CANYON, Texas – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball team saw its record-breaking season come to a close Sunday with an 11-4, extra-innings loss to Colorado Mesa in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament at Wilder Park.
 
Jace Selsor closed the season on a high note at the plate as he went 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Mikey Gangwish sent 2018 out with a bang as he hit his 24th home run of the year. Griffin Jones recorded two hits and scored a run while Joe Popp jacked his second triple of the season and tallied one RBI.
 
On the mound, Owen Pigati (1-1) made the start for Mines (37-18) but did not factor in the decision despite 6.1 innings of three-run baseball with four strikeouts. Tyler Blomster (9-1) suffered his first loss of the season in his second appearance of the tournament, striking out four Mavericks in 4.1 innings of work. Gabe Garvens faced three batters and allowed just one hit in shutout relief. Frankie Fitzgerald (3-0) got the win for Colorado Mesa (43-15).
 
Scoring was sparse in the early going as CMU hit a solo home run in the first inning and Mines manufactured a run in the bottom of the third frame. Mesa scored single runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings to take a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
 
Mines mounted a miraculous comeback with just three outs to go. Selsor led off the inning with a single and Gangwish smacked a one-out, two-run jack to make it 4-3. A fielding error by Mesa's right fielder put Derek Daly on second base and Popp tied the game with his triple to right-center field.
 
In extra innings, both teams put up zeros in the 10th frame. However, CMU plated seven runs in the top of the 11th inning to take what proved to be an insurmountable lead for the Orediggers. Three walks in the bottom of the 11th loaded the bases for Mines, but that would be all she wrote.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines holds an all-time winning percentage of .500 in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Orediggers' defense stranded 16 Mavericks on base in Sunday's loss.
- Sunday marked the ninth matchup between the Orediggers and Mavericks this season.
- Mines fielded 1.000 in its season-ending loss – the Orediggers' 19th error-free game of the season.
- Selsor closed the 2018 NCAA Tournament batting .500 with four runs and seven RBI.
- Gangwish drove in 10 runs in the NCAA postseason.
- Kehe's four runs in the NCAA Tournament put him 22 runs over the previous single-season record of 58.
- The Orediggers' surpassed the program's previous wins record by five victories with 37 on the year.
- Mines shattered its single-season home run record by 31, mashing 86 taters in 2018.
- Gangwish destroyed the individual single-season home run record by eight with 24 bombs.
- The Orediggers came just six triples shy of the team's single-season record.
- As a team, Mines combined to tie or break 15 program records in 2018.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
With 2018 in the books, head coach Jerod Goodale loses 11 seniors to graduation but is projected to return 30 Orediggers for 2019. Fans can keep up with the Mines Baseball team in the offseason on Twitter at @OrediggersBSB.
 
Keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.