We are in for a show whenever the Colorado Buffaloes and Colorado State Rams meet for a Rocky Mountain Showdown. Saturday’s baseball doubleheader was no exception. The Buffs and Rams met for a chilly day of fall ball in a brief two-game series, with the first pitch of Game 1 thrown in 54-degree weather.
Sophomore ace Victor Moreno got the start for CU and threw an absolute gem. He ran the mound for five innings and gave up a pair of runs with a hat trick of strikeouts. The Buffs were able to get in the driver’s seat early, with a full-lineup rally in the top of first, coming just one batter shy of hitting around.
Juniors Nathan Hoffman and Will Gworek were able to light the match with back-to-back leadoff singles when a walk by sophomore Finn Simones loaded up the bases with no outs. Colorado State’s Cooper Harn was able to sit down two consecutive batters, but freshman Charlie Lesch began the scoring with a two-run RBI single. The Buffs were able to plate three more in the inning to start off Game 1 with a 5-0 lead.
Half of the runs scored by Colorado in Game 1 came off mistakes from the Rams, with only three recorded RBIs from Lesch and senior Andrew Garcia. The Buffs held a three-run lead going into the bottom of the seventh, and with a little help from closer Nathan Hoffman, were able to finish the game off a strikeout and take Game 1 6-3.
Freshman Luke Livsey got his first start with the Buffs on the mound in Game 2, but the Ram hitters burst onto the scene with a seven-spot in the top of the first. Livsey faced 11 batters and gave up four hits in his inning of work.
The stars aligned for Colorado State in Game 2, as they gave a massive cushion for Chase Brickley on the mound, who is arguably the best pitcher in the NCBA. Last season, Brickley threw 120 innings with an incredible 1.15 ERA. He gave up 57 hits to 128 strikeouts.
Brickley continued his dominance, getting pulled in the third after shoving six strikeouts and allowing no runs. The Buffs would get one run in the fourth off a pinch-hit RBI from freshman Richie Biborosch, but the Rams kept putting it in the zone and held the Buffs to a lone score.
Colorado was unable to rally in the bottom of the fifth and ended up losing in a mercy-rule, 16-1. Junior Zach Andrews was able to collect two hits, but of the 15 outs the Buffs recorded, 10 of them came from strikeouts.
The Buffs and Rams split, as Colorado now sits a 5-3 going into their final series of fall ball.
Saturday’s double-header had true spring season energy. Both teams took it very competitively, although these games don’t count towards much until February. The Rams beat out CU to win the Mid-American West conference last season, so CSU comes into the season with a target on their back.
The Buffs went with a new pitching game plan this series. In the six games they played leading up to this series, President Andrew Garcia and Vice President Nathan Hoffman set a script that their bullpen would follow throughout the game. They would split up the innings for a certain handful of arms and follow it as closely as they could. But for this series, that went out of the window.
Moreno threw for five innings in Game 1, which is the most by a Buff this season. Obviously, Game 2 didn’t go as planned, but with every day this team plays, we get closer and closer to seeing the spring-ready Buffaloes.
Over the last five games, Biborosch has emerged as one of the team's most productive hitters. Off 16 plate appearances, the freshman is slashing a .500 batting average with five RBIs. He and Andrews lead the team in OPS, but Hoffman still leads the team in base hits and the highest average at .538.
Three true arms have developed for the Buffs' starting pitching rotation: Moreno, freshman Eoin Plunkett, and junior Matt Longstreet, who was unable to throw against CSU due to illness. Moreno leads the team in innings pitched and has great numbers to support it: a 1.35 ERA and 1.25 WHIP, along with a team-leading seven punch-outs. Plunkett chewed through three innings of relief in Game 2 and brought his season numbers to four runs given up off seven innings.
Nonetheless, the Buffs continue to grow. The improvements seen since the first Saturday of the season have been prodigious, and they keep moving in the right direction.
“I think we did a lot of things well, but at the same time saw things like walks and lack of timely hitting (that) sets us back,” Garcia said following the series. “I’m hoping we can get all this tightened up as we head into our final series against Metro.”
The boys get a weekend break before playing in a three-game set against Metropolitan State, with Game 1 under the lights on Friday, Nov. 1. Stay up to date with everything club baseball on the Sko Buffs Sports media platforms.
Cover photo by Ryan Asaro/Sko Buffs Sports
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