DENVER, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo baseball completed a doubleheader sweep here Sunday afternoon as the ThunderWolves posted a 12-6 win over 26th-ranked MSU Denver in the second game of Sunday's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference twinbill at the Assembly Athletic Complex.
With the win, the Pack improves to 21-20 overall and 13-11 in the RMAC, while MSU Denver fell to 32-10 overall and 20-4 in the league. The Pack, who took three of four games in the series, opened Sunday's doubleheader with a 14-3 win.
After falling behind 3-0 in the opening inning thanks to a 3-run homer by Lathan Buzard off of redshirt senior hurler
Jacob Petersheim (Broadway, Va./Broadway), the Pack got on the scoreboard in the top of the second thanks to back-to-back RBI singles from junior catcher
JJ Fontana (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) and junior second baseman
Yahir Ramirez (Fontana, Calif./TAMU-Corpus Christi) to pull within 3-2, but the Roadrunners made it 4-2 in the bottom of the second on an RBI single from Marques Abulhosn.
In the top of the third, the Pack used four hits to plate five runs and take a 7-4 lead. The first two runs came home on a 2-run single from freshman rightfielder
Leonardo Peniche (Arcadia, Calif./Arcadia), while Fontana gave the Pack a 5-4 lead on his RBI single and then Ramirez followed with a two-run double to right center to push the Pack's lead to three runs.
The Roadrunners used a wild pitch from senior hurler
Alex Oliver (Grove, Okla./Coffeyville CC) to pull within 7-5 in the bottom of the third.
CSU Pueblo answered back in the top of the fourth as they used an RBI double from junior shortstop
Jimmy Pelletier (Laval, Quebec/University of San Francisco) and an RBI single by Peniche to plate two runs and take a 9-5 lead.
Brayden Oram led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run to pull MSU Denver within 9-6, before junior third baseman
Jason Arriola (Riverside, Calif./Norco) drilled a 3-2 pitch from Carter Swan out of the ballpark for a 3-run homer to push the Pack's lead to 12-6.
Arriola finished 1-for-3 at the plate with 3 RBI and two runs scored, while Peniche went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI, and Ramirez was also 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and 3 RBI. Fontana was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, and Pelletier had two hits, including a double, scored twice, and drove in a run.
The Pack finished with 11 hits and drew seven walks in the nightcap of the doubleheader and scored in four consecutive innings from the second through the fifth to earn its second straight RMAC series win and remain in fourth place in the league standings with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
On the mound, Oliver (1-1) earned the win in relief as he tossed 1.2 innings and allowed three hits and two runs, while striking out four and walking none. The Pack bullpen combined to allow just two runs and five hits over the final 5.2 innings, with senior
Jake Olguin-Pacheco (Denver, Colo./Horizon), freshman
Cody Smith (Menifee, Calif./Liberty), senior
Cole Bloomer (Arapahoe, Colo./Lamar CC) and junior
Jack Novak (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge) pitched four scoreless innings to keep the Roadrunners offense in check.
MSU Denver, which tallied 10 hits in the second game of the twinbill, was paced by Buzard going 2-for-4 at the plate with a home run, a double, and 3 RBI. Royce Vandine and Brooks Rasmussen also had two hits for the Roadrunners, who lost their first RMAC series of the 2026 season.
Sam Coffman (3-1) pitched the first 2.2 innings and allowed six hits on seven runs, while walking four and striking out one.
The Pack left five runners on base and stole two bases, while MSU Denver stranded eight runners and hit into two double plays.
CSU Pueblo, which has now won eight of its last nine games, will look continue its hot play as they play a 6 p.m. non-conference game on Tuesday, April 21, in Albuquerque, N.M., against Division I University of New Mexico, before playing a four-game RMAC series next weekend (April 24-26) in Alamosa, Colo., against Adams State. The ASU series will begin with a single nine-inning game on Friday, April 24, at 2 p.m., before playing a doubleheader on Saturday, April 25, at noon and concluding the series with a single nine-inning game at noon on Sunday, April 26.
