CLAREMORE, Okla. – Despite trailing two different times on Saturday afternoon, the Colorado School of Mines Baseball team (7-0) was able to rally back for an 8-7 win over the Hillcats of Rogers State (0-5) at the Diamond Sports Complex.
The Oredigger duo of
I-Ly Hsue and
Mason Andrews led the offense with a combined batting average of .500 including a triple and a double while totaling seven RBI. Andrews accounted for the one home run from that duo and
Luke Folsom hit Mines' second long ball of the day. Folsom's final line featured two runs on two hits with one RBI.
Caden Bonds proved clutch as well, notching two runs on two hits including the go-ahead run.
Wayne Moeck and
Keene Tanaka also scored for the Orediggers and Tanaka had a double as well.
Blake Ripp (2-0) earned the win on the mound after pitching 3.2 innings of nearly flawless relief. He finished the victory with zero runs on zero hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
Ben Schoneman was the starter but did not factor in the decision. He turned in 4.2 innings of three-run, four-hit baseball including two strikeouts and zero walks.
Weston Siefken and
Marcus Lee also appeared out of Mines' bullpen.
The Orediggers once again limited extra base hits for the opposition, surrendering just two doubles in nine innings while adding one double, one triple and two home runs of their own. As a team, Mines hit .289 and slugged .526 which help offset three errors on defense. Rogers State committed two errors of its own and managed just seven hits total for a team batting average of .200. The Hillcats did win the strikeout battle by a margin of 6-5, and each team nabbed one stolen base.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saturday's game-time temperature in "beautiful" Claremore, Okla., hovered just above freezing. With Mines' own
Jim Darden Field completely covered in snow back home, the seemingly played in favor of the visitors. And just as they have in every game this year, the Orediggers delivered by getting on the scoreboard first. It was Andrews delivering a two-out, two-run single in the opening frame to give Mines a 2-0 lead. However, Rogers State immediately responded with a single and a double to tie the game at 2-2 after one inning of play.
Four combined runs in the first frame proved to be a bit of a misnomer as a pitchers' duel and defensive battle broke out for innings two, three, four and five. Schoneman retired nine of 10 Hillcat batters as part of that span while RSU's defense worked out two walks, two errors and an Oredigger hit. Then, in the bottom of the fifth, Rogers State took a 3-2 lead on another back-to-back hit combo featuring a double and a single again. This time it was Mines clapping back with Andrews' two-run home run in the top of the sixth which scored Moeck and pushed the visitors back into the lead. The Orediggers even expanded it to 6-3 in the same frame thanks to Hsue's two-out, two-run triple, but the Hillcats were far from done.
The winless hosts matched Mines' four-run, four-hit top half with a four-run, three-hit bottom half. The difference was two Oredigger errors making two of RSU's four runs unearned. Either way, that brought Rogers State back ahead, 7-6, with just three innings left to play. But three innings proved enough. Folsom led off the seventh with a 1-0, solo shot to center field. That tied the game at 7-7. Then, Bonds completed the comeback by smacking a one-out single to right field in the top of the eighth before scoring on a Hillcat error in the field. Ripp returned to the mound and casually clinched the win by retiring the last six batters in order on 24 pitches including two ground balls, two balls in the air and two strikeouts.
NOTABLES
- Mines is now 3-0 in the all-time series against Rogers State as Friday marked the debut of the rivalry on the baseball field.
- The Orediggers are 7-0 for the first time in two decades after starting 8-0 in 2002 before finishing 22-31.
- As a redshirt freshman playing in his first collegiate games,
Mason Andrews has five hits in 12 at-bats. Three of those five hits have been home runs. He's now hitting .417 and tied for the team lead in long balls and RBI in just three games.
- Andrews also had a stolen base on Saturday against RSU.
- Folsom is the other Oredigger with three home runs and eight RBI after his dinger on Saturday afternoon. The sophomore boasts six home runs in his career.
- Ripp's two wins this season are his first as a collegiate pitcher after playing one season at George Washington University.
- Hsue's triple was the first three-bagger of his career.
- On offense, Mines has outscored its 2022 opponents by a 57-24 margin, yet won four of its seven games by three runs or less.
- Defensively, the Orediggers have surrendered just seven doubles, one triple and three home runs in 57 innings of baseball. Their combined opposition is slugging just .317 for the season.
- Coach Bales holds an overall record of 66-39 in his fourth season as the head coach at Mines.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines closes the series at Rogers State on Sunday at 12 p.m. (CT). Live stats and pay-per-view video will be offered at www.minesathletics.com.
Fans can follow Mines baseball on Twitter at @OrediggersBSB. They can also follow all of Mines Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @MinesAthletics, and online at www.minesathletics.com.
