AUSTIN, Texas – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball team took down St. Edward's 13-5 on Sunday afternoon as the Orediggers completed their four-game sweep of the Hilltoppers at Lucian-Hamilton Field – extending their winning streak to five games.
 
The heart of Mines' order was absolutely deadly. In the top four spots, Trevor Kehe, Jace Selsor, Mikey Gangwish and Joe Popp combined to score 10 runs with five RBI on eight hits. The duo of Derek Daly and Ben Stinson in the #5 and #6 spots teamed up for six RBI and one home run. Popp was only put-out once on the day as he finished 2-for-3 at the plate with three runs scored. Gangwish was nearly as good, if not better, going 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBI. Stinson went 3-for-6 with four RBI of his own and Daly accounted for the lone home run – his fifth of the season.
 
Mines' pitching staff worked as a group to get the win. Owen Pigati got the start but did not factor in the decision as he bowed out after 3.2 innings of one-run, two-hit baseball with three strikeouts. Nash Neff came on for the win with 1.1 innings of relief while Nate Giefer and Will Scott wrapped up the last four innings. Scott's appearance was his first as an Oredigger. In total, Mines' pitchers struck out six batters and surrendered just five runs on seven hits.
 
Mines (6-2) is the first team since 2009 to sweep St. Edward's (7-6) in a four-game series. The Orediggers finished the weekend outscoring SEU 30-12. Mines only trailed the Hilltoppers once the whole weekend – in game three on Saturday afternoon. Otherwise, the Orediggers led from start to finish. Overall, Mines hit .291 on the weekend and only needed six hits for extra bases to get the sweep. The Oredigger pitchers combined for a staff ERA of 3.18 with 33 strikeouts.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Orediggers started it off fast and furious with three runs on three hits and one error in the opening frame. Selsor notched an infield single for his third hit of the weekend and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Gangwish picked his teammate up with a RBI-single to centerfield to make it 1-0. St. Edward's miscues carried over from Saturday's doubleheader as the Hilltoppers hit Popp and gifted him and Gangwish another base with an error on a relay. Then, it was Stinson's turn as he smacked a single past the diving third baseman into left field for two RBI and a 3-0 lead for Mines after just one half inning of play.
 
In his second start of the year, Pigati worked a 1-2-3 first inning then looked to his defense in the second. After getting the leadoff hitter to fly out, a couple of Mines errors put SEU in scoring position. The Orediggers had nothing to fear as Selsor flashed the leather yet again as he worked an unassisted double play to end the inning.
 
The Mines machine kept rolling in the top of the third inning with one run on three hits and another error. Popp sparked it with a leadoff double and a SEU error put Daly on first and Popp on third – runners on the corners. VanZale capitalized with a seeing-eye single just out of the reach of the Hilltopper shortstop – making it 4-0 Orediggers. Peterson added a 355-foot single to left field that forced the runners to hold until it fell over the outfielder's head, but SEU stopped the bleeding with a double play of its own.
 
St. Edward's built off the momentum of its defense and got on the board in the bottom half of the third. Three straight walks led to back-to-back strikeouts from Pigati, but SEU worked one more walk to break up the shutout. However, Mines got the run right back in the very next inning – and more. Kehe opened the fourth frame with a walk and then came home on another RBI-single from Gangwish. Popp laced a single to left field for his second hit of the day. The, once again, it was Stinson with the payoff hit as he put another single through the left side and brought home two more runs for a 7-1, Oredigger advantage.
 
The Hilltoppers looked to score again in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Mines would have none of it. Pigati worked the first two outs of the inning with ease before SEU loaded up the bases. Neff came in from the bullpen and worked with 100-percent efficiency. The freshman from Lake Jackson, Texas, threw one pitch and got one out to end the threat as the Orediggers maintained their 7-1 lead. Mines grew that lead to 9-1 in the top of the fifth inning, but St. Edward's was not done yet.
 
Over the next two innings, the home team scratched out three more runs to pull within five of the visitors. At the same time, SEU held Mines scoreless for three straight innings. It would appear that momentum lay with the Hilltoppers, but that was not the case. In the top of the ninth inning, the Orediggers did all but end the game with four runs capped by Daly's two-run bomb to left field. One run in the bottom half was of no consequence as Mines secured the win and the sweep.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines is now 9-6 in the all-time series against St. Edward's with five straight wins over the Hilltoppers.
- Daly's home run was his only hit of the day on Sunday. He's now tied for #6 on Mines' all-time home runs list with 19 for his career.
- Gangwish now ranks #3 all-time at Mines with 143 RBI in his Oredigger career.
- Popp finished the weekend batting .429 with six runs scored on six hits with one double.
- Sunday's win marks the first series sweep of Robby Bales' head coaching career.
- Will Scott, Jason Hall and Noah Kuzma all made their Oredigger debuts over the weekend.
- Head coach Robby Bales is 6-2 in his first season as head coach of the Orediggers.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines is slated to play its 2019 home openers March 1-3 against Sioux Falls at Jim Darden Field. Live stats and video will be available at www.MinesAthletics.com.
 
Keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.