POMONA, Calif. – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball team suffered a pair of walk offs on Saturday as #21 Cal Poly Pomona swept its doubleheader with the Orediggers.
 
Mines' starting pitchers were Kevin Zapanta and Carter Gorling. Neither factored in their respective decision. Zapanta started game one and tossed 7.0 innings of one-run, seven-hit baseball behind five strikeouts compared to one walk. Gorling, in his collegiate debut, tossed 4.0 innings with two strikeouts and one walk while giving up four runs on six hits. Oredigger pitchers of decision were Marcus Lee (0-1) and Weston Siefken (0-1). Eric Romo (1-0) and Scott Armstrong (1-0) earned the wins for the Broncos.
 
On offense, Mines' Nielsen brothers carried the big bats. Garret Nielsen was 3-for-8 with two doubles and two RBI. Trent Nielsen went 2-for-2 in game two with one double, one run, and two RBI. Luke Folsom also had multiple hits in game one while scoring one run. Adam Houghtaling, came across the plate twice in two games. Jackson Woolwine also tallied two RBI.
 
Mines (0-3) hit .242 in the doubleheader. Cal Poly Pomona (7-0) extended its win streak to start the season while hitting .304 as a team. Saturday saw the first extra-base hits of the series. The Broncos won the strikeout battle as their pitching staff struck out 19 compared to 13 strikeouts by the Oredigger hurlers.
 
GAME ONE: #21 Cal Poly Pomona 4, Mines 3 – 11 innings
Both teams ran into trouble early, but of different varieties. The Broncos saw their starting pitcher leave the game just two batters into the contest. The Orediggers found themselves facing runners on second and third with one out. All of that came in the first inning and both teams worked through it without any runs scored.
 
Mines threatened to score in the second inning, but Hsue was thrown out at home plate for the final out of the frame. Just one inning later, the visitors followed through. Jackson Woolwine hit a one-out single in the top of the third frame. Folsom and Houghtaling hit back-to-back, two-out singles with the later scoring Woolwine. Garret Nielsen capped it with a two-out, two-RBI double that gave the Orediggers a 3-0 lead. Cal Poly Pomona did get one run back in the bottom of the third inning after starting the frame with a leadoff double.
 
There was no more scoring until the bottom of the ninth. Oredigger defensive highlights along the way included a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play to end the fifth inning. Zapanta nabbed a laser for the first out in the seventh inning which helped him finish his day allowing just one run. The bottom of the eighth saw CPP threaten to score again, but Mines escaped unscathed. The comeback happened in the bottom of the ninth as the home team scored two runs to tie the game. Despite a clutch, groundball double play in the bottom of the 10th inning, Cal Poly Pomona got the walk-off win in the bottom of the 11th on a two-out, RBI single.
 
GAME ONE: #21 Cal Poly Pomona 5, Mines 4
The home team jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning and made it 4-0 thanks to a three-run fourth inning. Mines staged its comeback in the top of the fifth inning thanks to Woolwine's two-run, two-out single. The Orediggers tied the game in the top of the sixth inning when Trent Nielsen smacked a two-out, two-run double to right-center field. Brady Veltien and Houghtaling both scored. However, a visitor's upset wasn't meant to be. Cal Poly Pomona scored its second walk-off win of the day on a groundball to the pitcher with two outs. While the play at first base was bang-bang. The umpires called the runner safe and the Bronco on third scored easily.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines is now 0-3 in the all-time series against Cal Poly Pomona
- Houghtaling now boasts a 12-game hitting streak dating back to last season. His reached-base streak is also 12 games.
- Woolwine notched the first hits, first run, and first RBI of his collegiate career.
- Trent Nielsen's offensive production was also the first of his collegiate career.
- Tyler Pina, Alex Dunagan, Carter Gorling, and Alex Honeyman all made their Oredigger debuts.
- Head Coach Robby Bales is now 95-63 in his fifth season leading the Orediggers.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines closes its season-opening series against Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday with a single, nine-inning game starting at 11 a.m. (PT). Free live stats will be offered at www.minesathletics.com. Pay-per-view video will also be available on the CCAA Network.
 
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.