Photo: ASU Sports Information
ALAMOSA, Colo. - Colorado School of Mines got back to baseball play on Saturday, splitting a pair of high-scoring games at Adams State.
Mines won the opener 13-11 before a Grizzly rally and walkoff gave them an 11-10 win in the nightcap. The Orediggers (5-17) were returning to action for the first time since April 3.
GAME 1 - MINES 13, ADAMS STATE 11
The Orediggers won a back-and-forth slugfest to start the day as RBI from
Gabe Garvens and
Toby Scoles in the eighth broke a tie game in the 13-11 win.
Mines pounded out 17 hits led by three-hit games from
Jason Hall and Garvens, while Scoles and
Danny McDermott each homered. Garvens drove in three runs to lead Mines.
Scoles' solo shot in the first started the scoring, but ASU manufactured three runs in their half before adding two more in the third for a 5-1 lead. Mines went on a huge tear starting with a six-run fourth that included RBI from
Jason Hall, Garvens,
Caden Bonds, and
Luke Folsom; Mines' rally continued with a Garvens double in the fifth and McDermott's homer plus an error in the sixth to plate 10 consecutive runs for an 11-5 lead.
The Grizzlies answered with six straight runs of their own, however, thanks to a big sixth inning capped by Mike Balthauer's two-run home run before an error in the seventh allowed the tying run to score at 11-11. In the eighth, Mines went back on top as Garvens singled in the go-ahead run and Scoles drove in another to lead 13-11. Folsom worked two scoreless innings in relief and benefited from a key double play in the ninth.
The Orediggers used four pitchers with
Brayden Weyer starting and departing in the third after striking out four and allowing five runs;
Adam Houghtaling gave up four in 3.1 innings of relief, while
Jackson Bakovich (1-0) picked up the win as he kept his perfect ERA intact with 1.1 innings of work.
Luke Folsom worked a scoreless two-inning save, his first. Adams State used five pitchers with starter Alfredo Villa leaving in the fourth; Chance Strand took the loss in relief.
GAME 2 - ADAMS STATE 11, MINES 10
Jace Wytulka's walk-off sacrifice fly capped a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh as Adams State came back to win the second game, 11-10.
Mines led 10-7 heading into the final frame, but ASU quickly loaded the bases with no outs to complete their Senior Day comeback. Matt Bathauer drove in five runs for the Grizzlies, including a grand slam, while Mines was led by
Jason Hall's 3-for-4, two-RBI game.
It was another see-saw game as both teams held and lost leads. The Orediggers went up 3-0 in the second when
Danny McDermott scored on a balk,
Adam Houghtaling doubled in Hall, and Garvens' sac fly plated Houghtaling; after a Mike Bathauer homer, Mines got back to it in the third to extend the lead to 6-1 thanks to RBI by
Nash Neff and Hall plus a scoring error.
The Grizzlies chipped away with RBI by both Mike and Matt Bathauer in the third, but Matt Bathauer put his side ahead 7-6 with a grand slam in the fifth. The lead lasted just an inning as
Luke Folsom doubled in Garvens and Bond, and Hall doubled in Folsom for a 9-7 edge in the sixth; Bonds brought in Garvens in the top of the seventh for a 10-7 lead.
Adams State wouldn't quit, however, loading the bases with no outs in the last of the seventh and tying the game on Colton Goldfarb's two-run single. That gave Wytulka the walkoff opportunity, and he delivered with a fly ball to right to score pinchrunner Brody Bettis.
Mines used four pitchers with Folsom ending up with the loss pitching the seventh. Kevin Zapantha went 4.1 innings and struck out five allowing six runs. ASU starter Dalton Carleo went 5.2 innings allowing nine runs with six strikeouts; Jamison Fuentes earned the win working part of the sixth and all of the seventh.
NEXT UP
The Orediggers are scheduled to host a four-game series with UCCS next weekend.
