DENVER, Colo. - Colorado School of Mines' bats awoke in an 11-run outburst as they took their RMAC opener from Black Hills State, 11-3.
The Orediggers (2-7, 1-0 RMAC) erupted for 10 hits including four doubles and a triple to support a strong long-relief stint by
Sydney Marchando, who pitched four shutout innings with eight strikeouts.
Kelsey Buechler tied the Mines single-game record with three stolen bases on the night.
The game was played at MSU Denver's Regency Athletic Complex and started more than an hour late as the host Roadrunners took on Chadron State in a tripleheader earlier on Sunday; the game also suffered a nearly 20-minute delay due to a power outage causing the lights to go off in the third inning. Game two of Sunday's scheduled doubleheader was cancelled due to temperatures below the RMAC's allowable threshold for play; the game will not be made up and Mines and BHSU will finish their series with a twinbill on Monday starting at noon.
Clara Larson led the Mines bats with a two-hit, five-RBI night while
Hana Mawlawi went 3-for-4 with a double and
Kendall Murphy drove in two runs on two hits. Mines bounced back from an early 2-0 deficit as they scored runs in each of the last five innings.
The Yellow Jackets got on the board with a run in each of the first three innings, starting it off in the first as Maddi Fidler singled in Alex Wiley, and Wiley drove in Brittany Henrickson in the second to lead 2-0.
Mines got things going in the third putting Buechler and
Kendall Murphy on with one out before the lights went dark during
Katie Leiker's at-bat. The delay didn't phase the Orediggers as Leiker worked a four-pitch walk after the resumption of play to load the bases, setting up Larson for a bases-clearing double to take a 3-2 lead. BHSU added another run on Fidler's double in the bottom of the third to tie the game 3-3, but that would be their final visit to the scoreboard in the game as Marchando entered the game to calm things down.
Mines' bats supported the pitching as a four-run fourth blew the game open. Buechler brought home
Kylie Redding to start the rally before Leiker singled in Mawlawi, and Larson's sac fly plated Buechler with
Stefanie Brunello drawing a bases-loaded walk to make it a 7-3 lead. The Orediggers poured it on from there thanks to Murphy's fifth-inning sac fly to score Mawlawi, a Redding single to bring
Megan Dickson across in the sith, and a two-run seventh that included an RBI Murphy double and Larson's RBI triple.
NOTABLES
- Buechler's three stolen bases tied the Mines single-game record co-held by Karrie Rein (2003) and Kari Gonzales (1999). Mines swiped a season-high six bases overall.
- Larson moved up to eighth on the Mines career RBI list at 114. She tied her career high for runs batted in with her third 5-RBI game in the past two seasons.
- Mawlawi's three hits were a career game high.
- Buchler scored three runs in the game three Orediggers - Murphy, Leiker, and Mawlawi - scored two each.
-
Kara Jones and Buechler each walked twice.
- Leiker collected her 150th career hit with her RBI single in the fourth.
- Marchando improved to 2-3 in relief of starter
Claire Stringfellow, who took no decision allowing three runs with three strikeouts. BHSU starter Alex Wiley (2-3) was chased in the fourth after allowing six earned; Crystal Amaral allowed four more in 3.1 innings of relief.
- Mines has won three consecutive RMAC openers.
NEXT UP
Mines and BHSU will finish their series Monday with two games starting at noon at MSU Denver.
