by Ashley Schaerfl

The men’s CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves baseball team went head to head with the Highlands University Cowboys and the Adam’s State Grizzlies, tying one series and winning the other.

They started the series out strong with a win Friday, ending 3-0 at Rawlings Field.

The game was 0-0 up until the 7 inning when Zach Hoffman,pitcher, singled to third base, setting the tone for the inning.

With Hoffman, Chris Devery, infielder, and Derron Davis,utility infielder,on base, David Gunther, infielder, hit a single to left field. This allowed Hoffman and Devery to come in scoring the first points of the game.

Thanks to an error on Adam State, Brandon Castaneda, infielder, scored the final run of the game for the ThunderWolves.

“We had a real pitchers duel,” Spencer Dainels, an outfielder for the ThunderWolves, said. “Kyle Lazcano had a dominating performance.”

On Sunday the ThunderWolves took on Adam’s State again, making history for coach Stan Sanchez, with his 800 win with the team.

“It’s a great honor to be a part of such a huge game,”Dainels said. “To get 800 wins is something very special, and it’s a testament to the work that Coach Sanchez and the assistants have put in over the years.”

The game started with the ThunderWolves giving Adam’s State one run in the first inning and gaining one run thanks to David Gunther bring in Zach Hoffman.

In the third inning Adam’s State took the lead getting bring in three runs, while the ThunderWolves scored one, closing the ending 2-4.

By the seventh inning Adam’s State was up by two. Castaneda turned the game around but hitting a double to start off the bottom of the seventh. Castaneda was followed by  Gilbert Sauceda hitting a single, allowing Castaneda to advance to third.

Sauceda stole second followed by Jason Lighthall being walked by Adam’s State, with Jake Boyd pinch running for Lighthall.

When Derron Davis came to the plate he singled to left field, bring in Castaneda as well as advancing Sauceda to third and Boyd to second.

Sauceda and Boyd were the runs that put the ThunderWolves ahead thanks to hit from  Ambrose Romero.

The ThunderWolves were able get their bearings and finish the seventh inning ahead, 6-5.

The top of the eighth, the ThunderWolves held Adam’s State with 3 up, 3 down.

The bottom of the eighth started with Gunther hitting a grounder to second and being thrown out at first, followed by both Castaneda and Sauceda being walk.

With two on base Sonny Arellano hit a double to right center, bring home Castaneda and advancing Sauceda to third. Arellano was followed by Davis who tripled to right center, bring in Sauceda and Arellano.  The inning continued with Devery getting on second and bring in Davis with a double to second thanks to an error on Adam’s State. The final run of the game was Justin Wilman, pinch runner for Devery, after Romero hit a single to center.

Adam’s State tried to catch back up at the top of the ninth but failed, ending the game 11-5 and ending the series 2-0.

In between games with Adam’s State, the Thunderwolves also took on the Highlands University Cowboys as part of their weekend series. The series against Highlands ended in a tie Sunday before finish with Adam’s State.

Game one, which took place this past Saturday, started with Highlands gaining the first run of the game followed by the ThunderWolves taking the lead, 2-1.

The ThunderWolves were able to hold the Cowboys until the third, allowing them to score and tie the game, 2-2.

The top of the fourth, the Cowboys took the lead by three, closing the inning 2-5.The Thunderwolves were able to hold the Cowboys at the top of the fifth.

Morgan Smith was able to score a run for the ThunderWolves in the third thanks to hit from Lighthall.

At the top of the eighth the Cowboys scored another run putting the count 2-6. The ThunderWolves tried to make a comeback in the eighth with Hoffman making it to third base off an error. After the error Davis came to bat, hitting a single and moving Hoffman to home.

The teams continued on to the ninth, with both teams not scoring, ending the game 3-6 and giving the ThunderWolves their first loss of the weekend series.

“We fell just short of defeating Highlands, mostly because we made errors on defense,” Dainels said.

Game two with the Cowboys started with the Thunderwolves walking out strong, holding the Cowboys in the top of the first.

When the ThunderWolves came to the plate, Hoffman delivered a single to center field. Hoffman was followed by Gunther singling to left and allowing Hoffman to advance to third. With two on Castaneda brought in Hoffman for the first run of the game, advancing Gunther and making it to first. Sauceda singled to center bringing in Gunther and giving the ThunderWolves another run. With two on Smith doubled to left field bring in Castaneda. The last run of the inning came from Romero grounding to shortstop and advancing Sauceda to home, closing 5-0.

The Cowboys weren’t able to score until the top if the third, putting the game at 5-1, with the ThunderWolves still in the lead.

The reverse happened in the fourth with the Thunderwolves holding the Cowboys and Hoffman scoring one finishing the inning.

In the fifth, the game began to pick up again with the Cowboys trying to catch the ThunderWolves 6. The Cowboys were able to gain 5 runs, before the ThunderWolves could get their third out.

With the game tied, The top of the sixth started with the Cowboys scoring two runs and gain the lead. The Cowboys were able to hold their small lead, but not for long

In the bottom of the seventh, Romero started the inning getting hit by the pitcher and needing Byod to take over on the base. Spencer Daniels  came up with a bunt, singling to second and advancing Byod. Hoffman then came up and creamed a single to left, advancing Daniels to third and pushing Byod home. Hoffman was followed by Gunther who grounded out to shortstop and was able to get an RBI, bringing Daniels home and advancing Hoffman to third.

The ending continued to stay heated as Castaneda hit a triple to right center, bringing Hoffman in for another run. Sauceda proceed to carry on the ending with a single to right and bring in Castaneda. The inning ended 10-8.

When the Cowboys came up to bat at the top of the eighth, the ThunderWolves were able to hold them, moving the inning in to the bottom half.

Tanner Fuhrman was walked during the bottom of the eighth, allowing him to advance, thanks to Gunther, and score the last run of the game.

The Cowboys had one last chance to catch the ThunderWolves in the ninth but were held, ending the game 11-8 and giving the ThunderWolves another win for the series.

The ThunderWolves head to Lakewood, Colorado this next weekend to face off with the Colorado Christians.