GOLDEN, Colo. – Sunday's doubleheader at Jim Darden Field saw the Colorado School of Mines Baseball team drop both ends to #24-ranked Colorado Mesa by scores of 19-13 and 5-3.
 
Jackson Woolwine accounted for most of the offense for Mines (7-12, 3-4 RMAC). For the day, he scored three runs on three hits while batting .600 between both games. Trent Nielsen scored two runs on two hits including a home run. Danny McDermott also scored and hit .500 while Adam Houghtaling notched a double. Carter Gorling (0-3) and Kevin Zapanta (1-2) were the starting pitchers for the Orediggers and both took their respective decisions. Zapanta spun 5.2 innings and gave up four earned runs while striking out nine and walking two. Gorling gave up five runs on four hits in 0.1 innings. Blake Ripp, Gray St. Amant, Alex Honeyman, and Nicholas Spidel all appeared in relief.
 
Mines' six runs came on 10 hits. Only two of those hits went for extra bases. Colorado Mesa (15-7, 6-1 RMAC) stayed hot at the plate, batting .385 as a team and slugging over .600 thanks to six doubles, one triple and three home runs. The Maverick pitchers posted a combined ERA of 3.21. The Oredigger pitchers struck out 16 CMU batters compared to seven walks. Colorado Mesa's arms totaled 23 strikeouts and eight walks. Defensively, Mines committed three errors leading to six unearned runs. The Mavericks had two errors in the field resulting in four unearned runs. In 14 total innings of action, the Orediggers left 15 runners on base.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The story of the first game was told by five Colorado Mesa runs in the first inning and eight more in the fourth inning. Trent Nielsen hit the first home run of the game, smacking a solo shot in the bottom of the third. However, CMU notched a two-run bomb and a solo shot in the top of the seventh for the last two home runs of the game and the final, 19-3 tally. The rest of the Orediggers' scoring came by way of RBI-walk to Keene Tanaka which plated Trent Nielsen, and a sacrifice fly by Houghtaling that scored Woolwine.
 
Game two was a different story with the same ending. Colorado Mesa opened the scoring on a passed ball in the top of the first frame, but Mines answered with Trent Nielsen's RBI-single to make it 1-1 after one full frame of play. The home team took a 3-1 lead after two innings thanks to Luke Folsom's two-run single that included a CMU error on the play. Then, the Mavericks started the third inning with a triple and used a two-run home run to tie the game. A double in the fourth gave CMU the lead, and a wild pitch in the sixth afforded the visitors a two-run cushion. Mines put runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh frames, but could not find the game-tying or go-ahead hit.
 
NOTABLES
- Trent Nielsen hit his fifth home run of the season and is tied with his brother Garret for the team lead in 2023.
- Houghtaling's double was his eighth of the year which ties him for the team lead. It also marked the 26th of his Oredigger career.
- Woolwine leads Mines with 21 runs in 2023. He had scored at least once in 14 of 21 games this season.
- Woolwine has also reached base safely in 12 straight games. McDermott and Folsom have reached base safely in 11 straight games.
- Ripp made his team-leading seventh appearance of the season on the mound. His line on Saturday featured zero runs on one hit, one strikeout and zero walks.
- In 2023, Ripp is 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA thanks to 12 strikeouts compared to two walks in 16.1 innings of action.
- Head Coach Robby Bales is now 102-72 in his fifth season leading the Orediggers.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines closes its series against Colorado Mesa on Monday at 12 p.m. at Jim Darden Field. Tickets can be purchased online or at the gate. Free live stats and video on the RMAC Network will be offered 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.