ThunderWolves drop closing game of tournament to Regis

PUEBLO - Before the first pitch of Sunday's games at the CSU-Pueblo Preseason Softball Tournament, an almost spontaneous cloud of fog rose from the eastern plains like a phoenix, setting on the Rawlings Sports Complex and sitting for the rest of the day.

And like the fog, the Pack softball team had trouble lifting itself up out of the field, dropping its only game of the day 9-3 to Regis.

The ThunderWolves' originally scheduled late game with UC-Colorado Springs was called due to the fog.

The Pack's game had a similar storyline to the three games played Saturday in the tourney - a good start negated by mental mistakes and lowered confidence.

The Pack jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, manufacturing runs against a Regis squad that had won three of its four games at the tournament. But a four-run third inning by Regis negated that beginning, and the Pack seemed to spend the rest of the game searching for answers.

The culprit - inconsistent pitching and the inability to overcome mistakes.

One of those mistakes came in the third inning, when the Pack had a chance to answer Regis' four-run third with a big inning of their own. The Pack loaded the bases with no outs. But a strikeout by Kelsey Swanberg and a 7-5 double play on a popup to left negated the inning - and the Pack's fire.

"That was a huge inning for us and it was hard for us to get over not scoring runs in that situation," Pack coach Shane Showalter said. "It's early in the season, and this is the time to learn that we shouldn't let our mistakes and missteps linger in our minds."

The Pack dropped to 1-3 with the loss, and prepare to take on Adams State in a home doubleheader Sunday.