Double-play combo is solid as Pack completes sweep of CCU

CSU-Pueblo 10, Colorado Christian 5
CSU-Pueblo 9, Colorado Christian 2

The motto of Pack baseball these days is simple and almost zen-like: "Things unfold as they should."

Following the Pack's four-game home sweep of Colorado Christian, which they finished Saturday by taking down the Cougars 10-5 and 9-2, the ThunderWolves have purged all memories of a 12-game losing streak, instead basking in the glow of a newly-minted five-game win streak, the team's longest win streak of the season.

At the center of the Renaissance is the domino effect of shortstop Nick Balentine.  Balentine came into this season figuring to be a strong choice as the ThunderWolves' number-two starting pitcher.  The team determined he might be healthy enough to come back to the mound, and instead opted to use his supreme athleticism at the shortstop position, a spot that his been in flux since starter Mark Sayas went down with an injury 10 games into the season.

Now, ten games into the Balentine experiement at shortstop, it is paying dividends as the Pack is suddenly showing one of the best double-play infields in the conference, which is having a domino effect on the rest of the team, included a maligned pitching staff that was getting shelled before the current five-game win streak got off the ground.

"The biggest thing is it helps our pitchers," Pack coach Stan Sanchez said of the team's infield defense.  "The pitchers now know they can pitch for the double play ball."

After a string that seemed to be controlled by Murphy's law, where anything that could go wrong did, a lineup change this weekend that sent regular leftfielder and the team's top RBI threat, Thomas Cordova, to third base, worked like a charm.  Cordova didn't commit an error all weekend long, and he even put together the first leg of a pretty 5-4-3 double play in game four of the series, one of six DPs turned in two games Saturday and part of eight turned in the four-game set with the Cougars.

"[Inserting Cordova at third] really gives us a chance to give our underclassmen experience," Sanchez said.  "Cordova gets some time at third going into next season, and [junior Jason] Fobes gets to go to left now that he's healthier, and we can also insert [junior Nick] McLaughlin into the lineup, giving us another left-handed bat."

The result has been a streak that hasn't been seen since the beginning of the season.  The ThunderWolves, playing to be in the field of six for the RMAC Tournament, moved up to the five spot with the sweep, going into a series next weekend with the current sixth-seeded team, New Mexico Highlands, at Las Vegas, N.M.  The goal is to play for as high a seed as possible, and get the team some much-needed experience playing in tense situations.

"We're trying to get these guys some experience in a championship atmosphere, and that's what the RMAC Tournament is all about," Sanchez said.  "Right now, we're trying to win, no matter if it's pretty or ugly, and become the best possible team we can be."