PUEBLO, Colo. – Behind a 15-hit offensive outburst and 11 runs combined in the seventh and eighth innings, CSU Pueblo baseball rolled to a 17-5 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory in eight innings due to the 12-run mercy rule over UCCS on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Rawlings Field, earning a split of the RMAC series against the Mountain Lions.
With the win, the ThunderWolves closed the regular season with a 26-24 overall record and an 18-14 mark in the RMAC, while UCCS completes the regular season with a 32-17-1 overall record and a 21-10-1 mark in the RMAC. The Pack finished the regular season fourth in the league standings and will open play in the RMAC Tournament on Wednesday, May 6, at 3 p.m. against third-seeded UCCS.
Before Saturday's game, the Pack recognized its 14-member senior class in a pregame ceremony. The 14 seniors this season are second baseman
Devean Alvarez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Chaffey College), student assistant coach
Cade Bleeker (Mesa, Ariz./Desert Ridge), pitcher
Cole Bloomer (Arapahoe, Colo./Lamar CC), infielder
JJ Cardinal (Pueblo, Colo./Southwestern), pitcher
Dominic Corgiat (Brookfield, Ill./Tarleton State), infielder
Taehyung Kim (Marana, Ariz./St. Cloud State), leftfielder
Cooper Latino (Parker, Colo./Douglas County), catcher
Cody Macias (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills), shortstop
Kyle Miller (Pueblo, Colo./Colorado Mesa), pitcher
Jake Olguin-Pacheco (Brighton, Colo./Brighton), pitcher
Alex Oliver (Grove, Okla./Coffeyville CC), pitcher
Jacob Petersheim (Broadway, Va./Broadway), pitcher
Luke Ruby (Fort Collins, Colo./Resurrection Christian), and rightfielder
Jeremiah Sanchez (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West).
After falling behind in Saturday's regular season finale 3-0, the Pack responded in the bottom of the second inning, capitalizing on an error by UCCS and a bases-loaded triple down the right field line to give the Pack a 3-2 lead.
UCCS evened the game in the top of the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Brendan Killeen, but the Pack regained control in the fifth as they used four walks, an error on a dropped foul ball, and a 2-run single by junior centerfielder
Logan Kelly (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley Christian) to take a 6-3 lead. The Pack's other run in the inning scored when Macias drew a bases-loaded walk.
The Mountain Lions trimmed the deficit to 6-5 in the sixth inning on a 2-RBI single to right by Matthew Shipley, but the ThunderWolves broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh as they sent 11 hitters to the plate and scored seven runs on five hits, with the big hit being a 3-run bases loaded pinch-hit double by junior infielder
Jimmy Pelletier (Laval, Quebec/University of San Francisco) to push out to a 13-5 lead. In addition to Pelletier's 3-RBI double, the other RBI's in the inning came from Alvarez, Sanchez, junior third baseman
Jason Arriola (Riverside, Calif./Norco), and junior designated hitter
Jake Hixenbaugh (Atascadero, Calif./Monterey Peninsula).
The Pack continued to pour it on in the eighth inning when sophomore outfielder
Dax Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) launched a pinch-hit three-run home run to right field, pushing the lead to double digits and sealing the Senior Day victory with a walk-off RBI single by Sanchez to right to cap the scoring.
Sanchez led the offensive effort, going 3-for-6 with five RBI and a triple, while Pelletier recorded two doubles and three RBI off the bench, and Alvarez added three hits and three runs scored. Kelly chipped in two hits and two RBI. In total, nine different ThunderWolves recorded a hit in the 15-hit performance.
On the mound, Corgiat (2-0) earned the win in relief of Petersheim, tossing 2.2 innings while allowing two runs and striking out two and walking two. Freshman
Cody Smith (Menifee, Calif./Liberty) closed out the game effectively, surrendering just one hit over the final 2.1 innings, while striking out one and walking one.
UCCS, which finished the game with eight hits, got two hits each from Quinn Medin and Bryce Peterson in the loss.
Christian Klehr (2-1), the second of eight pitchers for UCCS, took the loss as he tossed 0.1 innings and allowed three runs (two earned), while walking three and striking out none. Jacob Brown started for the Mountain Lions and tossed four innings, allowing five hits and three unearned runs while striking out two and walking none.
The Pack left five runners on base and committed an error, while UCCS stranded nine runners, had two errors, and stole five bases.
