April 1, 2008

Pack gives DI New Mexico St. a run for their money

So much for the ThunderWolves being a DII pushover and a supposed easy win for Division I New Mexico State Monday.

The Pack bats were on fire, keeping pace with an equally potent NMSU lineup, logging 16 hits and nearly stealing one from the Aggies in a shootout, losing 17-15.

The ThunderWolves got going late, falling down 7-0 after two innings, looking doomed to suffer another bad drubbing. But the Pack put up a six-spot on the third inning as the first six ThunderWolves reached base and getting even more mileage from two Aggies' errors and a passed ball.

From then on, it was a case of "can you top this?" The Aggies put up three more runs in the bottom of the third, and the Pack answered with two in the fourth. New Mexico State kept it going with four runs over the next two innings, holding a 14-8 lead going into the seventh.

In the seventh, the Pack put together another big inning, scoring five runs thanks to a two-RBI, base-clearing double by Jon Proesl and a two-run shot by Thomas Cordova, bringing the Pack to within one, 14-13.

New Mexico State didn't let down, putting up three more insurance runs entering the top half of the ninth inning. Trailing 17-13, the Pack got off to a good start as shortstop Nick Balentine promptly singled to centerfield. In the following at bat, Mike Sanchez lined to center, catching Balentine for a beautiful, yet untimely and unfortunate, double play.

"Mikey hit a line drive to center, and their guy dives and snowconed it," Pack coach Stan Sanchez explained. "That's one of those situations that if the ball drops, we win."

Sanchez' claim holds water when you consider that the Pack immediately went on a two-out rally. Rutger Bovard and Proesl immediately reached on singles, and Cordova again hit them all in, clearing the bases with a double to centerfield. But the rally caps didn't end up doing any good, as pinch hitter John Kennedy struck out on the following at bat and ended the game.

Following the game, one thing was certain for a ThunderWolves team in the midst of a hard 12-game losing streak - their confidence was back.

"We were just one swing away and one play away," Sanchez said. "It was amazing. We were right there and we couldn't finish. But we feel good about our effort. Our guys were battling."

Tuesday's game marks the first time since 2005 that the Pack has taken on a Division I team, losing two games that year to Brigham Young University. The ThunderWolves had taken on NMSU once since 1994, winning two out of three in 1999 at Rawlings Field. Despite the layover against such competition, the Pack feels they now have the confidence they were lacking in recent weeks.

"Playing a DI school, you challenge the players to prove whether they belong here or not," Sanchez said. "We stepped up and did that. This is a team that has lost a lot of confidence lately, and the raised confidence level for our guys is huge."

The Pack will need to carry over that confidence to a milestone game of sorts tomorrow. Wednesday's game will be carried live on Altitude Sports Network, available in the Pueblo market on Comcast Cable Channel 63. It marks the first time ThunderWolves baseball has been available on a cable sports channel in Colorado.

"[The NMSU community] is really excited about it here, and we are too," Sanchez said. "Our guys are excited to be on TV. It's a really good thing for our program."

First pitch is at 2:05 p.m. tomorrow.