Mines (2-14, 2-14 RMAC) at Colorado Christian (5-10, 4-8 RMAC) – Thursday, 3 p.m. – Lakewood, Colo. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
Mines (2-14, 2-14 RMAC) at Colorado Christian (5-10, 4-8 RMAC) – Friday, 3 p.m. – Lakewood, Colo. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
Mines (2-14, 2-14 RMAC) at Colorado Christian (5-10, 4-8 RMAC) – Saturday, 12 p.m. – DH – Lakewood, Colo. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

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ROUTE 6 RIVALRY
This Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the Colorado School of Mines Baseball team makes the 20-minute jaunt down U.S. Route 6 to take on Colorado Christian at All Star Park in Lakewood. With Easter on Sunday, the series begins Thursday with a single nine-inning game at 3 p.m. Friday features another nine-inning affair at 3 p.m. before the series closes Saturday with two seven-inning games in a noon doubleheader. Both teams are neck and neck for a berth in the RMAC Tournament so fans can plan for all four games to be hard fought.
 
SPECTATORS POLICY FOR THIS WEEKEND
Fans will be allowed to attend all four games at All Star Park located at 200 S. Harlan Street in Lakewood. Social distancing and masks are encouraged. Tickets can be purchased in advance through the CCU ticketing page. No dogs are allowed at All Star Park. Just a reminder that until further notice, no spectators are permitted at Mines home events. This policy will continue to be reevaluated throughout the rest of the semester.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Every Mines home game and all RMAC games can be seen live and for free on the RMAC Network at www.minesathletics.com/tv. Additionally, the Orediggers' home games will feature play-by-play commentary from Miles Dunklin who covered a handful of games during the shortened 2020 season. Unfortunately, this weekend's change of venue means there will be no play-by-play commentary. The RMAC Network can also be found on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Android TV devices by going to the app store and searching "RMAC". Fans can also follow @OrediggersBSB on Twitter for live in-game updates.
 
THE POD
After a multi-year hiatus, the infamous RMAC pod returned to the schedule in 2021, and every conference team participated last weekend. Mines' grouping included New Mexico Highlands and UCCS playing at Mountain Lion Park in Colorado Springs. The Orediggers dropped their opener to the hosts on Friday by a score of 7-0. What followed was a snow-delayed, 8-6 victory over NMHU. The game started at 2:30 p.m. on Friday and paused overnight due to snowfall in Colorado Springs. Play resumed Saturday morning at 10:30 p.m. and two pitches from Kevin Zapanta finished out the victory. Right after the resumed game, Mines dropped a 2-1 nail-biter to the same Cowboys. Sunday's finale was a 17-5 decision against UCCS despite two home runs from Noah Kuzma.
 
WEATHER REPORT
Thursday, Friday and Saturday promise to provide beautiful weather for baseball with projected high temperatures of 67 degrees, 72 degrees and 74 degrees. Partly cloudy skies are possible on Friday, but photos of unimpeded sunshine fill both Thursday and Saturday. Sunscreen is always a wise choice in Colorado while layers are encouraged as well. The versatility of a fleece-shell-windbreaker combo can never be overestimated.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO CHRISTIAN
Colorado Christian enters the weekend 5-10 overall and 4-8 in RMAC play while sitting sixth in the RMAC standings. The Cougars have lost four of their last five, but boast wins over NCAA Division I Northern Colorado, previously unbeaten Regis, CSU Pueblo and a pair against New Mexico Highlands. Jordan Medina fuels the CCU offense by hitting .385 with 13 runs and 15 RBI on 20 hits including three doubles, one triple and three home runs. He also touts eight walks. JC Watne is Colorado Christian's most effective pitcher, touting a 2-0 record with one save and a 1.29 ERA in four appearances out of the bullpen. Additionally, Watne has five strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work. Kyler Riordan, Justin Kiedinger, Devin Sutorious and Connor McCollum make up the CCU starting rotation on the mound.
 
COUGARS – NOT THAT ORIGINAL
Last weekend, fans learned about mountain lions which are the mascot for UCCS. This week, fans could learn about cougars which is the nickname used by CCU. However, mountain lions and cougars are the exact same thing. Apparently schools like the cat theme too. According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, 35 college teams at any given level use the nickname cougars. Three more have adopted the puma nickname with two catamount mascots and two mountain lion mascots. That means over 40 programs have the exact same mascot. Yet, no school has adopted blowfish, grasshoppers or praying mantis. And that's all we have to say about that.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Since 2006, Mines is 51-24 against Colorado Christian while sitting 7-3 in the last 10 matchups between the two teams. The Orediggers currently boast four straight wins over CCU dating back to April 20, 2019. Interestingly two nine-inning games between Mines and the Cougars were the only games played at Jim Darden Field during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. The Orediggers swept both those games by scores of 5-1 and 6-1. Tyler Blomster and Walter Pennington earned wins on the mound. Derek Daly, I-Ly Hsue, Noah Kuzma and Trevor Howard all hit home runs over the course of the two games. Hsue and Alex Bumpus added one double apiece. Mines' last loss to CCU came on April 19, 2019.
 
ALL STAR PARK
This week, Mines makes its first trip to All Star Park since April 23, 2017. The ballfield officially titled Keli McGregor Field at Coca Cola All-Star Park serves as the home to CCU baseball and softball. It was opened in 1996 and most recently received a new upgrade by way of field turf last spring. Colorado Christian's website described the venue as, "The miniature Coors Field on the corner of Alameda Ave. and Harlan Street." It is part of Gold Crown Foundation and has hosted numerous events including the CHSAA state championships. Colorado Christian entered into a long-term agreement with Gold Crown to continue calling All Star Park home. All in all, the place looks pretty nice after the new turf upgrade and the stands are pretty neat.
 
GROUND RULES
The biggest change to this season for NCAA Division II baseball is a truncated schedule as teams can only play a maximum of 40 regular-season contests this season. The RMAC schedule and postseason will operate normally, with the RMAC Tournament determining the conference's qualifier to the NCAA Championships. Until further notice, no spectators will be admitted to Mines home games due to university policy; road contests may have different policies and those will be posted on the Mines Baseball schedule at minesathletics.com and on social media as they're determined.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines takes a week off before hosting New Mexico Highlands at Jim Darden Field April 16-18. Live stats and video will be offered at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can follow Mines baseball on Twitter at @OrediggersBSB. They can also follow all Oredigger programs on Twitter at @MinesAthletics and online at www.minesathletics.com.