PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo Baseball split a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference doubleheader with UCCS here Friday afternoon at Rawlings Field, using a late rally to claim an 8-7 walk-off win in eight innings in the opener, before falling 4-1 in the second game of the twinbill.
With the doubleheader split, the Pack is now 25-24 overall and 17-14 in the RMAC, while UCCS moved to 32-16-1 overall and 21-9-1 in the league. The two teams, who will meet in the first round of next week's RMAC Tournament in Grand Junction, Colo., will conclude the regular season with a noon Senior Day game on Saturday, May 2. Prior to the beginning of Saturday's game, the ThunderWolves will honor their 14 seniors in a pregame ceremony.
Game One: CSU Pueblo 8, UCCS 7 (8 innings)
In Friday's opener, the Pack trailed 7-6 entering the bottom of the sixth inning, but used back-to-back doubles by senior rightfielder
Jeremiah Sanchez (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West) and sophomore first baseman
Tyler Clementz (Gilbert, Ariz./Basha) to tie the game and then used a walk-off single to right in the bottom of the eighth from senior leftfielder
Cooper Latino (Parker, Colo./Douglas County) to post the victory.
The Pack totaled 14 hits in the opener and got contributions throughout the lineup to overcome a four-run sixth inning by the Mountain Lions.
CSU Pueblo jumped out early, scoring once in the first inning on an RBI single by junior second baseman
Jason Arriola (Riverside, Calif./Norco) and added two unearned runs in the second thanks to two errors by the Mountain Lions to take a 3-0 lead.
UCCS chipped away as they scored two runs in the fourth on a 2-run homer by Trevor Dale and tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth inning thanks to a double and an RBI ground out by Bryce Peterson.
The Pack, though, answered back in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an RBI single by junior third baseman
Jimmy Pelletier (Laval, Quebec/University of San Francisco) and back-to-back RBI doubles from sophomore centerfielder
Dax Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) and senior catcher
Cody Macias (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills) to take a 6-3 lead.
UCCS Lions responded with four runs in the top of the sixth to take a 7-6 lead, including retaking the leaf on an RBI single by Matthew Shipley, but the ThunderWolves answered immediately as Clementz delivered an RBI double in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 7-7.
After a scoreless seventh, CSU Pueblo completed the comeback in the eighth. Junior designated hitter
Jake Hixenbaugh (Atascadero, Calif./Monterey Peninsula) doubled with one out in the frame, and junior pinch runner
Yahir Ramirez (Fontana, Calif./Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) later scored on Latino's walk-off RBI single to right field.
Junior
Jack Novak (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge) earned the win (2-6) in relief, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts and one hit to close out the game. Sophomore
Frank Flores Jr. (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) started on the mound for the Pack and tossed 5.1 innings and allowed seven hit and five runs, while walking two and fanning six in his 94-pitch outing.
Hixenbaugh, Clementz, Latino, Pelletier, Howard and Macias each had two hits in the win, while Sanchez scored two runs. With their two hits each, Clementez and Pelletier extended their hit streaks to 19 and 18 games respectively.
UCCS finished the game with 11 hits, including two each from Peterson, Tyler Genrich, Tyler Buchman and Quinn Medin, while Dale scored two runs and had 2 RBI in the loss.
Gerrit Erickson (5-4) took the loss for UCCS as he pitched 2.2 innings and allowed four hits and two runs, while walking two and fanning one. Joe McDemott pitched five strong innings as he allowed 10 hits and six runs (four earned), while striking out three and walking none.
The Mountain Lions committed two errors and left six runners on base, while the Pack had an error and left seven runners on base.
Game Two: UCCS 4, CSU Pueblo 1
In the second game of the twinbill, UCCS took control early and never relinquished it, as they posted a 4-1 win to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
The Mountain Lions struck for three runs in the first inning, including a two-run home run from Trevor Dale to take a 3-0 lead. The homer by Dale was his 27th of the season.
UCCS added an insurance run in the fourth thanks to a lead-off triple by Dale and an RBI single by Nolan Oliver to push in front 4-0.
The Pack, who was no-hit through three-plus innings by UCCS starting hurler Jason Fink, recorded its first hit of the game on a 2-out single to left by Latino.
CSU Pueblo would prevent a shutout for Fink in the bottom of the seventh as Arriola led off the frame with his fourth triple of the season and scored one batter later when Latino lifted a sacrifice fly to center to cut UCCS' lead to 4-1. Fink, though, retired the next two Pack hitters in order to preserve the win and earn the doubleheader split.
Clementz (4-3) went the distance on the mound for the ThunderWolves, allowing four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and a walk in his 86-pitch complete game. Fink (3-2) earned the win as he allowed just two hits and one run, while striking out three and walking two.
UCCS finished the second game of the twinbill with seven hits, including two each from Peterson and Dale. Latino and Arriola had the Pack's two hits in the game.
Both teams committed an error and combined to strand six runners on base as the Pack left two runners on base and UCCS left two on base.
