GOLDEN, Colo. – Back in action for the fifth day this week, the Colorado School of Mines was at least able to do so from the confines of Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field Friday on the opening day of their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference series with CSU Pueblo, and got back to their winning ways with a pair of one-run wins by scores of 5-4 and 7-6 to move back north of .500 in league play this season.
 
The Orediggers (13-18, 12-10) led early in game one and battled back in the bottom of the of the sixth after surrendering the lead to the ThunderWolves (10-21, 5-17) in the fifth inning as a first-pitch two-out two-run double by Aubree Karraker backed up another strong start in the circle by Sadriena Rodriguez while in game two, another come-from-behind effort and a pair of three-run innings proved to be the difference as the bullpen combination of Allison Westbrook and Lauren Decker combined to allow just one run over the final 4.2 innings to win game two and complete the sweep.
 
After an unconventional 1-2-3 top of the first that saw a leadoff triple by CSU Pueblo get thrown out at home trying for an inside the park home run, Mines cracked the scoreboard first as Sidney Wilson won a 10-pitch at bat with no outs to single to right center and plate Kendall Aragon who led the inning off with a walk. After a walk by Kayleigh Krueger loaded the bases, a Sophie Furniss sacrifice fly plated Trystin Oshiro-Sano for the second run of the inning.
 
CSUP scratched across a run in the top of the second, taking advantage of a two-out hit by pitch with bases loaded to force home a run and get on the board and make it 2-1.
 
That score held until the top of the fourth, when the ThunderWolves tied the game on a two-out triple to right center with two gone in the inning. Mines responded in kind in the home half to regain the lead when pinch hitter Grace Gonzales scored Renata Boyd with a sac fly to make it 3-2.
 
Again in the fifth, CSU Pueblo was able to tie the game with two outs, as a fielding error by Mines allowed a run to score and make it 3-3 before taking the lead in the sixth on a sac fly of their own to right field after the inning began with a bunt single and a throwing error to put the go-ahead run in scoring position right away.
 
Trailing for the first time in the game, the Orediggers looked to rally and started off the home half the right way as Furniss doubled to left to lead things off, but two quick outs seemed to threaten any momentum. Pinch hitter Ellaena Rodriguez worked a walk to put runners at the corners after a groundout advanced Furniss 60 feet. Lauren Decker re-entered the game as the go-ahead run at first to get more speed on the bases just in time for Karraker to belt a two-run double down the line in left to flip the score once again and make it 5-4 Mines.
 
Rodriguez (6-2) backed up her offense with a 1-2-3 top of the seventh to finish off the win and take the opener.
 
While offense may have been hard to come by in the first game of the day Friday, there was no shortage of it to start game two as both sides put up three spots in the first inning. CSUP struck first as following a pair of singles, a miscommunication on a double steal resulted in an errant throw into left field for the first run of the game. Moments later, Jill Bishop connected on a two-run home run to left field to get the visitors off and running.
 
Mines responded in kind in the home first, as back-to-back singles by Kendall Aragon and Hannah Roberts put runners at first and third for Sidney Wilson, who hit a sac fly to right center to plate Aragon. Kayleigh Krueger followed with an RBI double to the wall in left center before scoring herself moments later on a single down the right field line by Sara Larson as the teams went to the second back where they started on the scoreboard.
 
The ThunderWolves managed to regain the lead in the top of the second, as a two-out walk turned into a run with a double to left center before tacking on another run in the third on the bases, as a would-be base stealer with one out and runners at the corners was able to get into a run down long enough to allow the lead runner to cross home and make it 5-3.
 
After some tough luck in the third inning, the Orediggers cranked out three more runs in the bottom of the fourth. After Grace Gonzales led off the inning with a walk and was lifted for pinch runner Paige Dompier, a sac bunt by Lauren Decker moved up Dompier 60 feet to second. Kailey Morales, getting the start behind the plate, drove a pitch deep to the right center gap, scoring Dompier easily while making it to third just easily for the first extra-base hit of the season. Rolling the lineup over, Kendall Aragon followed with a double to right center to score Morales to tie the game before taking the lead on a single back through the box by Roberts to make it 6-5.
 
Reliever Allison Westbrook (2-1) came out with a 1-2-3 fifth as part of another strong outing in the circle to get Mines back to the dish in a hurry. Renata Boyd led things off by reaching on an error by the pitcher and after stealing second, Gonzales worked another walk before a sacrifice bunt by Decker put a pair in scoring position. Aragon reached with two outs in the inning on a walk of her own to load the bases for Roberts, who was plunked on a 3-2 offering to force home Boyd and make it 7-5.
 
That run in the home fifth proved to be a critical one, as the ThunderWolves needed just two batters to score a run in the sixth, getting a leadoff single followed by a double to make it 7-6. After a walk put two runners on, Mines went back to the bullpen, this time bringing in Decker from centerfield to work with no outs. The senior needed just two pitches to get the first two outs on a sac bunt that moved both runners into scoring position before comebacker to the circle was knocked down by Decker, who was able to looked the runner at third back to prevent the advance before throwing over to first. The final out of the inning came at the expense of that runner on third, as a pitch got away from Morales but not far enough as she was able to recover to throw to Decker covering home who made the tag for the final out of the inning to escape a potentially devastating sequence of events.
 
While the Orediggers were unable to get that run back in the bottom of the sixth, leaving on runner at second after Larson singled and stole a base, Decker sat down the ThunderWolves in order and closed out the game for her second save of the season.
 
NOTABLES
-Aragon finished the afternoon 4-6 at the plate with three runs scored, two walks and an RBI; she went 2-3 with a run scored and a walk in game one and also went 2-3 with a walk, RBI, and two runs in game two
-Larson went 3-4 in game two with an RBI to finish the day 4-7 at the dish
-Roberts turned in her second multi-hit game of the season and first since opening weekend in game two, going 2-3 with two RBI and a run scored
-Rodriguez spun her seventh complete game of the season and allowed four runs, two earned, on seven hits while striking out four
-Westbrook went 2.2 innings of relief to pick up the win in game two, allowing a run on four hits with a strikeout
-Decker collected her second save of the season, working two perfect innings to close the day out and officially only facing five batters despite recording six outs
-Karraker finished 1-2 with her fifth double of the season and two RBI in the opener Friday
-Furniss went 1-2 with a double, RBI and a run scored in game one
-Morales recorded her first career triple and drove in a run to finished 1-2 with a walk in game two
-Krueger went 1-3 with an RBI in game two
-Mines is now just four away from their RMAC wins total of 16 last season with a little more than a month left in the season
-The Orediggers now have 58 stolen bases on the season after Friday's action, surpassing last season's mark of 53 and the most swipes in a season since they recorded 63 in 54 games in 2018

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines is scheduled to wrap up play this weekend Saturday against CSU Pueblo in a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. There is a potential for adverse weather so fans are advised to check minesathletics.com and the social media accounts listed below for updates.
 
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.