Small-ball pays off as Pack splits with Metro

Metro State 3, CSU-Pueblo 2
CSU-Pueblo 5, Metro State 3 

There is a reason that the Metro State pitching staff is considered one of the best in the RMAC - the ThunderWolves found that out first hand Tuesday. 

But there is also a reason why the ThunderWolves are considered one of the best overall teams in conference, as Metro State found out, watching as the Pack relied on timely hitting and stellar baserunning to split a non-conference doubleheader.

After a down first game, in which Metro State pitcher Josh Eckert solved the Pack lineup to the tune of only three hits and a complete game en route to a 3-2 win, the ThunderWolves bounced back in a workmanlike fashion to claim a 5-3 win.

"Eckert pitched a gem out there," Pack coach Stan Sanchez said.  "But we were able respond in the second game."

The Pack put up two runs in the first inning as each of the team's top three hitters, Jon Proesl, Matt Wismann and Thomas Cordova, each reached base.  From there, the ThunderWolves relied on a quartet of pitchers to keep the Roadrunners at bay while sticking to small ball to overcome Metro State pitching.

After Pack starter Joe Proto left after three innings, Matt Davitt came on in relief, inheriting a 3-2 lead.  Davitt succumbed to Metro State hitting, allowing three singles in the fifth as the Roadrunners knotted the score at five.

But the Pack didn't let that tie exist for long.  Fiddling with the lineup, Sanchez made a variety of moves that brought Pete Klingsmith to the mound for the lefty-lefty matcup with pinch-hitter Johnny Zepeda.  The Pack lucked out on the move as Klingsmith promptly walked Zepeda.  A righty, Matt Backes, came in to try and finish out the Pack, but gave up a stolen base by pinch-runner Nick Balentine, and issued a wild pitch that set up the Pack's score on a fielder's choice by Nick McLaughlin.

From there, the Pack bullpen took over.  Ian O'Connor entered the game in the bottom of the seventh and a 5-3 lead and held the Roadrunners, getting the save and securing the win.

Overall, the ThunderWolves saw a drastic improvement in its pitching after giving up double-digit hits to Nebraska-Kearney last weekend, coming back with a five-hit and eight-hit effort, respectively, in Tuesday's games.

"The pitching improved a lot," Sanchez said.  "From Proto all the way down to O'Connor, we did a real good job bouncing back."

The split helps to clarify what the Pack saw as a snafu in the latest Baseball Writers of America regional rankings, which put the Pack at seven, right behind Metro State at six, which won 11 straight before losing to the Pack.  Currently, the ThunderWolves, at 10-6, are trying to play through injuries to its number-two pitcher, Balentine, and starting shortstop and centerfielders, Mark Sayas and Rutger Bovard. 

"We beat a real hot team tonight," Sanchez said.  "But when we get healty, we'll be better than a lot of teams.  Once we get to that point, I think we'll make a run."

The ThunderWolves will continue their homestand this weekend with a four-game series with Colorado Mines, with the first game starting off Friday night at 6 p.m.