GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo baseball team remained alive in the 2026 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament here Thursday by knocking off No. 2-ranked and top-seeded Colorado Mesa 9-8 in a back-and-forth 10th inning battle in the Diamond at Hamilton Ballpark, ending the Mavericks' 32-game home winning streak and handing CMU its first home loss of the season.
With the win, the Pack, who is ranked No. 8 in this week's latest NCAA Division II South Central Regional rankings, improves to 27-25 overall and advances to a Friday afternoon elimination-round game at 3 p.m. against No. 5-seeded Colorado School of Mines, while Colorado Mesa falls to 46-5 overall and will now look to remain alive in the double elimination tournament with an 11 a.m. game on Friday against the loser of Thursday night's winners bracket game between MSU Denver and UCCS.
Colorado Mesa entered Thursday's game sporting a 29-0 record at home this season and had not lost at home since suffering a 12-10 loss to MSU Denver in the semifinal round of the 2025 RMAC Tournament, but the ThunderWolves, who snapped a four-game losing skid in the RMAC Tournament, used four home runs and timely late offense to secure the upset victory over the Mavericks.
The Pack wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as junior designated hitter
Jake Hixenbaugh (Atascadero, Calif./Monterey Peninsula) took the third pitch of the game from RMAC Pitcher of the Year Jackson Eisenhauer over the fence in right-center for a home run to give the Pack a 1-0 lead. The homer was just the third this season allowed by Eisenhauer and just the second homer this season by Hixenbaugh.
CMU, though, answered right back in the bottom of the first on an RBI double to left center off the bat of Cameron Cartwright to tie the score at 1-all, and later in the inning, Landon Nunes added an RBI single to give the Mavericks a 2-1 lead.
Pack sophomore hurler
Frank Flores Jr. (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) battled out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the second to keep the score 2-1 as he struck out Ezra Farmer and then forced Cartwright to fly out to center to end the inning and leave the bases loaded.
The Pack retook the lead in the fifth as junior catcher
Jason Arriola (Riverside, Calif./Norco) led off with a solo home run over the fence in right and then junior third baseman
Jimmy Pelletier (Laval, Quebec/University of San Francisco) followed with another solo shot, this one over the fence in left center to give the Pack a 3-2 lead. Arriola's homer was his ninth of the season, while Pelletier's homer was his 10th of the season.
Trevor Tse helped CMU retie the game at 3-all after his RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, and Tate Blasi gave the Mavs a 4-3 lead later in the frame after drawing a bases-loaded walk from senior reliever
Alex Oliver (Grove, Okla./Coffeyville CC), who was the third pitcher in the inning for the Pack. Following Blasi's walk, sophomore
Tyler Clementz (Gilbert, Ariz./Basha), who was the fifth pitcher of the game for the Pack, relieved Oliver and got out of the bases-loaded jam by forcing Kennedy Hara to ground out to end the inning.
The Pack tied the game in the top of the seventh thanks to an RBI single to center off the bat of senior catcher
Cody Macias (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills) to even things up at 4-4. CMU, though, came back in the bottom of the frame and retook the lead on an RBI double by Kolby Felix to make the score 5-4.
Sophomore centerfielder
Dax Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) drilled an 0-2 pitch from Sage Ferguson to deep center for an inside-the-park grand slam to give the Pack an 8-5 lead. The grand slam was the third this season for the Pack. Before Howard's homer, senior leftfielder
Cooper Latino (Parker, Colo./Douglas County) led off the frame with a single, moved to second after Arriola drew a walk, and both runners moved up a base thanks to a bunt single by Pelletier before Howard's big hit.
CMU pulled within 8-7 in the bottom of the eighth on a pinch-hit 2-run double by Jackson Lapiner off of Clementz, and then used a sacrifice fly by Nunes in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and force extra innings.
In the top of the 10th, Howard opened the frame with a single, moved to second when senior second baseman
Devean Alvarez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Chaffey College) was hit by a pitch, and both runners advanced another base when redshirt senior shortstop
Kyle Miller (Pueblo, Colo./Colorado Mesa) reached on a bunt single to load the bases. After Macias struck out for the first out of the inning, senior centerfielder
Jeremiah Sanchez (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West) delivered an RBI single to right that scored Howard with the go-ahead run.
Fifth-year senior
Jacob Petersheim (Broadway, Va./Broadway), who was the sixth pitcher of the game for the Pack, worked around a one-out walk to retire the final two Maverick hitters to seal the victory and improve to 3-3 on the season. Petersheim tossed two scoreless innings in relief and tallied two walks and two strikeouts.
The Pack finished the game with 13 hits, including Howard going 2-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored and four RBI, while Miller, Pelletier, and Sanchez also had two hits in the win. Arriola and Pelletier each scored two runs.
CMU tallied 11 hits in the game and left 17 runners on base as they were 7-for-22 with runners in scoring position. Tse and Nunes each had two hits and combined for 3 RBI in the loss.
Flores Jr. went 2.2 innings and allowed six hits and two runs, while walking two and striking out one. Junior
Jack Novak (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge) tossed three innings and allowed one hit and two runs, while walking four and fanning three, and Clementz tossed 2.1 innings and allowed four hits and four runs, while walking two and fanning one. On the night, the Pack's six pitchers walked CMU hitters 11 times.
Eisenhauer threw five innings and allowed three hits and three runs, while striking out five and walking one. Abe Ahlberg (0-1), who was the seventh pitcher of the game for the Mavs, took the loss as he tossed two innings and allowed three hits and one run, while striking out three and walking none.
