GOLDEN, Colo. – Luke Folsom's big bat and Nash Neff's lockdown ninth inning helped the Colorado School of Mines Baseball team take down NCAA Division I Northern Colorado by a score of 11-8 on Tuesday evening at Jim Darden Field.
 
Luke Folsom's performance on offense resulted in a 3-for-4 day including two home runs with five RBI and three runs scored. He was the head of the spear at the heart of Mines' batting order as Toby Scoles and Danny McDermott combined to go 5-for-10 with four runs. That trio represented the Orediggers' second, third and fourth slots in the order. Wayne Moeck joined the fun on offense by scoring three runs from the five hole. Alex Bumpus added two RBI on a double while Mason Andrews and Nic Roma notched doubles as well.
 
Folsom also started on the mound and gave up zero runs on three hits with two strikeouts before departing after a pre-scheduled 2.0 innings. Rodney Gregg (3-0) was the winning pitcher thanks to 0.1 innings of relief when the game was tied. Nash Neff held down the back end and earned his second straight save in as many games for Mines. Neff's game resume featured zero runs on two hits and three strikeouts in 1.0 inning of work. Brayden Weyer, Weston Siefken, Jackson Bakovich, Marcus Lee and Zachary Kriethe also pitched for the Orediggers. Weyer posted zero runs on one hit in one frame. Siefken also had a 0.00 ERA 0.2 innings of work.
 
Mines (22-11) finished the non-conference tilt with 11 runs on 14 hits and just one error in the field. Northern Colorado (6-22) managed eight runs on 11 hits, but committed four errors in the field. In typical midweek fashion, both teams combined to use a total of 17 pitchers. Dylan Day (1-5) took the decision in relief for the visitors. Additionally, the Bears managed just two doubles compared to three doubles and two home runs for the Orediggers.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mines never trailed its NCAA Division I foe on a gusty Tuesday evening in Golden. Folsom worked through two UNC baserunners in the first inning to post a zero on the scoreboard. Then, he immediately helped his own cause by smacking a home run just inside the right-field foul pole in the bottom of the opening frame with Scoles on base. That set the tone with a 2-0, Oredigger lead and Andrews' extended it with a two-out, RBI double in the same inning. Mines' 3-0 lead after one fueled another scoreless inning from Folsom who struck again with another two-run shot in the bottom of the second which scored Scoles. After two full innings of play, the home team touted a 5-0 lead over the Bears from Greeley.
 
Unfortunately for the Orediggers and for Folsom, UNC erased its deficit with a five-run, fourth inning. Four walks and three singles with two outs and one error did the damage. However, Folsom came up big once again. His infield single in the bottom of the fourth gave Mines a 6-5 lead and a Northern Colorado throwing error made it 7-5 in favor of the hosts. That gave the Orediggers the lead for good despite the Bears notching single runs in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings. Mines offset it all by posting three runs in their half of the sixth thanks to Bumpus' two-run double. Northern Colorado did manage to put two runners on base in its last hurrah, but Neff followed up with three straight strikeouts to earn the save and clinch the victory.

NOTABLES
- Tuesday marked Mines' first win over Northern Colorado since Feb. 20, 2000. It was also the Orediggers' first win against the Bears in Golden since April 22, 1998.
- Neff has closed out three of Mines' last five games resulting in two saves thanks to a total of 3.0 innings of two-hit shutout baseball including seven strikeouts.
- Neff's season resume now features a 1.17 ERA and a 0-0 record with two saves thanks to 16 strikeouts in 7.2 innings and six appearances.
- Folsom became the second Oredigger with a mult-home run game in 2022, joining Andrews who has two such performances thus far.
- Folsom also extended his hitting streak to 11 consecutive games – the longest of any Oredigger this season. He also leads the team with 15 multi-hit outings.
- Additionally, and finally, Folsom leads Mines in batting average, hits, runs, doubles and RBI. He has five home runs on the season.
- Andrews has reached base safely in 15 straight games. I-Ly Hsue and Scoles have done the same in 13 straight games. Moeck and Folsom also tout double-digit, reached-base streaks.
- Gregg's win on Tuesday improved him to 3-0 on the season with a 2.30 ERA in 12 appearances and 15.2 innings of work.
- Coach Bales holds an overall record of 84-52 in his fourth season as the head coach at Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines takes the weekend off before heading to New Mexico Highlands the Thursday, Friday and Saturday leading up to Easter. Live stats and video of the series 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.