GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball team dropped its 2019 RMAC Tournament opener on Wednesday night as the Orediggers fell to MSU Denver 10-9 at Sam Suplizio Field.
Despite the loss,
Mikey Gangwish showed his mettle by going 2-for-3 with a double and a grand slam that resulted in five RBI.
Derek Daly batted .500 on the day with a home run as well while coming across the plate twice.
Daniel Ciraula and
Caden Bonds turned in multi-hit performances too. One of Bonds' hits was a triple that led to a run scored.
Trevor Kehe scored twice in the game while
Joe Popp and
Danny McDermott accounted for the Orediggers' two other RBI.
True freshman
Will Scott (1-1) made the third pitching start of his entire baseball career but did not factor in the decision. Scott struck out three batters in 3.1 innings of work.
Colin Morris (1-1) wore the loss despite two strikeouts in 1.1 frames of one-run, one-hit baseball.
Mitch Menard and
Gabe Garvens also appeared in relief for Mines.
As a team, the Orediggers (36-12) batted .278 but slugged .556 thanks to two doubles, one triple and two home runs. The Mines pitching staff combined to strike out 12 batters compared to just 11 from the Roadrunner staff. MSU Denver (28-22) notched three home runs and one triple but no doubles. The Roadrunners advance to face Dixie State in the winners' bracket while the Orediggers will face CSU-Pueblo on the losers' side.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The name of the game on Wednesday night was scoring, and Mines started it off in the first inning with a RBI-double off the bat of Gangwish, brining Kehe in to score for a 1-0 lead. Daly made it 2-0 the very next inning with a one-out dinger down the left-field line. However, MSU Denver scratched out four runs in the third frame including two unearned for a 4-2 lead. The Roadrunners would hold that lead until the bottom of the fourth inning.
Two singles courtesy of Daly and Ciraula put runners on first and second with one out in the fourth frame.
Jace Selsor drew a walk to load the bases. Then, Gangwish stepped to the plate. All it took was one pitch, and the Orediggers' home run king gave Mines with lead with a towering grand slam over the right-field fence, making it 7-5 in favor of the higher seed.
Both teams traded runs over the next three innings. MSU Denver scored one in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh. Mines answered with one in the bottom of the sixth frame and another in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a lead-off triple from Bonds and a RBI walk from McDermott. Defensively, Kehe came up with a huge diving catch in center field to maintain the tie ballgame. Unfortunately for Mines, that tie would end in the top of the ninth with MSU Denver's go-ahead, solo home run. With no response in the bottom half, the Roadrunners walked away with victory.
NOTABLES
- Since 2016, Mines is 18-5 in the ongoing series against MSU Denver.
- Gangwish now has 42 home runs in his career which ranks #3 on the RMAC's all-time list.
- Daly's home run marked the 31st of his career, tying the junior for #3 in Mines' history.
- Bonds' triple on Wednesday is the first of the true freshman's career.
- The Orediggers have not lost back-to-back games since March 24.
- Head coach
Robby Bales is 36-12 in his first season at the helm.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines continues the 2019 RMAC Tournament on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. in an elimination game against sixth-seeded CSU-Pueblo. 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.
