GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo baseball saw its run in the 2026 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament come to an end here Friday afternoon as the ThunderWolves suffered a 13-1 loss to fifth-seeded Colorado School of Mines in the Diamond at Hamilton Ballpark.
With the setback, the ThunderWolves fall to 27-26 overall and went 1-2 in the RMAC Tournament, while Mines improved to 20-32 overall and advances to Saturday's championship round. The Pack, who were ranked eighth in this week's latest NCAA Division II South Central Regional rankings and have the No. 1 strength of schedule in the region, will now await their postseason fate as the NCAA unveils the 56-team field for the 2026 NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament on Sunday, May 10 at 8 p.m. ET on
www.ncaa.com. The top six teams from the South Central Region will advance to NCAA regional play next weekend.
In Friday's elimination-round game, the Pack was limited to just four hits against Alex Honeyman (5-4) as he tossed a complete game effort, allowing just four hits and one run, while striking out eight, including ending the game by striking out sophomore leftfielder
Dax Howard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) and walking none in his 125-pitch effort.
The Pack, who lost three of four games in the regular season to the Orediggers, got on the board first in the opening inning as junior designated hitter
Jake Hixenbaugh (Atascadero, Calif./Monterey Peninsula) led off with a single, moved to second on a bunt, and scored on an RBI single to center by sophomore first baseman
Tyler Clementz (Gilbert, Ariz./Basha) to give the Pack a 1-0 lead.
Mines tied the game in the bottom of the second with an RBI groundout and then used a 2-run single to center by Evan Bilter in the bottom of the third to take a 3-1 lead.
The Orediggers pushed out to a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth thanks to an RBI single to left center from Brody Duvall off of freshman
Cody Smith (Menifee, Calif./Liberty), who relieved senior
Jake Olguin-Pacheco (Denver, Colo./Horizon). Then they added three more runs later in the inning on a 3-run homer by Alex Dunagan to give Mines a 7-1 advantage.
Olguin-Pacheco, who made his second start of the season on Friday, tossed three innings and allowed five hits and three runs, while walking one and fanning none as he fell to 0-1 on the season.
Mines pushed its lead to 8-1 thanks to a one-out solo home run by Tyler Pina over the fence in left center and added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh on a 2-run double by Logan Parker to give Mines a 10-1 lead.
The Orediggers added two more runs to their total in the bottom of the eighth, thanks to a 2-run homer by Bilter to give Mines a 12-1 edge, and later in the inning, after the Orediggers loaded the bases, senior
Dominic Corgiat (Brookfield, Ill./Tarleton State) hit Parker with a hit to bring home the 13th run of the game.
Hixenbaugh, Clementz, Howard, and junior centerfielder
Logan Kelly (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley Christian) each had hits in Friday's game, while Clementz had the lone Pack RBI.
In addition to Olguin-Pacheco, Smith, and Corgiat, who pitched the final 1.1 innings for the Pack, the other pitchers who saw action were senior
Alex Oliver (Grove, Okla./Coffeyville CC) and junior
Clayden Brandon (West Herriman, Utah/Western Nebraska CC).
Mines tallied 14 hits in the win as Duvall was 4-for-5 with three runs scored from the lead off spot, while Bilter and Pina each had three hits and combined for 5 RBI, and Tyler Easter tallied two hits. Parker added 3 RBI, and Pina scored three times for the Orediggers.
The teams combined to leave 10 runners on base as the Pack stranded six and Mines left four.
CSU Pueblo also turned two double plays in the game to push its season total to 56, which is tied for the third most on the school's single-season charts.
