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Box Score 2 PUEBLO, Colo. – Playing a "home" doubleheader at Runyon Park due to stormy weather back in Golden, the Colorado School of Mines split the two-game set with CSU-Pueblo as they got an 8-7 victory in game one and dropped a narrow 5-3 contest in the nightcap.
Mines (23-11, 16-6) got back-to-back great starts from A.J. Valerio and Nate Olinger in matchup against Pueblo (22-11, 16-6) that featured two of the top teams in the South Central Region.
Game One: Mines 8, CSU-Pueblo 7
It didn't take long for the RMAC's top hitting teams to find some offense as they traded runs with each other in the first inning. After the Thunderwolves plated a run in the top of the first, Mines responded with Nate Olinger's fourth homerun of the season which was a bomb to straightaway centerfield.
The two teams then traded runs again in the third inning as Pueblo plated a run on a Dominick Bregar sac fly in the top of the inning. Mines then responded in the bottom half of the frame when Connor Lambert snuck a base hit down the right field line which sent Logan Smith running home from second base.
Right after Lambert's base hit, Olinger broke the RMAC record for career doubles with the 66th of his career.
Then, in the fifth inning, Mines got some help from CSU-Pueblo with an error on two outs that helped turn a 2-2 tie into a 6-2 lead.
With two outs and runners on second and third, an error by Thunderwolves shortstop Taylor Snyder allowed the first two runs of the frame to touch home. Then back-to-back RBI singles from Jace Seslor and Griffin Jones put the finishing touches on the four-run frame.
The Orediggers added two more runs the next inning when, yet again, a Snyder error helped their cause. With two outs and the bases loaded, Marvel doubled down the right field line to plate both Lambert and Daniel Ciraula.
Now leading 8-2, CSP-Pueblo came back to make the game interesting with a run in the eighth and four in the in nine to get within one, but Brett Kovach was able to shut down the rally for his fourth save of the season. Kovach was huge in the stretch as the Thunderwolves had the winning run on second, but he got the final batter to fly out to right field for the victory.
Game Two: CSU-Pueblo 5, Mines 3
After leaving the bases loaded in the first inning, Mines cashed it on its scoring opportunity in the second inning to take the early lead.
With runners on second and third, Logan Smith hit a chopper up the first base line. At the same time, Jack Bevan took off for home at the crack of the bat and snuck under the catcher's tag for the first run.
CSM again loaded the bases in the third inning, but once more CSU-P starting pitcher Cameron Weinberg escaped the jam unscathed.
Over the next four innings Mines starting pitcher Nate Olinger put zeros up on the scoreboard and allowed only two hits. Then, in the sixth inning the Thunderwolves finally found a spark and got two runs to take a 2-1 lead.
After the two runs, the game was suspended for an hour and 10 minutes due to multiple lightning strikes within an eight-mile radius of the park.
The long delay was to the detriment of the Orediggers as CSU-Pueblo plated three more runs in the top of the seventh to take a 5-1 advantage. Mines tried to dig out of the hole in the bottom of the seventh as they pushed across a pair of runs, but it wasn't quite enough.
