A series that was highlighted by twists, turns and late game heroics was topped off by a walk-off home run from Matt Shea that clinched a 7-5 win for Colorado State University Pueblo baseball (16-10, 9-3 RMAC) over Colorado School of Mines (15-9, 4-8 RMAC). The Sunday walk-off win sealed the series win 3-1 for the ThunderWolves.
For the fourth consecutive game of the series, Mines struck first with a run in top of the first inning and took an early lead. Two hits by Jacob Federico and Brady Prewitt did not materialize any runs and sent the game into the second inning with the Pack trailing 1-0.
Owen Rudolphi settled in on the mound and invigorated the Pack bats for the bottom of the second.
In the bottom half of the frame, Kysen Howard put the Pack on the board with a two-RBI triple to right center that scored Reggie Williams and Matt Shea. Howard crossed the plate off a wild pitch as the third run of the inning.
Defense began to settle in for the ThunderWolves and Rudolphi had his way with the Orediggers through the fourth inning. The bottom half of the fourth saw the Pack jump to a 4-2 lead after Brock Rodrigues crossed the plate off a throwing error by the Mines defense.
Johnathan Ramirez came on in relief in the fifth inning and retired the side in straight order. Ramirez continued to deal on the mound until being relieved by Charlie Williams in the top of the seventh inning. Ramirez's outing only resulted in a single earned run and kept the Pack with a 4-3 lead.
The persistent Mines offense struck back in the top of the ninth. Two runs flipped the script and put the Pack in a 5-4 hole headed into the bottom of ninth with the series victory on the line.
The bottom of the ninth saw Prewitt get aboard off a hit by pitch and then advance to second thanks to a Ty Lewis sacrifice bunt. Zac Hanenberg pinch ran for Prewitt and used his speed to the Pack's advantage.
Trey Vasquez jumped on the first pitch of his at-bat and smacked a well-struck ball down the leftfield line to score Hananberg with ease. Vasquez took advantage of a slow relay and raced his way to third for a one-out triple.
Vasquez's triple tied up the ballgame and setup Shea for another walk-off opportunity. Shea leapt at the first pitch of his at-bat and blasted a high fastball well over the leftfield wall to secure a walk-off home run for the Pack.
The heroic blast clinched the 7-5 win for CSU Pueblo and allowed the team to claim its third consecutive RMAC series win.
Shea had a home run, two doubles and two RBIs off a 3-4 effort out of the designated hitter slot to lead the Pack. Federico, Prewitt, Vasquez and Howard each tallied two base-hits apiece.
This is the third walk-off victory of the season for the Pack and second in three contests. The Pack move to 16-10 overall and 9-3 in the RMAC, as the team now sits atop the RMAC in a tie for first place with Colorado Mesa University.
The ThunderWolves hit the road on Friday for another four-game RMAC set with Adams State University (2-16, 0-8 RMAC). The first pitch on Friday is set for noon in Alamosa, Colo.
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