Colorado State- Pueblo erased Colorado Christian leads in both contests, and completed the four-game sweep by defeating the Cougars 17-5 and 9-6 Sunday at All-Star Park.
Colorado Christian received great contributions from starters
Austin Atkerson and
Daniel Bednarski in games one and two, respectively, but the ThunderWolves feasted on the CCU bullpen to take both of Sunday's games.
The sophomore Atkerson exited game one after seven strong innings of work. The Reno, NV native struck out five and allowed just one run. Christian held a 3-1 lead late but the wheels came off in a nightmare eighth inning.
The Wolves exploded for 16 runs in the inning, sending 20 hitters to the plate and rolling through five CCU pitchers.
The story was a similar one in Sunday's final game. Bednarski skated around trouble all afternoon to throw 6 1/3, scattering 14 hits but stranding a dozen Pueblo runners on the base paths. CSUP finally converted their hits into runs and took back the lead on a two-run triple in the seventh inning.
A dramatic game-tying home run by
Taylor Dudley in the bottom half of the seventh seemed to give CCU life, but as the game stretched to extra innings the Wolves asserted their control and scored four times in the eighth to put it out of reach.
Dudley capped a solid weekend with four more hits on Sunday, raising his average to a team-leading .351. The senior outfielder also collected three more RBI to take his season total to 24. Also providing an offensive spark was
Jerry Gallegos. Gallegos had four hits on the afternoon and is now third on the team with a .341 average. The freshman also swiped three bags in Sunday's finale.
The Cougars will stay in Lakewood next weekend for another home series. Now at 10-20 on the season, they'll look to rebound as Regis University comes to All-Star Park for a four-game set beginning on Friday.
