GAME 1 - Mines 8, New Mexico Highlands 5
The top of the lineup combined for nine hits and six runs as Colorado School of Mines won a back-and-forth opener 8-5.
The Orediggers pounded out 13 hits led by
Kylie Redding's 3-for-4 days, while
Stefanie Brunello plated all three times she reached base as she and
Clara Larson each drove in two. Mines played as the home team.
Sydney Marchando struck out seven to improve to 2-3, allowing just one earned out of five total runs.Nathalie Blattmann (2-4) took the loss for NMHU.
Mines put two runs on the board in the first as Brunello scored on an error before Redding doubled home Boyd; NMHU quickly took the lead with a four-spot in the second, but Mines answerd thanks to Brunello's two-run double to tie it and Larson's RBI single in the bottom half to lead 5-4.
The Cowgirls tied it again in the third on an Oredigger error, but Mines took the lead for good when Larson drilled a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, and an error to score Brunello and
Kayleigh Krueger's sac fly in the sixth padded the lead.
GAME 2 - Mines 7, New Mexico Highlands 4
Kylie Redding continued her torrid day at the plate going 3-for-3 with four RBI to help herself in the circle as Mines won the late game 7-4.
Clara Larson also stayed hot with a 2-for-4, three-RBI game as she scored two runs, and
Stefanie Brunello and
Renata Boyd also plated twice out of the first two batting spots.
Redding (2-2) struck out four and allowed three earned to pick up the win; NMHU's Paige Varni (2-2) took the loss.
Larson got things going in the first when she singled in Boyd and then came home from second on Redding's single to lead 2-0. Larson then drove in
Lauren Decker and Brunello with a single in the second, but NMHU got on the board in the fourth with a one-run single by Gonzalez to make it 4-1.
Redding jacked a bases-loaded double to left-center in the sixth to make it 7-1, and despite Carli Ziegler's two-run home run and another run on an error in the seventh, the Orediggers held on to win.
NEXT UP
The two teams finish out their series Sunday with an 11 a.m. doubleheader.