PUEBLO, CO – Battling for the fifth position in the RMAC and seeding in the league's postseason tournament, Colorado Christian and CSU Pueblo split a Saturday doubleheader
The pair of seven inning games at Rawlings Field featured a handful of lead changes, an extra inning contest and big scoring innings.
Game One – Colorado Christian 5, CSU Pueblo 4 (8 Innings)
After each team succumbed to the one another's pitching staff during the first three innings, the Cougars broke through on the scoreboard in the fourth frame. Russell Cruz singled to centerfield which scored Luke Thompson and Jordan Medina to give Colorado Christian a two-run advantage.
Cougar starting pitcher Devin Sutorius kept the home team off balance through four innings by allowing just two hits and striking out three. However, in the fifth stanza the Thunderwolves broke through with four runs. In five batters they took a 4-2 lead with the big blow coming from a base loaded Ty Lewis double that cleared that bases.
Colorado Christian tied the game in the final frame when a Blake Mattey single scored Wyatt Crenshaw then an error allowed Eli Ludwig to cross the plate on the same play. After Jarrod Rivera kept the Thunderwolves hitless in their half of the last frame, the teams went to extra innings for the second straight day.
It only took one extra inning to get the win. Crenshaw hit a two-out single up the middle to bring home Tommy Orr for the winning run. JC Watne worked a perfect bottom half of the frame to earn the save.
Ludwig's two hits and Cruz's two RBI base knock proved significant in the victory while four Cougar pitchers allowed a season low four hits.
Game Two – CSU Pueblo 11, Colorado Christian 6
The nightcap had a similar vibe to the opener until late scoring lifted the home team.
CSU Pueblo took the lead with a single run in the second and third innings. In the Cougars half of the fourth inning, they knotted the score with an Orr double to centerfield that plated Connor Marschall and Cruz. The Thunderwolves responded with a four-run bottom half of the inning on a three-run homerun from Brock Rodriguez and RBI single by Adrian Martinez.
Colorado Christian continued its resilient attitude by scoring four in the fifth stanza. Medina hit an RBI single, Crenshaw scored on a wild pitch then before Cruz and Marschall added RBI base knocks of their own to tie the game at 6-6.
Unfortunately, the Thunderwolves put the game out of reach with a run in the fifth inning then a four-run, four-hit sixth inning.
UP NEXT: The final game of the series is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
