NCBWA DII National Poll

PEMBROKE, N.C. – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball team entered the national rankings Wednesday for the first time in program history as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) voted the Orediggers No. 23 in the country.
 
Mines' historic leap was fueled by three wins in RMAC pod play over the weekend including two victories over then No. 7-ranked Colorado Mesa. The Orediggers are 6-1 in their last seven games and sit 22-8 overall with a mark of 15-5 in RMAC play, sitting atop in the conference rankings.
 
As a team, Mines leads the nation in home runs per game (1.83) and slugging (.601). The Orediggers' 55 home runs through 30 games is ties the program record for home runs in a season. Head Coach Jerod Goodale has led his team to series victories in every four-game set this season including a three-game sweep of Sioux Falls. Mines also ranks fifth in in the country in batting average (.338), sixth in total doubles (85), third in doubles per game (2.83), sixth in total home runs, and 11th in scoring.
 
Individually, five Orediggers have claimed six RMAC weekly awards with Drew Burman and Tyler Blomster claiming RMAC Pitcher of the Week while Mikey Gangwish (2), Walter Pennington and Trevor Kehe have earned RMAC Player of the Week honors. Gangwish and Pennington have also garnered South Central Region Hitter of the Week honors from the NCBWA.
 
The only other RMAC program in the national rankings is Colorado Mesa at No. 12 and West Texas A&M is the only other regional representative sitting No. 8. The NCBWA South Central Region poll features WTAMU at No. 1 with Colorado Mesa No. 2 and Mines at No. 3. The Orediggers opened the season ranked No. 9 in the region.
 
Mines heads to Alamosa, Colo. April 13-15 for a four-game set against Adams State. Live stats and video will be available at www.MinesAthletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.