LOS ANGELES – Both games of Saturday's doubleheader in California went to Cal State L.A. as the Colorado School of Mines Baseball team fell by scores of 10-9 and 8-0.
 
Jackson Woolwine was the Orediggers' top hitter as he finished the day with a .429 batting average thanks to a 3-for-4 outing in game one. He notched a double and scored two runs. Mason Andrews had multiple hits as well while scoring once with one RBI. Luke Folsom and Garret Nielsen scored twice. Adam Houghtaling and Garret Nielsen drove in multiple runs. The later recorded Mines' first home run of the season. Kevin Zapanta (0-1) and Carter Gorling (0-0) were the starting pitchers. Zapanta took the game-two loss on his record. Blake Ripp was the pitcher of decision in the opener.
 
Mines (1-6) hit over .300 as a team in the front end of the doubleheader, but only managed one hit in game two of the day. Cal State L.A. (5-3) was consistent at the plate in both contests, going 22-of-63 overall for a .349 average. The Oredigger pitching staff struck out 11 batters compared to nine strikeouts by the Golden Eagles' hurlers. Mines also drew 15 walks off the Cal State L.A. pitchers. Both teams committed four errors in the field, the Golden Eagles benefited on that end with 10 unearned runs across two games.
 
GAME ONE: Cal State L.A. 10, Mines 9
It was an offensive battle from the very start with the Orediggers striking first on a Woolwine leadoff single followed by a Folsom, one-out double. That made the score 1-0 after half an inning of action. However, the home team capitalized on a leadoff error in the bottom half. They ended up scoring six runs including a two-out, grand slam to take a 6-1 lead. Mines would keep battling, scoring at least one run four consecutive innings. A four-run, top-of-the-fourth inning was fueled by Garret Nielsen's two-run bomb which pushed the visitors to an 8-6 lead.
 
But it wasn't meant to be. The Golden Eagles responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth frame to retake the lead at 9-8. Andrews' RBI-single plated Veltien in the top of the sixth inning and tied the game. Unfortunately, an error in the field and a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth put Cal State L.A. back in the lead. An error in the top of the ninth allowed Alex Dunagan to reach base. Woolwine, the next batter up, hit a double but Dunagan was thrown out after giving the green light to attempt to reach home plate with zero outs. Folsom's two-out walk was academic as the home team closed out the win.
 
GAME TWO: Cal State L.A. 8, Mines 0
After the offensive explosion in game one, the Oredigger bats went silent while Cal State L.A. retained its heat. The home team scored three runs in the first inning, one in the second, two in the third, and one the fourth. They also added one run of insurance in the sixth frame. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles' starting pitcher carried a no-hitter into the last inning before Araki's one-out single to center field broke it up. Cal State L.A. immediately worked a groundball double play to end the game.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines is 0-3 in the all-time series against Cal State L.A.
- Woolwine produced his second straight 3-for-4 performance in game one of the day after producing the same line in Friday's opener. He's up to .328 at the plate for the year.
- Araki's appearance in game two marked his Oredigger debut after starting his college career at Colorado Northwestern Community College. He went 1-for-1 off the bench.
- Matthew Dobberthien also made his Oredigger debut after playing junior college baseball at Colby. He tossed 1.0 inning of one-run, one-hit baseball.
- Alex Honeyman made his collegiate debut on the mound and provided two outs of shutout relief.
- Head Coach Robby Bales is now 96-66 in his fifth season leading the Orediggers.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines closes its series at Cal State L.A. on Sunday 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.