COLORADO SPRINGS – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball offense fueled the Orediggers' doubleheader sweep and series win on Saturday with wins of 19-6 and 15-8 at UCCS to close out the 2022 regular season.
 
Adam Houghtaling and Luke Folsom both batted .636 for the day as Taylor White was right behind hitting .625. Houghtaling topped the overall list by hitting for the cycle in game one of the day and game three of the series. He finished the twin bill touting six runs on seven hits including three doubles, one triple and two home runs along with six RBI. Folsom exploded for six runs on seven hits with four doubles and two home runs while touting seven RBI. He broke Mines' single-season doubles record in the process. White arguably carried the biggest bat as evidenced by his 1.875 slugging percentage thanks to three home runs and one double which resulted in four runs and six RBI. Toby Scoles, Wayne Moeck and Mason Andrews all hit home runs as well. The trio of Caden Bonds, Brady Veltien and Scoles turned in individual batting averages over .500. Also notable were five runs scored for Andrews, four runs scored by Alex Bumpus and Moeck's four RBI.
 
On the mound, Ben Schoneman (3-3) started game one and earned the victory on the merits of 5.0 innings featuring five runs (three earned) on 10 hits with six strikeouts. Nash Neff (3) relieved Schoneman and tossed 4.0 innings for the save. His outing ended with one run on two hits as the Texan struck out five. Brayden Weyer started the regular-season finale but did not factor in the decision as he bowed out after 3.0 innings. Blake Ripp was the winning pitcher thanks to 1.0 innings of scoreless relief. Marcus Lee and Weston Siefken also contributed innings out of the bullpen.
 
Mines (32-17, 17-15 RMAC) finished the double header boasting a team batting average of .451 while slugging .956. The Orediggers' extra-base hits included 12 doubles, two triples and 10 home runs across two games. To their credit, the Mountain Lions (20-30, 15-17 RMAC) combined to hit .315 and slug over .600 thanks to five doubles, one triple and six home runs. However, UCCS committed six fielding errors across two games resulting in seven unearned runs. Mountain Lion pitchers also walked seven batters compared to one walk issued by Mines' staff. The visitors' committed three errors of their own but struck out 14 off the mound. With the two wins, the Orediggers beat out UCCS for the #5 seed in the RMAC Tournament and will face second-seeded Regis in the first round on Wednesday at Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, Colo.
 
GAME ONE: Mines 19, UCCS 6
Compared to the end of Saturday's opener, the beginning was relatively quiet even with nine combined runs. The home team used a homer and a double for its four runs through the first third of the game. Scoles homered, Tanaka doubles, Moeck singled, Folsom homered and Scoles singled to drive in Mines' five runs to make it 5-4 after three full innings of baseball. Stacked zeroes in the fourth frame were the calm before the storm that was 14 Oredigger runs on 17 hits across the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
 
Houghtaling highlighted the outburst by producing his cycle in the same span. He doubled in the fifth, tripled in the sixth, singled in the seventh and homered in the eighth to complete the impressive feat. Those four hits resulted in three runs and five RBI for the redshirt junior. Folsom also made history at the same time as his record-breaking double came in the top of the seventh and resulted in him coming across home plate. White, Moeck and Folsom also homered during the onslaught. When the dust settled, the visitors' half of the scoreboard showed three runs in the fifth, three in the sixth, one in the seventh and seven in the eight. Meanwhile, the home half showed single runs in the fifth and seventh. Neff and the defense locked UCCS down and allowed just two Mountain Lions to reach base safely over the last four innings. One of those hits was a solo home run. Folsom's final line for that game alone was five runs on five hits with three RBI, two home runs and two doubles. Houghtaling's cycle gave him three runs and four RBI on four hits.
 
GAME TWO: Mines 15, UCCS 8
The final game of the 2022 regular season featured another slow(ish) start. Folsom doubled and plated Andrews for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. UCCS tied it at 1-1 on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second. After that, it was all Orediggers. Folsom's three-run double sparked a five-run third and led to a 6-1 lead for Mines. Even though the Mountain Lions stacked up four more runs in the bottom of the third, it was the closest they would get on their Senior Day. A passed ball and a walk accounted for two Oredigger runs in the fourth. White homered in the sixth with Houghtaling on base and Scoles drove in Veltien. That made the score 11-5 in favor of the Orediggers.
 
Andrews, Houghtaling and White all hit long balls in the seventh to add the exclamation point. White finished the game with two home runs and four RBI. Bumpus scored three times on three hits including a triple. Folsom notched two more doubles and drove in four. Capping it off were Houghtaling and Veltien combining for four runs on six hits including three doubles and one home run.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines' 32 wins so far this season are tied for third most in program history.
- The Orediggers improved to 16-9 in the all-time series against UCCS.
- Folsom's four doubles for the day gives him 29 for the season which shatters the previous program record set by Stefan Revielle in 2007. It's also four doubles short of tying NCAA Division II's all-time, single-season record.
- Additionally, Folsom moved up to 15 home runs on the year, tying him for #6 in the program record book. He also boasts 60 RBI on the season to rank second in the program record book.
- Houghtaling and Andrews improved to 12 home runs and 10 home runs, respectively, in 2022.
- Houghtaling's weekend resume featured a .737 batting average thanks to 14 hits resulting in nine runs and nine RBI on four doubles, one triple and three home runs. Folsom had 13 RBI thanks to five doubles and four home runs.
- For the season, Neff is now 1-0 with three saves and a 2.55 ERA thanks to 30 strikeouts in 17.2 innings over the course of 10 appearances.
- Coach Bales holds an overall record of 94-58 in his fourth season as the head coach at Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers will open the 2022 RMAC Baseball Tournament on Wednesday against #2-seeded Regis at Colorado Mesa's Bergman Field in Grand Junction, Colo. Game time has yet to be announced. Full tournament details and preview will be offered next week 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.