Pack closes regular season with a fluorish
CSU-Pueblo now sets its sights on RMAC Tournament, which begins in Pueblo Wednesday night.
DENVER, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com - May 5, 2012) - CSU-Pueblo's bats awoke to deliver two wins to close the regular season, sweeping two from Metro State Saturday, winning games by 14-8 and 10-6 scores.
The ThunderWolves used big innings in each game to sink the Roadrunners, each time relying on extra base hits in high-pressure situations to build their leads.
CSU-Pueblo broke open a 5-4 lead in the 7th inning of the early game, plating five runs using classic, heads-up baseball.
The ThunderWolves punished Metro State for its mistakes, which included two errors and a walk to start the inning, following up the Roadrunner gifts with a pair of singles and an two-run double by Andrew Castaneda (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) to go up 10-4 and eventually claim the 14-8 win. Freshman Ryan Masterson (Fr., Albany, Calif.) claimed his second win in his past three appearances.
In the late game, CSU-Pueblo had to stage a slight comeback to take control of the game.
Trailing 6-4 in the fourth inning, the Pack started off with a bang on a leadoff solo homer by J.T. Greenhood (Sr., Pueblo, Colo.). The ThunderWolves then promptly loaded the bases, which led to an RBI-single by Mike Knueppel (Jr., Mesa, Ariz.) and base-clearing double by sophomore Conner Dunn (So., Louisville, Colo.) to lift the ThunderWolves to a 9-6 lead it would not relinquish en route to a 10-6 win.
CSU-Pueblo, ending its regular season with a 28-22 overall record and 25-15 mark in conference play, now focuses its sights on the postseason, which begins Wednesday with a first-round showdown with four-seed Regis at 7 p.m. at CSU-Pueblo's Rawlings Field. The ThunderWolves will try for its first berth to the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament since 2009, and may need to win the conference tournament to do so. CSU-Pueblo entered this weekend ranked eighth in the Central Region rankings, with only six teams qualifying for the tournament.
