CHADRON, Neb. – Wrapping yet another Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference series on a Monday afternoon, the Colorado School of Mines softball team was back at the CSC Softball Field Tuesday looking to secure a series win against Chadron State, and did so in an emphatic manner, pounding out a combined 16 runs on 23 hits while allowing just two hits to the opposition in a doubleheader sweep by scores of 7-0 and 9-0.
 
The Orediggers (11-15, 10-10) used a six-run outburst in each game as the offense put up one of their best single-day performances of the season, while the pitching duo of Sadriena Rodriguez and Taylor Wayne stymied the Eagles (8-19, 6-14) at the plate behind a pair of complete game masterpieces.
 
It was a rather pedestrian start to the third game of the series as once again both teams were able to get traffic on the bases, but neither could find do anything about getting them around to score until the fourth inning, when Sophie Furniss reached with a one-out single and advanced to third on an infield single and throwing error off the bat of Renata Boyd to set the table to Semeyn, who laced a single to right field to plate the freshman for the first run of the day.
 
A shutdown inning in the bottom of the fourth from Rodriguez (5-2) allowing the Orediggers to carry their momentum over to the fifth, plating six runs to break things wide open. Kendall Aragon led the frame off with a walk and was joined on base by Aubree Karraker by way of a fielder's choice. Sidney Wilson then singled down the left field line to score the speedy Aragon before Kayleigh Krueger singled into centerfield to load the bases for Furniss. The Orediggers' designated player delivered an RBI single for the second time in the series to score Karraker before Boyd came through with a singled of her own to keep the action going and score Wilson to make it 4-0 with still no outs in the inning. Following a pitching change for Chadron State, Semeyn stepped back in and delivered a two-run single to center that plated Krueger and Furniss. After a sacrifice moved both Boyd and Semeyn up 60 feet to second and third, Hannah Roberts made it a 7-0 game with an RBI groundout that saw Boyd dash home.
 
Rodriguez took care of business from there, retiring the side in order in the fifth in and sixth before navigating around a one-out hit by pitch in the seventh to end the day with a groundout and wrap up the 7-0 win.
 
The final game of the series was almost a mirror start to how game three got underway, as Mines and Chadron State combined to leave four runners on base over the first three frames until the Orediggers hung another crooked number in the fourth inning to snatch control of the game.
 
Lexie Semeyn reached on a one-out error before going first to third on a single by Sara Larson to right field. Renata Boyd then singled back through the box to score Semeyn to make it 1-0 before a groundout to third put two in scoring position with two outs. Lauren Decker was next up and singled through the left side to score Larson before Trystin Oshiro-Sano singled to left as well to score Boyd and Decker after a steal of second to make it 4-0. After advancing to second on the throw, Oshiro-Sano came around to score on an RBI single by Kendall Aragon, who subsequently scored two batters later on the fifth-two out hit of the inning by Kayleigh Krueger to make it a 6-0 game.
 
Starting pitcher Taylor Wayne (2-4) took care of the rest, working a scoreless fourth and retiring the side in order in the fifth and sixth as Mines pitching continued to shine over the course of the afternoon.
 
The Orediggers added three more runs in the top of the seventh, as following a leadoff single by Semeyn and Larson double, with one out Grace Gonzales stepped in and promptly stepped out, blasting a three-run home run to left center for her first home run of the season and second of her career to make it 9-0 before Wayne worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to finish off the first shutout of her career and secure the series win for Mines.
 
NOTABLES
-Rodriguez pitched her second shutout of the season and faced just five over the minimum, allowing one hit while tying a season-high 10 strikeouts
-Semeyn led the offense in game one going 2-4 with three RBI and followed up by going 1-4 with two runs scored in game two
-Wilson also went 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored
-Furniss turned in a 2-4 day as she continues to swing the bat well this season, driving in a run and scoring twice
-Wayne's complete game was her second of the season as she allowed just one hit and faced only three over the minimum in her first scoreless outing since April 29 of last season
-Boyd led the way at the plate in game two, going 3-4 with and RBI and a run scored to finish the day 5-8 with two runs and two RBI
-Aragon went 2-3 with and RBI and a run scored in game two
-Larson turned in a 2-4 showing in the second game and scored twice
-Oshiro-Sano also went 2-4 with two RBI and a run scored for her third multi-RBI game of the season
-Every starter for Mines recorded a hit in the finale and six different players drove in a run
-The last time Mines recorded back-to-back shutouts in a season was against Fort Lewis on March 30-31 of the 2019 season by scores of 7-0 and 5-0, while the last time Mines had two shutouts in the same day was 2,165 days ago against Chadron State at home on April 15 of 2017 by score of 4-0 twice
-The duo of Rodriguez and Wayne in the circle held the CSC offense to just 2-45 (.044) at the plate, allowing just four walks while striking out 13 over 14 innings of action

LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers will head to Kansas for their final non-conference games of the season, taking on Fort Hays State in a four-game set beginning Tuesday at 2 p.m. CT.
 
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.