denver.

The two teams will open the four-game weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 18 starting a 1 p.m., and then will conclude the series with another doubleheader on Sunday, April 19 beginning at noon. Each doubleheader will begin with a nine inning game and then a seven inning game.

CSU Pueblo enters the weekend having won five straight games as they have moved their overall record closer to .500 on the season as the Pack is sporting an 18-19 overall record and a 10-10 mark in the RMAC after sweeping a four-game series at home last weekend against New Mexico Highlands, including posting an 18-17 win in Sunday's series finale on a walk-off squeeze bunt play from redshirt senior shortstop Kyle Miller (Pueblo, Colo./Colorado Mesa).

Despite the five-game win streak, which began with a 10-6 win in the series finale on April 4 at Colorado School of Mines, the Pack remains in fifth place in the RMAC standings with three weeks remaining in the regular season. The top six teams in the league earn a spot in the 2026 RMAC Tournament.

Since opening the season by winning seven of its first 12 games, the Pack has posted an 11-14 record and is 6-11 away from home this season, including being 3-5 on the road in RMAC play. The four-game sweep of New Mexico Highlands was the Pack's second series win in league play as they also took three of four games from Colorado Christian.

Historically, CSU Pueblo holds a 56-47 all-time advantage on the diamond over MSU Denver, including splitting four games last season in Pueblo, but the Roadrunners got the most recent win in a series, a 15-10 victory over the Pack in the first round of the 2025 RMAC Tournament.  The Pack leads 37-20 in Pueblo, but MSU Denver holds a 22-16 advantage on its home field and the Pack holds a 47-33 lead in RMAC games. MSU Denver, though, has won six of the last 10 meetings in the series.

Following this weekend's road series with MSU Denver, the Pack remains on the road next weekend (April 24-26) as they travel to Alamosa, Colo., for a four-game league series at Adams State.

ABOUT CSU PUEBLO
CSU Pueblo's offense continues to drive the team's success this season. The ThunderWolves enter the weekend hitting .324 as a team with 387 hits and 296 runs scored over 37 games. The Pack has also produced 76 doubles, 11 triples and 27 home runs while posting a .425 on-base percentage and is averaging 8.0 runs per game, which is sixth-best in the league.

The Pack has scored eight or more runs in 18 games this season and holds a 14-4 record in those contests, while going 2-12 when scoring five or fewer runs. In last weekend's four-game series against New Mexico Highlands,, the Pack scored 45 runs and allowed 28 runs.

CSU Pueblo features a deep line-up led by sophomore first baseman Tyler Clementz (Gilbert, Ariz./Basha), who is hitting .378 with 34 hits, 15 runs, five doubles, and 12 RBI, while junior third baseman Jimmy Pelletier (Laval, Quebec/University of San Francisco) is hitting .377 with 29 hits, 24 runs scored, eight doubles and is tied for the team lead in home runs with five and has had 25 RBI and senior leftfielder Cooper Latino (Parker, Colo./Douglas County) is hitting .371 with 23 hits, 23 runs scored, nine doubles, two home runs and 21 RBI.

Senior rightfielder Jeremiah Sanchez (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West) leads the team in hits (50), runs scored (37), doubles (13) and walks (15), while junior utility player Jason Arriola (Riverside, Calif./Norco) leads the team in RBI (36), and is tied for the lead in home runs with 5, and is 6-for-6 on stolen bases.

On the mound, the Pack owns a 7.39 team ERA with 204 strikeouts in 293.1 innings pitched. The ThunderWolves currently rank third in the RMAC in ERA.

Clementz leads the pitching staff with a 4-1 record and has a 6.66 ERA in a team-high 48.2 innings and is expected to start Sunday's series finale. Redshirt senior Jacob Petersheim (Broadway, Va./Broadway) is tied for the team lead in strikeouts with 29 and has made nine starts and is 2-3 with a 7.17 ERA, while sophomore Frank Flores Jr. (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) has logged 24 strikeouts in 37.1 innings and is 2-3 with an 8.20 ERA.

The top arms out of the bullpen this season the Pack have been senior Alex Oliver (Grove, Okla./Coffeyville CC), senior Luke Ruby (Fort Collins, Colo./Resurrection Christian), senior Cole Bloomer (Arapahoe, Colo./Lamar CC) and junior Jack Novak (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge).

Oliver has made 12 appearances and is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA and has one save in 11.2 innings, while Ruby has been effective in both starting and relief roles, posting a 2-1 record and a 4.13 ERA in nine appearances and four starts, while Bloomer is 5-1 with a 6.08 ERA and in 23.2 innings, he has tallied 15 strikeouts, and Novak is 1-5 with a team-leading three saves and has struck out 23 in 31 innings of work.

Defensively, CSU Pueblo ranks fourth in the RMAC with a .957 fielding percentage and leads the conference with 39 double plays, which is  second nationally in Division II behind Cal State-Los Angeles' Division II-leading 45 double plays.

Bobby Applegate is in his fifth season leading the ThunderWolves and owns a 128-119 career record at CSU Pueblo, including a 83-65 mark in RMAC play.

ABOUT MSU DENVER
MSU Denver enters the weekend with a 31-7 overall record and a 19-1 mark in the RMAC after taking three out of four games last weekend at home against Colorado Christian. Prior to it 7-6 loss to the Cougars in the second game of last Saturday's doubleheader, the Roadrunners, who are ranked No. 26 in this week's latest ABCA Division II Coaches' Poll, had reeled off 16 consecutive victories, including opening league play with an 18-0 record. The Roadrunners had swept their first four RMAC series this season, before taking three of four last weekend against CCU.

The Roadrunners bring in one of the top offenses in the RMAC this weekend as they are hitting an RMAC-best .362 and have scored 395 runs and are averaging 10.4 runs per game. In addition, MSU Denver leads Division II baseball in doubles with 111 and has hit 21 triples and 56 home runs while slugging .606 as a team and have drawn 189 walks and stolen 64 bases.

Junior catcher Noah Wicks leads the Roadrunners offense as he leads the RMAC in hitting with a .491 average as he has recorded 57 hits, scored 48 runs, hit 17 doubles, three triples, six home runs and has 44 RBI. His .845 slugging percentage is second in the league, while his 24 walks leads the team.

In addition to Wicks, redshirt senior utility player Alek Martinez is hitting .417 with 40 hits, 25 runs scored, 15 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 36 RBI, while redshirt senior outfielder Brooks Rasmussen is hitting .403 with 54 hits, 40 runs scored, 11 doubles, and 14 stolen bases. The Roadrunners have 10 players hitting over .300 this season, including five that are hitting over .400.

Junior utility player Michael Dietz and senior catcher Royce Vandine have combined to hit 17 home runs and drive in 64 runs as Dietz leads the way with nine homers and 27 RBI, while Vandine has hit eight home runs and had 37 RBI.

On the mound, MSU Denver is second in the league in ERA at 5.93 and opposing hitters are hitting just .291 against Roadrunners pitching on the season. The Roadrunners have recorded 300 strikeouts and walked just 146 in 306.1 innings and is tied for third in the RMAC in saves with six.

Junior Jake Syverson is the top starter for MSU Denver as he is 5-0 with a 4.91 ERA and in 62.1 innings, he has struck out 54 and walked 16 has tossed the team's lone complete game. In addition to Syverson, junior Sam Coffman is 3-0 with a 5.66 ERA and has made eight appearances and six starts and in 35.0 innings, he has struck out 31 and walked nine and senior Brayden McCollough is 3-1 with a 6.91 ERA in eight appearances and seven starts and in 27.1 innings, he has had 35 strikeouts and walked 16.

Perhaps the strength of the Roadrunners' pitching staff has been their bullpen as redshirt junior Carter Swan leads the way as he has made 14 appearances and is 6-1 with a 3.37 ERA and has recorded four saves. In 18.2 innings, he has struck out 29 and walked 10. Along with Swan, redshirt junior Drew Peters is 2-0 with a 3.44 ERA in 11 appearances and 18.1 innings, while senior Nick Vilims has made five appearances and is his 0-1 with a 2.16 ERA.

Defensively, MSU Denver has recorded a .967 fielding percentage, which is second-best in the league and has committed 42 errors, which are the second fewest in the league. In addition, MSU Denver has turned 23 double plays in 38 games.

MSU Denver is coached by Ryan Strain, who is in his ninth season directing the Roadrunners program. He has compiled a 260-164 overall record and is 172-86 in RMAC games. He had led the program to three NCAA Division II Regional appearances in the last four years and an RMAC Tournament Championship in 2022. Strain's teams have won at least 20 games in eight of his nine seasons in Denver, including five seasons of winning 30 or more games.