Colorado Christian vs. CSU Pueblo
Friday, April 23 at 6:00 p.m. | Saturday, April 24 at 2:00 p.m. (DH) | Sunday, April 25 at 1:00 p.m. 
Pueblo, CO (Rawlings Field)

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• Earlier this season the two teams split games hosted by MSU Denver
• All-time the Thunderwolves own a 50-8 record against Colorado Christian
• For games played in Pueblo, the Cougars have posted four wins in 34 opportunities

Series Schedule and Significance

The series begins with a nine-inning game on Friday evening then on Saturday for two seven-inning games then a nine-inning contest on Sunday. Whoever comes out on the winning end of the set will have the inside track towards the No. 5 seed for the RMAC tournament. Currently, the Thunderwolves are one game ahead of Colorado Christian for the fifth position. 

RMAC Standings

While Colorado Mesa is running away with the top spot and UCCS, MSU Denver, Regis are battling for the league's No. 2 spot, there are five teams in position race for the fifth and sixth spots. The final two positions for an RMAC Tournament appearance. The tournament will be hosted by the regular season champion Wednesday, May 19 - Saturday, May 22.
 

TEAM	RMAC Record	Win. Percentage	Overall Record	Win. Percentage
Colo. Mesa	21-1	0.955	24-2	0.923
MSU Denver	21-7	0.750	25-7	0.781
Regis	12-6	0.667	16-6	0.727
UCCS	13-7	0.650	17-7	0.708
CSU Pueblo	10-14	0.417	12-16	0.429
Colorado Christian	9-15	0.375	10-17	0.370
N.M. Highlands	5-15	0.250	7-17	0.292
Adams State	5-19	0.208	6-22	0.214
Colo. School of Mines	4-16	0.200	4-16	0.200

The Offensive Numbers

Jordan Medina has been the team leader across numerous offensive categories this season. Over the last six games he has raised his average from .317 to .360 with at least one hit in each contest. The catcher/DH leads the team is runs (22), RBI (19), homeruns (5) and total bases (59). Medina is getting on-base at a .420 clip as well. 

Among qualified players, Blake Mattey and Frankie Shearn III are each batting .306 while Luke Thompson (.333) and Russell Cruz (.320) each closing in on enough at-bats to qualify among the team leaders. 

As a team the Cougars are hitting .273 and are getting on-base at a .362 clip. 

On the Mound

Kylar Riordan and Justin Kiedinger continued to lead the team with seven starts each. Riordan has thrown a team high 39.1 innings while also leading the team with 27 strikeouts. Kiedinger has thrown 23.1 innings with 16 strikeouts.

Out of the bullpen JC Watne has been a force with eight appearances in which he has four saves and three victories to his credit. During his 13.2 innings of work he has 10 strikeouts. Devin Sutorious has mostly worked out of the bullpen in his team high nine appearances. The lefty has struck out 20 in 24.0 innings of work. 

... And in the Field

The Cougars are on a pace to have one of the best defensive seasons in school history. Their .970 field percentage ranks second in the RMAC this season while their 30 errors are the fourth fewest in the league.  

Did You See That ... School Record

In last Friday's win at Adams State Blake Mattey went 5-for-6 and came up just a triple short of the cycle as he tied Hunter Hayes and Luke Bote for the most hits in a single game. Recently the outfielder has raised his average above .300 as he is now batting .328 in 18 games played.

The Force Is Strong with Luke

In his last 10 games Luke Thompson has asserted himself quite nicely into the teams line-up. The freshman has at least one hit in eight of those games with a multi-hit effort in four of those 10 games. He has eight RBI and seven runs scored during that time frame. 

RMAC Coaches Poll

The preseason RMAC coaches poll picked the Cougars to finish seventh in the nine-team conference. Colorado Mesa was picked to win the league as they received eight of the possible nine first-place votes. Colorado School of Mines was selected second, garnering the other first-place vote.

Head Coach - Paul Koss

The 2020-21 season will be the first full season as head coach for Koss.

Paul Koss was named the school's full-time baseball coach on March 19, 2020. He was serving as the interim head coach for just over four months prior. He has been with the program since the 2017 season, serving as the squad's pitching coach before being elevated to the program's leader. 

Originally from California, Koss played baseball at Orange Lutheran High School, where he then went on to play at the University of Southern California. 

After four years of playing at USC he was selected in the 11th round of the 2007 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played for the organization for four seasons, reaching the AA level. Koss recorded 20 saves and 140 strikeouts as a reliever in his four Minor League Baseball seasons. He was a single-A All-Star while playing in the California League in 2008. 

In his playing career at USC he was the closer for three years ending his career second all-time in career saves, single season saves and appearances for the Trojans. This lead to playing for the Chatham A's in the Cape Cod league and earning a spot on the All-Star team in 2006 and received pitcher of the year honors.