PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball team dropped its series opener to CSU Pueblo on Friday afternoon by a score of 8-4 at Rawlings Field.
 
Danny McDermott led the Orediggers on offense with a 2-for-3 day including one run and two RBI. Garret Nielsen, Trent Nielsen, and Alex Dunagan also scored one run apiece. Keene Tanaka notched a RBI thanks to a double. Mason Andrews and Trent Nielsen tallied doubles as well. Jackson Woolwine was hit twice in five trips to the plate. Luke Folsom (1-4) was the starter on the mound and took the decision after giving up six runs on seven hits in 3.0 innings. He struck out three and walked one. Weston Siefken, Jackson Bakovich, and Matthew Dobberthien provided relief out of the bullpen. Bakovich and Dobberthien combined to toss 4.0 innings of one-hit, shutout baseball.
 
Mines (7-14, 3-6 RMAC) scored its four runs on six hits including three doubles. CSU Pueblo (11-13, 8-1 RMAC) remained tied for #1 in the conference standings after stacking up eight runs and 12 hits with one double and one triple. The home team hit .324 compared to the Orediggers' .181 batting average. That discrepancy came as a result of Mines' hitters striking out 13 times and walking just twice. ThunderWolves' hitters struck out nine times and walked three times. Mines and CSU Pueblo combined to leave 16 runners on base. Zach Pratt (2-1) was the winning pitcher, and Travis Farrell (1) earned the save.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Two scoreless innings to start the series brought Friday's contest to the turning point of the afternoon. After another zero in the visitors' half of the third inning, CSU Pueblo exploded for six runs on six hits with one Mines error in the field. It was a two-run single and a three-run triple that did the damage. To that point, the Orediggers had not recorded a hit, but that changed in the top of the fourth with Andrews' one-out double.
 
Mines' bats continued heating up in the top of the fifth as Trent Nielsen led off with a double and scored on Tanaka's two-out double. A two-out wild pitch in the same frame plated McDermott and made the score 6-2, still in favor of the home team. CSU Pueblo canceled the Orediggers' crooked number with two runs in the home half of the fifth inning. But Mines responded by scoring two more in the top of the sixth. McDermott's two-out, two-run single brought in Dunagan and Garret Nielsen and cut "The Pack's" lead to 8-4. However, six strikeouts through the last three innings halted the Orediggers' comeback and helped CSU Pueblo clinch its seventh straight win.
 
NOTABLES
- McDermott has generated at least one run of production in four of his last five games. His batting average is up to .354 on the season.
- Bakovich's appearance out of the bullpen resulted in zero runs on one hit with four strikeouts and zero walks over the course of 3.0 innings.
- Woolwine has reached base safely in 14 straight games and McDermott owns a 13-game streak of reaching base safely.
- Head Coach Robby Bales is now 102-74 in his fifth season leading the Orediggers.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines trip to Pueblo, Colo., continues with a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m. Live stats and free 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.