GOLDEN, Colo. – Oredigger outfielder Taylor White provided the Colorado School of Mines Baseball team a doubleheader split with Regis on Saturday as his walk-off double gave Mines a 5-4 win after dropping the frontend, 4-1, at Jim Darden Field.
 
White finished his day 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. His .667 average was tops on the team for the day. Alex Bumpus put together a second straight day of hot hitting as evidenced by his .600 average including one run on three hits. Mason Andrews made it a trio of Orediggers with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 and scoring two runs while smacking one home run. I-Ly Hsue scored twice and Moeck crossed the plate as well. Adam Houghtaling and Keene Tanaka chipped in RBI. Moeck also notched a double and one RBI.
 
Tyler Blomster (7-1) was the starter in game one and took the loss despite a complete-game effort featuring just three earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts in 7.0 innings. Kevin Zapanta started game two and nearly notched the quality start thanks to 5.2 innings of three-run, five-hit baseball. However, Zapanta did not factor in the decision but finished boasting nine strikeouts on the day. Instead, Zachary Kriethe (3-3) pitched his way to the win by way of 1.0 innings technically flawless relief. He did inherit a batter with a 2-0 count and issued a walk that was credited to Nash Neff who also appeared in relief. Besides the walk, Kriethe's official line featured zero runs, zero hits, zero walks, zero hit batters and one strikeout.
 
As a team, Mines (25-15, 10-13 RMAC) overcame .200 hitting on the day to earn its first win of the series. However, the Oredigger pitching staff kept Regis (24-20-1) in check as well. The Rangers only produced a .241 batting average and a combined .370 slugging percentage on four doubles and one home run in 14 innings of baseball. Mines' pitchers provided the biggest difference of the day by striking out a total of 14 RU batters. Oredigger hitters stuck out just six times and walked six more, but only produced two doubles and one home run for a .300 hitting percentage. Both sides were even defensively on four errors each for the day.
 
GAME ONE: Regis 4, Mines 1
Slightly more pleasant conditions greeted the Orediggers and Rangers at Jim Darden Field on Saturday afternoon after the teams agreed to move the start of the doubleheader back two hours. It quickly became clear that the name of the game (besides baseball) would be taking advantage of limited opportunities. Regis accomplished that goal on both sides of the ball.
 
The Rangers worked two runs in the second frame and two more in the sixth off a typically stingy Blomster. Defensively, RU limited Mines' opportunities to just one run on two hits over the course of seven innings. Houghtaling notched the first hit in the second inning. Bumpus reached base by wearing a pitch in the bottom of the fourth. McDermott advanced to first on a Regis error in the fifth frame. Andrews accounted for the Orediggers' only other hit of the game and their only run by smacking a leadoff, pinch-hit bomb in the sixth. Bumpus walked again in the same half, but that would be all the offense for the home team as Blomster's quality start and complete-game performance went down as a loss.
 
GAME TWO: Mines 5, Regis 4
After dropping the first two games of the weekend, the Orediggers returned to their roots and started generating offense by engineering runs. They plated Bumpus in the first and Hsue in the second – both on sacrifice flies. Those runs made it 2-2 after two full innings since Regis scored a pair in the top of the second, including one off an error by Mines. That 2-2 score rolled into the bottom of the fourth thanks to Zapanta's three strikeouts during the span and solid Oredigger defense.
 
Just past the halfway point of the game is when Mines made its move. Still working as engineers, the home team saw Andrews work a leadoff walk to start their half of the fourth inning. Moeck extended the inning by forcing a Regis error as the visitors tried to turn a double play. White singled up the middle and brought Andrews in to score. Tanaka followed that with a ground-ball RBI which scored Moeck and gave the Orediggers a 4-2 lead. But the Rangers weren't done. They hit a solo home run in their half of the fifth and loaded the bases in the seventh and walked in the tying run.
 
Kriethe entered the game and provided immediate cauterization services. Then, the home team finished it off. Hsue forced a Regis fielding error to start the bottom of the seventh. Two straight outs made extra innings a very real possibility, but White wasn't having it. With Hsue standing on second base after Andrews ground-ball out to third, the graduate transfer from Wisconsin-Whitewater worked a full count and took the sixth pitch of his at-bat to left-field, bouncing it over the outfielder's head while clinching the walk-off, 5-4 victory.
 
NOTABLES
- Saturday's doubleheader moved the all-time record between Regis and Miens to 122-82 in favor of the Rangers, but marked the Orediggers' 36th win at home in the rivalry.
- White's walk-off on Saturday was the second game-winning hit of his Oredigger career. He also hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth inning at Fort Hays State on Feb. 7. Kriethe earned the win in that victory as well.
- White now touts nine hits in 28 at-bats including two doubles and two home runs while wearing a Mines uniform.
- Andrews moved up to eight home runs on the season with his mashed potato in game one on Saturday.
- Blomster notched his third complete-game of the season, but took his first loss – ever – at Jim Darden Field. He's now 7-1 with a 1.69 ERA in nine starts and 10 appearances thanks to 58 strikeouts in 64.0 IP.
- Zapanta's nine strikeouts moved him to #1 on the team this season with 59 total.
- Despite his brief outing against Regis, Neff has still only surrendered three runs in eight appearances and owns a season ERA of 2.31 which ranks second on the team.
- Houghtaling extended his hitting streak to 12 games in the frontend, but saw it come to an end in game three of the series.
- Similarly, Scoles saw his 18 game run of reaching base safely come to a close as well. Nobody on the team has a longer streak this season.
- Coach Bales holds an overall record of 87-56 in his fourth season as the head coach at Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers close their series with Regis on Sunday at 12 p.m. at Jim Darden Field. Live stats and video on the RMAC Network will be offered for free 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.