GOLDEN, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball team's produced its second straight 20-run game on Thursday night and extended its winning streak to eight games as the Orediggers rolled past Colorado Christian by a score of 20-8 at Jim Darden Field.
 
Jace Selsor, Joe Popp and Trevor Kehe all raked at the plate for the Orediggers. Selsor went 4-for-5 (.800) with three doubles, four runs and one RBI. Popp batted .750 and also scored three times while notching a triple. Kehe came just a single short of hitting for the cycle, tallying one double, one triple and one home run on a 3-for-5 night. He racked up five RBI and scored twice. Gabe Garvens and Trevor Howard were dominant at the plate as well. The duo combined to scored five runs and drive in four more with two doubles between them. Caden Bonds capped it off by driving in four runs out of the ninth spot in the batting order.
 
Owen Pigati (2-2) started with the ball for Mines and earned the win. Pigati overcame six runs on eight hits over five innings with six strikeouts to get the victory. Mitch Menard was stellar in relief, providing three full innings of three-hit, shutout baseball. Toby Scoles came in for the final inning of relief and notched two strikeouts.
 
As a team, Mines (27-9, 18-7 RMAC) produced a combined batting average of .429 and slugged .762 on 18 hits with 10 going for extra bases. Colorado Christian (11-27, 6-19 RMAC) hit .325 as a team but left 10 runners on base in the loss and only managed five hits for extra bases. Two of those extra-base hits were home runs. The win puts the Orediggers in a tie for #2 in the RMAC standings thanks to UCCS's victory over MSU Denver earlier in the day.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mines scored early, and Mines scored often. Pigati overcame two CCU hits in the opening frame for a shutout inning and that brought on the Oredigger bats. Selsor led off Mines' half of the inning with a single to right-center field and then stole second base. Popp and Mikey Gangwish were both hit by pitches to load the bases before Garvens laced a two-run double to left field. Trevor Howard's sacrifice fly made it 3-0, and Danny McDermott smacked a one-run single for a 4-0 lead. Bonds capped the five-run, four-hit inning with his single up the middle.
 
The Orediggers did not stop there. Popp, Kehe and Trevor Howard teamed up to score two more runs in the second inning. That performance canceled out Colorado Christian's pair of runs in the top half. Back-to-back triples from Popp and Kehe brought Mines' run total to nine in the bottom of the third. At that point in the game, the score was 9-5 thanks to back-to-back home runs for CCU in the top half of the third frame.
 
Colorado Christian added another run in the fourth stanza while shutting down the home team at the plate. However, the scoring lull for Mines was only momentary. Selsor took advantage of a Cougars' miscue in the bottom of the fifth and came into score on a throwing error by the catcher. The fifth inning was Pigati's last and was easily his best of the night, featuring two strikeouts as the visitors went down in order.
Mines' most explosive inning of the night came after the seventh inning stretch with eight runs on six hits for an 18-6 lead. The outburst was highlighted by Kehe's three-run home run to the opposite field in right-center. Bond's two-out double down the left-field line scored three more and Selsor followed up in the next at-bat with his third double of the game. Two runs for Mines in the eighth and two for CCU in the ninth were all trivial as Menard and Scoles teamed up to finish out the game.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines is averaging 19.3 runs per game over its last three outings.
- Selsor's three doubles tied the program's single game record. He is the eighth Oredigger to accomplish the feat. John Howard was the last Oredigger to notch three doubles in one game in 2018.
- Selsor also surpassed Logan Smith on Mines' all-time doubles list with 50 in his career which ranks #3 in program history.
- Kehe slugged 1.800 on Thursday night as all three of his hits went for extra bases.
- Kehe also has 26 home runs in his career which is tied with Selsor for #5 on Mines' all-time list.
- Pigati is 2-2 on the season and 5-5 in his career with 79 strikeouts.
- Garvens hit the 10th double of his career Thursday night. He now has 26 runs on 30 hits with 34 RBI as a sophomore.
- Gangwish extended his reached-base streak to 26 games and his hitting streak to 11 games in the win over CCU.
- Popp has reached base safely in 23 consecutive games and boasts a nine-game hitting streak.
- Head coach Robby Bales is 27-9 in his first season at the helm.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines continues its series with Colorado Christian Friday night at 6 p.m. 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.