SILVER CITY, N.M. – The Colorado School of Mines softball team won both games on Sunday to post a series sweep over home-standing Western New Mexico after capturing game one by an 8-6 final and game two by a score of 8-7.
The Orediggers (25-20, 22-12 RMAC) pushed their current win streak to five games with the victory, and they have now won 16 of their last 18 contests.
A three-run first inning and a four-run seventh opened and closed the first game with a bang for Mines, with a leadoff homer by Macy Jones quickly putting Mines up by a 1-0 score. A triple by Sarah Lustgraaf, and consecutive RBI singles by Molly Thiebaut and Cassie Ford quickly added to the lead and put the Orediggers up 3-0.
WNMU (14-34, 9-26 RMAC) quickly answered with three runs of their own to tie up the ballgame, and a run in the home half of the fourth gave the Mustangs a 4-3 advantage, but Mines would tie up the game again with another Jones homer in the top of the fifth.
A two-run homer by Kamee Vessey in the top of the seventh started the four-run rally, and a pair of unearned scores by Thiebaut and Ford pushed Mines up front, 8-3. WNMU added two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, but junior hurler Kelly Unkrich closed the door after getting two flyouts to end the game.
Jones led the offense with 2-for-3 batting on a pair of home runs, and the junior leadoff hitter also scored three runs and knocked in two on her two round-trippers. Vessey added a 2-for-4 effort with two RBI and a run scored, while Lustgraaf and Ford each added their own 2-for-4 lines with a run scored with Ford adding an RBI.
Unkrich upped her record to 13-12 after allowing five earned runs on 13 hits while recording three strikeouts. She worked through 115 pitches in earning the complete-game victory.
Mines used a two-run top of the seventh to capture the victory in game two after entering the inning down 7-6. A two-RBI double by Paige Coufal to left center scored Thiebaut and Ford to put Mines up 8-7.
Unkrich earned the win in game two as well and upped her record to 14-12 with the win. She made a relief appearance in the second inning and allowed just four hits and no runs after coming in the game trailing 7-3 after WNMU scored seven runs over the first two innings. She struck out three batters while working through 95 pitches – giving her a grand total of 210 on the day.
Ford finished 3-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored, including a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Thiebaut added a 2-for-4 batting line with three RBI of her own, including a solo homer in the third inning.
Coufal recorded her two RBI on a 1-for-4 batting line and Morgan Anderson added a 2-for-4 effort to account for the four multi-hit efforts by the Orediggers in game two.
Mines will return to action on Wednesday when the squad travels south to face UC-Colorado Springs in a doubleheader beginning at 5:30 p.m.
