GOLDEN, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball team used red-hot bats for a 22-9 victory in game one of Saturday's doubleheader with Adams State before dropping the second game by a score of 9-1 at Jim Darden Field.
 
Luke Folsom provided the hottest bat in two starts on the day. He finished the twin bill hitting .750 thanks to two doubles and one home run leading to two runs and six RBI. Folsom walked four times as well. Taylor White wasn't far behind with his .500 average through two games as he matched Folsom's two doubles, one home run while racking up five RBI and scoring three times. Danny McDermott brought significant power to the plate as well, smacking two home runs and one double which led to six RBI and three runs scored. Other Orediggers touting three runs apiece included Keene Tanaka, Mason Andrews and Wayne Moeck. Caden Bonds finished the day boasting three RBI and two runs with a double.
 
On the mound, Folsom started game one but did not factor in the decision despite the longest outing of his career at 4.1 inning of work. Instead, Weston Siefken (1-0) earned the first win of his career thanks to 3.0 innings of one-run, three-hit relief. Tyler Blomster (7-2) started game two and took the loss due to seven runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings of baseball. Reece Noel, Brayden Weyer, Zachary Kriethe and Jackson Bakovich all provided pitching relief on Saturday as well. Most notable from that group was Noel's two outs of two-hit, shutout relief in his Oredigger debut resulting in a 0.00 ERA for the day.
 
As a team, the Orediggers (27-16, 12-14 RMAC) produced a batting average of .343 for the day, but only managed three hits in the second game. Adams State (8-32, 5-21 RMAC) outhit Mines at a .373 clip but only slugged .478 compared to the home team's .687 slugging percentage on nine doubles, one triple and four home runs. Despite committing zero errors in 16.0 innings, the Orediggers could not take advantage of two ASU errors in game two and struck out 10 times on the tail end. Alfredo Villa (6-3) was responsible for Adams State's game-two victory as he tossed a complete-game, three-hit, one-run victory from the mound.
 
GAME ONE: Mines 22, Adams State 9
The Orediggers honored their seven seniors right before the start of the series and the Grizzlies attempted to take advantage of the distraction by hitting a two-run home run in the first inning for a 2-0 lead. What followed was a clinic on slugging and it was sponsored and run by Mines. White – on his Senior Day – sent the first pitch he saw to the opposite field and over the fence in left-center field for a grand slam and a 4-2, Oredigger lead. That was the bottom of the first inning. Mason Andrews hit a RBI triple and scored on a wild pitch in home half of the second frame. That made the score 6-2.
 
Bond's sacrifice-fly in the third led to McDermott's first home run of the game which was a two-run tank to straightaway center field. But the inning wasn't over until Folsom doubled to plate Andrews and Tanaka for an 11-2 advantage just one third of the way through the game. Even though Adams State combined to score four total runs in the fourth and fifth innings, the home team was far from done with its lesson in power hitting.
 
Folsom sent a grand-slam ball into Clear Creek and McDermott found the centerfield fence again with two men on base. That was the fifth inning. McDermott doubled and I-Ly Hsue singled in the seventh to make Mines' advantage 20-6. Bonds capped the Orediggers' scoring on a two-run double in the eighth. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies added one run in the eighth and two in the ninth in what proved to be an academic effort to finish the game. The final box score showed Folsom going 3-for-3 with six RBI and White finished 3-for-6 just a triple short of hitting for the cycle.
 
GAME TWO: Adams State 9, Mines 1
The story of the second game of the day on Saturday was an outstanding effort by the Grizzlies' only weapon on the mound and one big inning on offense for the visitors. Neither team scored through the first three innings. Those 18 total outs took less than 30 minutes as Blomster and Villa went blow-for-blow off the bump. Mines struck first in the bottom of the fourth on White's RBI double that plated Moeck for a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately for the Orediggers' that also capped their scoring. Adams State immediately responded with eight runs on seven hits in the top of fifth. The visitors' lone run in the sixth made no difference in any way. Mines did not record through the last three innings. Moeck, White and Bonds accounted for the Orediggers' trio of hits.
 
NOTABLES
- Saturday's results moved Mines to 28-8 in the series against Adams State dating back to 2013. The Orediggers are 13-2 in their last 15 meetings with the Grizzlies.
- Folsom's home run was his 11th of the season and 14th of his career. He's now tied for #9 on the Mines' single-season list.
- Additionally, Folsom's two doubles gives the sophomore 20 on the season which is tied for #5 in program history with Derek Daly and Mikey Gangwish.
- McDermott's pair of long balls moved him to 21 for his career which is tied for #7 on the Orediggers' all-time list.
- The seniors honored on Saturday morning included Nash Neff, Alex Bumpus, Taylor White, Toby Scoles, Brayden Weyer, Will Scott and Tyler Blomster.
- Coach Bales holds an overall record of 89-57 in his fourth season as the head coach at Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers close their 2022 home schedule and the series with Adams State on Sunday with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. at Jim Darden Field. Tickets can be purchased online at www.minesathletics.com/tickets or at the gate. 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 of Mines Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @MinesAthletics, and online at www.minesathletics.com.