BLOOMFIELD, N.M. – Starting a series on a Sunday afternoon for the second time in as many weeks, the Colorado School of Mines softball team took the field at Bloomfield High School against Fort Lewis in the second Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference series of the season for both teams on a day that saw a little bit of everything, ranging from the weather to the action on the diamond.
 
The Orediggers (6-6, 5-1) look poised to pick up a win in the opener after withstanding two rallies by the Skyhawks (4-9, 2-4), but couldn't stave off a third and were downed in the bottom of the seventh on a walk-off grand slam 11-9 before bouncing back to win in game two 8-5 behind 13 hits and a stellar relief appearance by freshman Kat Miller and a trio of three-hit outings from Aubree Karraker, Sidney Wilson and Trystin Oshiro-Sano.
 
Mines was able to up right where they left off last week in the top of the first, loading the bases with the first three batters of the game against starter Labraida Tenorio before Kayleigh Krueger scored Kendall Aragon with a sacrifice fly to left field. Two batters later, Renata Boyd scored Karraker with an infield single to double the lead to 2-0.
 
FLC answered in the bottom of the first with a leadoff single followed by a two-run opposite field home run to right center by Alex Tenorio to draw the game back even.
 
In the second, the Orediggers were able to work some two-out magic again, loading the bases again after Wilson was hit by a pitch before scoring four runs in succession on back-to-back errors by the Skyhawks, as a ball of the bat of Krueger was misplayed by the left fielder and saw two runs score moments before a throwing error on a Sara Larson groundball to shortstop allowed to more runs to score to make it a 6-2 game.
 
Sadriena Rodriguez was able to work around a leadoff walk in the second to strikeout the side before Fort Lewis rallied once more tie the game in the third. A leadoff walk followed by three straight doubles made it a 6-5 game before a sac fly to left tied the game at six. Reliever Taylor Wayne, who entered the game after the first double of the inning, was able to induce a popup to end the inning and strand three on base.
 
Once again, Mines took was able to bounce back and regained the lead on another sac fly in the fourth by Krueger to left field that just about left the yard and saw Karraker cross home to make it 7-6. Wayne worked around a leadoff baserunner in the bottom of the inning to hang a zero and also retired FLC in order in the fifth.
 
In the sixth, Mines looked to add an insurance run as Aragon was able to reach with one out and advance to second, but was left stranded. In the bottom of the inning, Wayne was able to retire the first two batters without much issue before a hit by pitch and a throwing error put the tying and go-ahead runs at the corners, but a groundout to Larson allowed the Orediggers to end the inning before things got out of hand.
 
The Orediggers were able to tack on two more runs in the top of the seventh, as with a runner on and two outs, Lexie Semeyn was able to turn around a 1-0 delivery from Amiee Shanks to straightaway centerfield for a two-run home run to make it a 9-6 game.
 
Unfortunately for Mines, the insurance from the top of the seventh wasn't enough, as FLC was able to load the bases against Wayne and the third pitcher of the game Lauren Decker (1-2), plating a run on a hit by pitch before disaster struck when Kayla Stone ended the game with a walk-off grand slam to lift the Skyhawks to an 11-9 win.
 
Game two saw Aubree Karraker get things going with a one-out double but ended up getting stranded before Fort Lewis took the first lead of the game in the bottom of the inning, turning a leadoff walk into a run on the second batter of the game on an RBI groundout.
 
Mines had a chance to do some damage in the second as Lexie Semeyn, Paige Dompier and Lauren Decker all reached with one out to load the bases before FLC was able to tightrope out of the inning with a pair of fielder's choices to get force outs at home and second to maintain their 1-0 lead.
 
The top of the third inning got of to a big start as the second Mines home run of the day came when Karraker blasted the first long ball of her career the other way over the right field fence to tie things up at 1-1. Sidney Wilson followed with a single up the middle before Trystin Oshiro-Sano and Semeyn reached with one away to load the bases for Dompier, who drove in Wilson with an RBI single to shortstop to keep the bases loaded. Once again however, FLC was able to duck out of danger, getting a force at home and stealing extra bases from Kailey Morales by snagging a line drive heading toward the right field turf to keep it a 2-1 game.
 
In the bottom of the inning, the Skyhawks regained the lead in short order, getting back-to-back blasts from Stone and Alex Tenorio to regain the lead 3-2 before starter Cassidy Chvatal was able to work out of trouble and leave a runner as Morales ended the inning by throwing out a would-be base stealer at second.
 
Oshiro-Sano delivered with two outs in the fourth for the Orediggers to regain the lead and make it a 4-3 game, splitting the right center gap to score Karraker and Wilson before getting stranded on base with Semeyn to end the inning. A leadoff home run, the fifth of the afternoon for FLC, tied things once again with a solo blast off the bat of Izzy Giroux that brought about a call to the bullpen, as freshman Miller (1-0), making just her second appearance of the season, took over in the circle and was able to get out of the inning without further damage.
 
Lauren Decker led off the fifth with a walk and eventually stole her way around the bases to third before Aragon reached on a walk to put runners on the corners with one out. The freshman outfielder broke for second moments later as the Skyhawks didn't seem to have a play on defensively, and allowed the throw from the catcher to go all the way through to second, allowing Decker to race home on a well-executed double steal to regain the lead. After a flyout from Karraker, Wilson dug in with two outs and doubled to the wall in left center to score Aragon from second and make it 6-4 Mines.
 
Miller retired Fort Lewis in order in the bottom of the inning before the Orediggers cashed in two more two-out runs in the top of the sixth, when pinch hitter Grace Gonzales drove a ball to centerfield that was misplayed by the outfielder and rolled all the way to the fence, allowing Decker and pinch runner Renata Boyd to score and double the lead and make it an 8-4 game.
 
Looking for more seventh inning magic, the Skyhawks were able to make it 8-5 on Tenorio's second home run of the game and third of the day, but Miller was unfazed as she was able to record the final out of the afternoon on strikes to secure the win as Mines earned a split to open the series.
 
NOTABLES
-Wayne worked four innings of relief and despite being charged with four runs on five hits, did strikeout a pair and have a stretch where she retired nine of 11 batters and eight in a row
-Semeyn's home run was the fourth of her Mines career as she finished game one 1-4 with two RBI
-Krueger went 1-2 in the opener with two RBI as well as five different players recorded a hit in the opener
-Miller worked a season-high four innings in her first outing since February 11 against Barry and finished with one run allowed on one hit with four strikeouts
-Karraker, Wilson and Oshiro-Sano each turned in three-hit outings in game two and combined for four runs, four RBI and four extra base hits between them
-Decker scored twice and drove in a run in game two, while Semeyn ended the day with two hits, two RBI and two runs scored
-Mines stole nine bases over the course of the doubleheader, with a season-high six in game two behind three from Decker

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will wrap up their series with Fort Lewis Monday afternoon with a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. before returning to Golden next weekend to host Regis in a four-game series March 4-5 in the first leg of an eight-game homestand.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines softball on Twitter at @MinesSoftball and Instagram at @mines_sb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.