GAME 1 - CSU PUEBLO 5, MINES 3 (8 INN.)

CSU Pueblo hit home runs in the seventh and the eighth innings to rally back and win the series opener, 5-3.
 
The Orediggers led 3-1 heading into the seventh before Katelynn Ralston's two-run, one-out homer forced extra innings, and Taylor Puga walked it off in the bottom of the eighth with her two-run shot.
 
Kayleigh Krueger led Mines at the plate going 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Emilee Sloan also knocked in a run.
 
Krueger's single in the top of the first to bring Trystin Oshiro-Sano across put Mines ahead early, but the Thunderwolves got on the board with Isabel Griego's RBI groundout in the third to tie it 1-1. In the fifth, an error on Renata Boyd's at-bat let pinch-runner Taylor Wayne score from second, and Sloan's sacrifice fly in the seventh to plate Kailey Robb added a run to make it 3-1.
 
Pueblo's rally started with Ralston's homer to force extra innings, and after Krueger tripled and was stranded in the top of the eighth, Pueblo led off with a single in the bottom half before Puga homered to win.
 
Cassidy Chvatal left with the lead in the fifth after striking out four and allowing one earned. Lauren Decker pitched the balance of the game in the loss. Taylor Strupp had five strikeouts and allowed one earned run in the win.

GAME 2 - MINES 5, CSU PUEBLO 4

Kayleigh Krueger's layout catch to end the game highlighted a comeback 5-4 victory to end the day as Mines picked up the first win of its season and the Mike Coutts era.

The Orediggers rallied back from 4-3 down in the sixth on Renata Boyd's game-tying RBI and an error that allowed Trystin Oshiro-Sano to score in the seventh. 
    
Sadriena Rodriguez (1-2) earned the win in three innings of relief after Taylor Wayne got the start. Wayne allowed three runs through four, with Rodriguez one run on three hits. Sophia Lishner (1-1) allowed two earned of the five overall in the complete-game effort.

Boyd was 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and Hannah Roberts and Grace Gonzales also had two-hit games.

Mines fell behind 2-0 after the first inning, but quickly tied it in the top of the second as Boyd knocked a two-run single to center. CSUP's Puga singled in a run in the fourth but Roberts came home on a passed ball in the fifth to tie it again; the Pack once again went ahead on Ashley Tosh's infield single in the fifth, 4-3.

In the sixth, Boyd dropped a single down the leftfield line to score Paige Dompier to give Mines new life again, and Mines turned Oshiro-Sano's lead-off double into a run in the top of the seventh as she was sacrificed over by Krueger and scored on an E1 off the bat of Sara Larson.

The Thunderwolves again made things interesting in the seventh, but this time the result went Mines' way. With two outs, the Pack put two on with the winning run on first, and they nearly found a second walkoff on Searra Arellano's poke down the rightfield line; Krueger had the jump and layed out for the catch at the foul line, ending the game and securing the win.

NEXT UP

Mines and CSU Pueblo finish the series Sunday with an 11 a.m. twinbill.