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BATTLE OF THE HEAVYWEIGHTS
Colorado Mesa comes to town Friday-Sunday for a four-game series with the Colorado School of Mines Baseball team. The Orediggers (28-10, 21-7 RMAC) sit atop the RMAC standings with the Mavericks (29-12, 20-8 RMAC) just one game back in second place. Mines holds a ranking of No. 14 in the baseball writers poll while Mesa sits No. 13 in the coaches poll. Mines is also ranked No. 30 by the coaches while CMU sits unranked in the NCBWA standings.
 
UNDER THE LIGHTS
The four-game series opens Friday at 6 p.m. with a single, nine-inning game under the lights of Jim Darden Field. It is just the second night game of the season for Mines and the Orediggers' first conference game after dark. The weekend continues Saturday at 1 p.m. with a doubleheader made up of two seven-inning contests. Mines and Mesa close the weekend Sunday at 12 p.m. with a single, nine-inning showdown.
 
SEASON SERIES HISTORY WITH THE MAVERICKS
Mines is 2-0 in 2018 against Colorado Mesa. The Orediggers took two games off the national-ranked Mavericks over RMAC pod weekend at Jim Darden Field. Mines took game one from No. 7-ranked CMU by a score of 13-10 as Tyler Blomster dealt Kyle Leahy his first collegiate loss. Game two was a 12-6 victory for the Orediggers as Mikey Gangwish went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI on a home run and a double.
 
THE WEEKEND THAT WAS
Last weekend, Mines battled its way to a series split with Colorado Christian at Jim Darden Field. The Orediggers dropped the first two games to the Cougars 3-2 and 9-1. On Sunday, Mines redeemed itself with a doubleheader sweep of CCU, winning game one 10-7 and game two 13-3.
 
CELEBRATING THE SENIORS
Sunday marks the final regular-season home game for 11 Orediggers. Jared Rodriguez, Griffin Jones, Colton Wardle, Drew Burman, Jake Ekstrom, Jake Englehart, Max Moxley, Cameron Maxey, Caleb Thomas, Jake Roberts and Matt Martin will all play their final regular-season contest on Jim Darden Field. The group enters the weekend as the winningest class in program history, helping Mines to 108 wins and three straight RMAC Tournament berths. The senior class also helped Mines to its first national ranking in program history and its first appearance atop the RMAC standings.
 
ROAD TO A RMAC CROWN
With its one-game lead atop the RMAC standings, Mines is looking to win its first conference title since 1922. However, standing in the way is perennial powerhouse Colorado Mesa. The Mavericks have won six straight regular-season titles and four consecutive tournament titles. The Orediggers have never won a RMAC tournament title and hold only two league crowns dating back to 1922 and 1912. While a series sweep would guarantee Mines its first regular-season crown in almost a century, history has shown no games are ever a sure thing in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
The NCAA and South Central Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) released the first regional rankings of the season Wednesday with Colorado School of Mines debuting in a tie for second with Texas A&M-Kingsville. Arkansas-Fort Smith (UAFS) sits atop the region at 29-12 while Angelo State and Colorado Mesa are tied for fourth. West Texas A&M (6), St. Edward's (7) and St. Mary's (8) round out the first regional poll of the year. At the end of the RMAC, Lone Start and Heartland conference tournaments, the top six in the NCAA regional poll will advance to the NCAA Regional Tournament.
 
BRAINS AND BRAWN
Wednesday marked the release of the RMAC Baseball All-Academic honors. Colorado School of Mines made up half the first team with seven selections including Drew Burman, Derek Daly, Mikey Gangwish, Trevor Kehe, Walter Pennington, Joe Popp and Jace Selsor. All seven qualified with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) over 3.3 and their on-field performance. They were voted to the top squad by the conference's sports information directors. The Orediggers added nine to the RMAC Academic Honor Roll – making up the largest contingency of any RMAC program.
 
RECORDS SHALL FALL
In 2018, Mines has toppled one team record, tied another and slayed two individual records. The Orediggers' 66 home runs so far this season have shattered the previous mark of 55 dingers from 2017. Mines' six bombs against Sioux Falls matched the program record for long balls in one game. Last weekend, Mikey Gangwish took over as Mines' single-season home run and RBI king. Fans can look for more records to fall this weekend as the Orediggers continue their historic season.
 
NATIONAL STAT RANKINGS
The Orediggers continue to lead NCAA Division II in slugging percentage (0.597). They rank No. 2 in home runs per game (1.74) and doubles per game (2.82). Mines' 107 total doubles ranks No. 5 in DII while its 66 home runs comes in at No. 6 in the country. The Orediggers also rank No. 5 in batting average (0.339) and No. 8 in scoring (9.0). Individually, Mike Gangwish is No. 2 in the nation in slugging (0.892), No. 4 in total bases (132), No. 6 in runs per game and total home runs, No. 2 in RBI per game and No. 4 in total RBI. Trevor Kehe has the fifth-most runs in the country and the 13th-most doubles. He's also No. 3 in the nation in runs per game.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
Mines is outscoring its opponents 343-213 through 38 games. The Orediggers are 20-1 when scoring at least 10 runs and 25-2 when scoring six runs or more. Mines is 11-0 when leading after the first inning and 14-0 when leading after the eighth inning. The team has recorded 16 games with zero errors and a mark of 13-3 in those contests. The Orediggers have only been outhit nine times this season but are 2-7 when that happens.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
Despite a home-heavy schedule and its prolific offense inside the friendly confines of Jim Darden Field, Mines has thrived on the road this season. The Orediggers hold a mark of 12-3 when playing away from Golden, going 10-2 in true road games and 2-1 in neutral-site contests. Mines hopes to improve its home mark of 16-7 in its final home series of the season before going to Regis in the season finale.
 
CONFERENCE STANDINGS
Mines and Mesa sit No. 1 and No. 2 in the RMAC standings. MSU Denver (19-21, 15-11 RMAC) is No. 3 thanks to two canceled conference games. Regis (25-19, 17-13 RMAC) sits No. 4 despite having more wins than the Roadrunners. CSU-Pueblo (23-17, 15-12 RMAC) and UCCS (17-14, 23-20 RMAC) round out the RMAC Tournament field if the season ended today. Colorado Christian (16-22, 11-17 RMAC), New Mexico Highlands (15-27, 10-18 RMAC) and Adams State (1-41, 1-27) are currently on the outside looking in at a tournament berth.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines hits the road to close the regular season May 4-5 with a pair of doubleheaders at Regis. Live stats will be available at MinesAthletics.com.