GOLDEN, Colo. - Colorado School of Mines combined for 21 runs and 30 hits over a pair of wins to take two from UCCS on Sunday.

Mines cruised 12-2 in the opener, then had to hold off a furious UCCS rally in the nightcap to win 9-8. It was an important pair of wins in the RMAC hunt as the Orediggers remained in third place at 17-10 overall and 9-5 in RMAC play, with the Mountain Lions (14-15, 9-9 RMAC) sitting fourth.

The Mines bats supported strong starts by Tyler Thomas and Tyler Blomster as the Orediggers combined for 30 hits over the two games. Cody Marvel notched his 200th career hit in game two, with Trevor Kehe homering twice to go deep for the first time in his career.

It was the first meeting between Mines and the first-year UCCS squad.

GAME 1 - Mines 12, UCCS 2
Tyler Thomas allowed one earned run over seven innings as Mines pounded 14 hits to win the opener 12-2.

UCCS scored the game's first two runs, but Mines put up big numbers in the fourth and sixth innings to run away with the game. Cody Marvel went 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored, while Colton Wardle scored three times as he and Jace Selsor each knocked a pair of doubles. Marvel and Derek Daly both homered in the game.

After spotting UCCS a 2-0 lead, Mines broke through in the fourth as Mikey Gangwish and Trevor Kehe wrapped RBI singles around Selsor's two-run double to take a 4-2 lead. Marvel drilled a two-run homer in the fifth, but the game was put out of reach in Mines' six-run sixth. Wardle drew a bases-loaded walk and Gangwish hit a sacrifice fly to right before Marvel singled in a run; Daly capped it with a three-run bomb to left to make it 12-2.

Meanwhile, Thomas (3-1) was outstanding on the hill, allowing only one earned with a single walk and four strikeouts over seven innings. Jake Roberts and Josh Gregory each took an inning of scoreless relief. Eric Neeley (2-4) allowed six earned to be tagged with the loss.

GAME 2 - Mines 9, UCCS 8
Mines survived a six-run seventh-inning rally by the Mountain Lions to hang on for a 9-8 win in game two.

Connor Lambert went 4-for-4 with 3 RBI and Trevor Kehe went yard twice on solo shots to lead the Mines offense, which generated 16 hits. That supported a quality start from Tyler Blomster, who allowed two runs and struck out five over five full innings.

Mines wasted no time going ahead as Colton Wardle and Cody Marvel drove in first-inning runs, and Lambert and Mikey Gangwish made it 5-0 with base hits in the second. Kehe hit his first collegiate home run in the third to make it 6-0.

UCCS got two runs back on Bryan Chapin's two-run double in the fourth, but Lambert's single in the fourth and Kehe's lead-off homer to deep center in the fifth put Mines up 8-2, with Wardle's single later in the inning setting the lead at 9-2.

Sam Slusser threw a 1-2-3 sixth in relief of Blomster (2-0), but UCCS broke out for a six-run seventh against relivers Colton Martin and Matt Martin. After manufacturing a pair of runs to cut the lead to 9-4, Jamie Crabtree's grand slam made it 9-8, and Mines went back to the bullpen for closer Clark Martin, who shut down the Mountain Lions for three outs and his fifth save of the year.

Daniel Silva (2-2) took the loss, allowing all nine runs for UCCS.

NEXT UP
Mines and UCCS finish their series Monday with a noon doubleheader.