COLORADO SPRINGS – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball team solidified a spot in the RMAC Tournament on Friday thanks to its 8-6, 9-12 doubleheader split at UCCS along with Colorado Christian's loss at MSU Denver.
 
Adam Houghtaling and Luke Folsom provided Mines' big bats for the day. Houghtaling swung a red-hot .875 with three runs on seven hits including a double and one home run resulting in three RBI over the course of two games. Folsom hit .500 in two starts while driving in six runs on two home runs and a double. He also scored three times. Wayne Moeck did his part by coming across the plate four times thanks to a .500 batting average. Mason Andrews and Caden Bonds hit home runs for the Orediggers as well.
 
Folsom also started on the mound in game one while Kevin Zapanta got the ball in game two. The former did not factor in the decision after his departure following four runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings. Marcus Lee (2-1) came on in relief of Folsom and earned the win thanks to 3.1 innings of one-run, two-hit baseball. Zachary Kriethe (5) tossed 2.1 scoreless frames for the save. Zapanta (7-3) took the loss in his start. Blake Ripp and Rodney Gregg also appeared out of the bullpen.
 
The standalone magic number for Mines (30-17, 15-15 RMAC) was two heading into the weekend. However, the Orediggers' game-one win and Colorado Christian's loss at MSU Denver clinched Mines' postseason berth. That being said, seeding has yet to be decided as UCCS (20-28, 15-15 RMAC) won game two to stay knotted with the Orediggers at #5 in the conference standings. As a team, Mines hit .394 as a team compared to the Mountain Lions' .385 average. The visitors produced three doubles, one triple and five home runs while the home team went off for eight doubles and four home runs. The Orediggers committed three total errors in the field.
 
GAME ONE: Mines 8, UCCS 5
From the very first pitch, Friday's opener was a hard-fought, back-and-fourth affair. The Orediggers stacked up three runs on four singles in the top of the first, but the Mountain Lions responded with a sacrifice-fly and a home run to make it 3-2 after one frame in favor of Mines. That led to single runs from UCCS in the second, fourth and fifth innings. However, the Orediggers kept pace thanks to Andrews and Houghtaling hitting solo home runs in their half of the fifth.
 
With the score tied 5-5, UCCS' bats went silent and Mines created some distance. Folsom provided the go-ahead run by going yard in the top of the seventh. Houghtaling smacked his fifth hit in as many at-bats in the eighth and drove in two more runs to make the final tally. Kriethe closed it out by using the Oredigger defense to retire the final six Mountain Lion batters in order.
 
GAME TWO: UCCS 12, Mines 9
The Orediggers looked to pick up where they had left off by exploding for six runs in the top of the first inning in game two. Folsom keyed the outburst by hitting a three-run home run after Moeck and Alex Bumpus both singled to start the game. But it was not to be. UCCS nibbled one run off the lead in their half of the first inning and then had a six-run outburst of its own in the bottom of the second. Then trailing 7-6, Mines could never regain the lead. The visitors did their best as Hsue drove in Houghtaling in the fifth, Folsom doubled Moeck across in the sixth and Bonds went long in the seventh. However, the Mountain Lions offset the Oredigger scoring with two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to keep Mines at a comfortable distance.
 
NOTABLES
- With the win in game one on Friday, Mines reached the 30-win mark for the fourth time in program history. The last three 30-win campaigns were 2017, 2018 and 2019.
- The Orediggers maintained their lead in the all-time series against UCCS at 14-9.
- Folsom now sits one double away from tying the program's single-season record. He also boasts 13 home runs on the year which is tied for #7 in Mines' record book.
- Houghtaling's home run pushed him to 10 on the year and Andrews jumped to nine long balls as a redshirt freshman.
- Bonds moved up to four home runs in 2022 and seven in his career.
- In his last six appearances out of the bullpen, Kriethe touts three saves, two wins, zero losses and just one run surrendered on three hits, one walk and 14 strikeouts in 9.2 innings.
- Coach Bales holds an overall record of 92-58 in his fourth season as the head coach at Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines closes the regular season on Saturday with a doubleheader at UCCS starting at 12 p.m. 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.