GOLDEN, Colo. - Colorado School of Mines walked off twice to secure a sweep of MSU Denver in a pair of wild games on Sunday.

Mines won the opener 3-2 in nine innings on Katie Leiker's single, then came back from a 7-0 deficit to win the finale 9-8 thanks to Kara Jones' two-out, two-run double in the seventh. It gave Mines three consecutive walk-offs after Clara Larson's eighth-inning home run won game two of the series on Saturday.

The series sweep was Mines' first over the Roadrunners (34-17 / 26-10 RMAC) since 2013, and the third RMAC series sweep of the season. The Orediggers (29-13 / 26-10 RMAC) assured themselves of no worse than the third seed in the RMAC Tournament with the wins; now tied with MSU Denver for second at 26-10, Mines could potentially be the #2 seed depending on how things shake out in the final four games next weekend. Colorado Mesa clinched the regular-season title and #1 seed on Sunday. 

On her senior day, Paige Noehring tied the Mines career record for stolen bases at 45.

GAME ONE - Mines 3, MSU Denver 2 (9 inn.)
Katie Leiker's ninth-inning RBI single gave Mines a 3-2 win to start the day as Mines and MSU Denver battled to extra innings for the second straight game.

The Orediggers had 12 hits but only managed two runs in regulation, coming from behind twice to send the game to extras tied 2-2. Carissa Terry singled in a run in the first to give the visitors a 1-0 lead, but Leiker's bloop single in the third scored Paige Noehring to tie it. Terry smashed her second homer of the series in the fourth to give the Roadrunners the lead back, but Clara Larson's single in the fifth plated Noehring again, tying it 2-2.

Both teams stranded go-ahead runs in scoring position over the sixth and seventh, but neither could capitalize. Mines left the winning run on second in Sonoma Toot in the eighth, but broke through thanks to the game's only error in the ninth. After Stefanie Brunello put down a perfect bunt single to lead off the inning, Noehring reached on an error trying to sacrifice Brunello over, and Kara Walling loaded the bases with an infield single. That set up Leiker, who poked a single up the middle to score Brunello and win.

Maddie Rogers had a fine start, allowing only five hits over six innings and giving up two runs. Claire Stringfellow (10-3) was lights-out in relief, entering with two runners on and no outs in the seventh and retiring all nine batters she faced into the ninth. Darby McGhee (9-3) went the distance and struck out six in the loss.

Four Orediggers - Noehring, Walling, Leiker, and Larson - had two hits apiece as the top four in Mines' lineup combined for eight hits and all three RBI.

GAME TWO - Mines 9, MSU Denver 8
Kara Jones' walk-off double capped a wild series finale as Mines erased a seven-run deficit to win 9-8.

The Orediggers trailed 7-0 in the third and 8-7 entering their final at-bat, but were unphased each time as they scored eight runs over the last three innings to win. Jones went 3-for-4 and tied the Mines single-game record for doubles becoming only the fourth player in program history and first since 2008 to hit three in a game.

The Roadrunners broke out for a four-run second keyed by Annika Anderson's bases-clearing double, and piled on three more runs in the third on RBIs from Hayley Fields and Anderson to lead 7-0.

Mines began to chip away in the third when Pua Fujinaga's groundout scored Sonoma Toot, but did the bulk of their damage with a huge five-run fifth. Jones and Toot went for back-to-back RBI doubles to start the rally, and Kara Walling's single plated Toot with an error allowing Kelsey Buechler to also come across. Katie Leiker's sacrifice fly made it 7-6 and gave Mines new life; in the sixth, a fielding error allowed Paige Noehring to reach and let Jones score to tie the game.

MSU Denver regrouped to take the lead in the top of the seventh, however, as Sarena Espinoza roped a two-out double to the gap to go up 8-7. That left Mines needing more magic, and they found it in their final at-bat. Walling led off with a bunt single but was thrown out at second on a Leiker fielder's choice, and Clara Larson flied out for the second out. Boston Ludlow provided a spark with a single, and that brought up Jones, who smashed a double to the track in left center to score both runs and win.

Claire Stringfellow (11-3) picked up her second win of the day throwing six innings of relief for starter Hallie Smith. Stringfellow struck out two allowing four runs. MSU Denver starter Hayley Fields took no decision in allowing four earned over 5.2 innings; Cassidy Smith (11-5) had the loss with an inning of relief.

NEXT UP
Mines ends the regular season next weekend at Colorado Christian.