Facing an RMAC preseason pitcher of the year is never easy and the Colorado State University-Pueblo baseball team learned that Friday afternoon after facing New Mexico Highlands pitcher Drew Vassil. Vassil pitched a complete game, striking out nine, and allowing only three runs as the Cowboys rolled to a 7-3 victory in the first game of a doubleheader.

The game was right in the hands of the Colorado State University-Pueblo women’s basketball team before #6 ranked Fort Lewis College snatched it away for a 64-59 victory Saturday night at Massari Arena. The Skyhawks got all they could handle from the ThunderWolves who played a back and forth game all night. The game featured six lead changes and 11 ties with the ThunderWolves leading the game all the way until 3:56 remained in the second half. “We had the game where we wanted it. We just couldn’t finish the job, but we got to go back and get better because our season is far from over,” said coach Kip Drown.

In the final home game of the year for the Colorado State University-Pueblo men’s basketball team, the ThunderWolves soundly defeated Fort Lewis College, 91-64. The win marks the Pack’s first victory over Fort Lewis since 2003 when the Pack defeated the Skyhawks in overtime, 78-77. The win also helps snap the 0-9 winless record Coach Eberhart held against Fort Lewis. “I can’t even explain how happy I am right now,” said senior guard Marc Williams. “We’ve been working hard all week just to beat these guys.”

The Colorado State University-Pueblo football team has announced its recruiting class for the upcoming 2010 season. The class that includes 45 new signees is anchored by five recruits who are currently ranked as Division I prospects by national football recruiting Web sites. “We have a class that really emphasizes speed and skill aspect, where we feel like we needed to fill some voids,” said coach John Wristen.

It should be easy to get the motivation to play a crucial RMAC conference game late in the season. Especially when only the top four seeds in each division are eligible for postseason play. The Colorado State University-Pueblo men’s basketball team found its motivation Thursday night, defeating Western New Mexico University, 82-58. The game on paper was supposed to be closer than the final score indicated, but the ThunderWolves (12-8, 7-6 RMAC) dominated every facet of the game to come up with a crucial conference victory against the Mustangs (7-12, 6-6).

The night was supposed to be a celebration for the individual accomplishments of junior guard Rachel Espinoza. Espinoza was 10 points away from scoring 1,000 career points and the ThunderWolves (14-7, 10-3 RMAC) were playing the last seed in the RMAC Western Division, Western New Mexico University (4-14, 4-8). The contest turned into an overtime affair as the Mustangs pushed the Pack to the limit, but CSU-Pueblo pulled out an 88-78 win.

The Colorado State University-Pueblo women’s basketball team showed why it is a premier program in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference by grinding out a 65-56 win over Mesa State (4-10, 3-6 RMAC) Saturday night. The team failed to find a rhythm to its game as Mesa State kept the game close by not allowing the ThunderWolves to stretch the lead any higher than 11.

The Colorado State University-Pueblo men’s basketball team started slow and eventually fell short Saturday night against #17 Mesa State, losing 78-64. Mesa State opened up the game firing on all cylinders, shooting a magnificent 67 percent from both the field and beyond the arc.The Mavericks were paced by senior guard Mike Dominguez, who scored 17 of his 30 points in the first half.

On Oct. 30, 11 individual athletes and one team were admitted to the Colorado State University-Pueblo Athletic Hall of Fame at the Pueblo Union Depot. By the women, Nadia Fercha (Women's Basketball/Women's Soccer), Freda Hancock (Women's Track), Ivana (Women's Tennis) were honored. Pat Bekeza (Baseball/Men's Basketball), Frank Grant (Football/Men's Track), John Martinez (Men's Track), Chuck Pipher (Wrestling), Cal Tatum (Men's Basketball), coach inductee Blasing (Track and Field), Pueblo Chieftain publisher Robert H. Rawlings (contributor), and special inductee, Dale Rea, were inducted Friday. Also inducted was the 1960-61 men's basketball National Junior College Athletic Association national championship team.

Chase Vaughn is happy he chose to transfer to Colorado State University-Pueblo. The former Adams State College defensive end, now an all-American linebacker with the ThunderWolves, got to end his collegiate career with a bang Saturday, earning a measure of vengeance against his former mates as CSU-Pueblo downed the Grizzlies 41-7 in the finale of the 2009 season.

The ThunderWolves were definitely crowd-pleasers, Saturday, for the Homecoming game against the Western State Mountaineers as they took the victory 38-27, with Western Sate trailing the entire game. View the photo gallery.

The CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves volleyball team needed a win to resurrect any hopes of making the eight-team Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament, but they fell to Adams State College in three sets, 25-22, 25-18, 25-20. With the score tied at six in the first set, the T-Wolves found their rhythm and pushed the lead to 19-14. The Grizzlies responded with a 7-2 run to tie the score at 21-21 and won 11 of the sets final 14 points to take the first set 25-22.