CANYON, Texas – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball team used a complete team effort Friday night to take a 9-7, extra-innings win over Texas A&M-Kingsville as it improved to 2-0 at Wilder Park in the 2018 NCAA South Central Regional Tournament.
Owen Starr (1-0) was the hero on the mound as he tossed 6.0 innings of shutout relief to earn the first win of his career. Starr struck out four Javelinas and surrendered just six hits with one walk.
Walter Pennington (6-3) made the start for Mines (37-17) but did not factor in the decision despite five strikeouts over 5.0 innings of work. Joshua Valdez (1-2) took the loss in relief for Texas A&M-Kingsville (38-15).
At the plate,
Mikey Gangwish lived up to his title as Regional Player of the Year as he went 4-for-6 while driving in six runs including a grand slam and the game-tying run. Gangwish also scored twice as he came a triple short of hitting for the cycle. However, Mines' true offensive hero may have been
Colton Wardle who went 3-for-6 with three runs and hit the go-ahead dinger in the top of the 11th inning. Wardle also drove in two runs and stole a base.
Jace Selsor had a three-hit day as well while a total of seven Orediggers turned in multiple-hit performances.
Texas A&M-Kingsville combined timely hitting and aggressive base running to jump ahead of Mines early. One run in the first and three runs in the second inning put the Orediggers in a 4-0 hole.
In the top of the third inning, Mines' bats came alive.
Griffin Jones led the inning off with a double and Wardle drove him in to put the Orediggers on the board. Back-to-back singles from Selsor and
Trevor Kehe loaded the bases for Gangwish. The junior catcher did not disappoint, using a grand slam to left field to give Mines a 5-4 lead.
However, TAMUK's defense and pitching shut Mines down for four straight innings as the Javelinas scored three unanswered runs to take a 7-5 lead.
John Howard came around to score in the eighth inning and in the top of the ninth with two outs and two strike, Gangwish smacked a RBI single to tie the game.
Zeros in the top and bottom of the 10th frame carried the game into the 11th inning. That's when Wardle destroyed a 0-2 pitch and sent it well over the left-field fence, giving Mines an 8-7 lead. Gangwish added insurance by driving in Kehe with a RBI double to make it 9-7. Starr and the Orediggers' defense shut the door with a scoreless bottom half to give Mines the win.
NOTABLES
- Mines holds an all-time winning percentage of 1.000 in the NCAA Tournament.
- Friday's 11-inning affair is tied for the longest game in program history.
- Mines is 1-1 in the season series against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
- The Orediggers hit six doubles in Friday's win, breaking Mines' single-season record for doubles in a season with 138.
- Starr is now 1-0 with a team-best 2.37 earned-run average in 10 appearances.
- Mines has used just three pitchers over 20 innings in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Orediggers have recorded at least 10 hits in 33 games.
- Mines is 34-4 when scoring six runs or more.
- Kehe is currently riding a 17-game hitting streak and 18-game reached base streak.
- Wardle and Gangwish are both batting .455 with a combined six runs and 10 RBI in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Orediggers' 18 hits broke the program's single-season hits record with 581 on the year.
- Mines struck out a season-high 16 times against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
- The Orediggers have hit multiple home runs in 26 games in 2018.
- Mines sits just two wins away from a NCAA Division II World Series berth.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines will play its third game of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament Saturday at 7 p.m. against the winner of Texas A&M-Kingsville vs. West Texas A&M. Live stats and video will be available at www.MinesAthletics.com.
Keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.
