ALAMOSA, Colo. – Back on the road for the first leg of a two-week road trip, the Colorado School of Mines softball team lined up opposite Adams State Saturday as they entered a critical final stretch of the schedule in order to maintain their postseason plans and started off the weekend strong, taking both ends of the doubleheader 11-2 in six innings in game one before staving off a seventh-inning rally to take game two 6-5.
The Orediggers (20-21, 19-13) trailed early in game one but scored 11 unanswered runs over the remainder of the game, including an eight-run sixth inning to bring the run rule into effect as
Sidney Wilson and
Hannah Roberts led the way at the plate in the winning effort, and scored first in game two before the Grizzlies (9-32, 6-24) tried to rally in the late innings, but another clutch hit from Roberts ended up being the difference to complete the Saturday sweep.
The Grizzlies opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, as a leadoff walk came around to score after back-to-back one-out singles. A walk loaded the bases as an RBI groundout to second base plated the second run of the inning, but
Sadriena Rodriguez (11-2) was able to limit the damage with a groundout to shortstop for the third out.
Kayleigh Krueger reached base with a leadoff walk in the second but ended up getting stranded, as did the leadoff hitter for Adams State in the bottom of the inning.
Kendall Aragon singled with two outs in the third inning and stole second to advanced into scoring position for
Hannah Roberts, who doubled the opposite way to right center to get Mines on the board.
Sidney Wilson followed up with an RBI single through the right side of the infield to score Roberts as the throw home was late to tie the game at 2-2.
After leaving a runner in scoring position after a leadoff double in the bottom of the third, Mines was able to take their first lead of the game with two outs in the fourth when
Sara Larson, who started the frame with a single, came around to score on a passed ball to make it 3-2 Orediggers.
That score held until Mines broke things wide open in the top of the sixth. Three straight singles from Wilson, Krueger and Larson loaded the bases as
Renata Boyd collected an RBI the hard way as she was hit by a pitch to force home a run. Trystin-Oshiro Sano followed with a three-run double that split the gap in left center to clear the bases and make it a 7-2 game. A one-out single to left field by Aragon dropped in front of the left fielder and allowed Oshiro-Sano to score the fifth run of the inning before Roberts singled back up the middle to score pinch hitter
Sophie Furniss after she worked a walk to make it 9-2. After the lineup cycled back around to Wilson with two runners on, she delivered a doubled the other way to right center for her second hit of the inning to score Aragon and Roberts to extend the lead to 11-2.
With the game now in run-rule territory, Rodriguez wasted little time wrapping up things a little early in the opener, as she retired the Grizzlies in order to seal the 11-2 win in six innings.
Game two started with a pair of scoreless innings but it wasn't for a lack of trying at the plate, as both sides managed traffic on the bases.
Sidney Wilson worked a two-out walk in the first before being joined on base by
Kayleigh Krueger after she singled, while in the second
Renata Boyd led off with a single but once again, Mines came up empty.
Adams State threatened in the home second when two runners reached with one out and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch, but starter
Allison Westbrook (4-1) was able to induce a pair of groundouts to escape trouble.
The Orediggers broke the seal on offense in the top of the third, as
Kendall Aragon and
Hannah Roberts each singled to set the table for Wilson, who reached on a flair single to right field but a misplay in right field allowed every runner to move up an additional 60 feet as Aragon raced around from second to score the first run of the game. Krueger and
Sara Larson followed with an RBI single each before a sacrifice bunt and a groundout by Trystin-Oshiro Sano plated another run to make it 4-0 Mines.
Adams State got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of some defensive miscues by the Orediggers, scoring three times with two outs on an error and a pair of RBI singles to close within a run at 4-3.
Mines was able to respond at the plate in the sixth, scoring a pair to push the lead back to three. Oshiro-Sano reached on an error to third base to open the inning and was lifted for pinch runner
Taylor Wayne, who advanced to second on a sac bunt. After a lineout to left turned the order over, Aragon singled through the left side and Wayne advanced to third with two outs. With Roberts now at the plate, Aragon stole second to put a pair in scoring position for the sophomore from Omaha who delivered a two-run single back up the middle to make it a 6-3 game.
Following a 1-2-3 shutdown inning in the home half by Westbrook, the Orediggers looked to add some insurance in the seventh but came up empty stranding a pair on base.
With a save situation heading to the bottom of the seventh,
Lauren Decker came on to work the final half inning but things got off to a rocky start. A leadoff single sparked a rally for ASU, as the second batter of the inning lined one through the right side of the infield tailing into the corner, but the ball managed to get by Aragon in right all the way to the fence as Belinda Vargas was able to race all the way around the bases and beat the throw home for a two-run inside-the-park home run to make it 6-5. Decker bounced back and retired the next two batters on groundouts before a two-out single and a wild pitch put the tying run in scoring position, but a groundout to first base ended the inning as the senior picked up her third save of the season to cap off the doubleheader sweep.
NOTABLES
-Four different players had multi-hit games in the opener, led by Wilson who went 3-4 with a double, a run and three RBI; Aragon, Roberts and Larson each went 2-4 and combined to score six runs while driving in three
-After going 3-4 with two RBI in game two, Roberts has now hit safely in nine of her last 10 games, batting .389 (14-36) during that span and is up to nine career doubles and 21 RBI
-Oshiro-Sano went 1-3 with a double, a run scored and three RBI in game one and drove in a run in game two as she now has 13 career doubles and 27 RBI
-Aragon ended the day 4-8 with four runs scored and an RBI, going 2-4 in both games
-Krueger finished the day 3-6 with an RBI and two runs scored and in doing so raised her season average to .304
-Rodriguez rebounded after surrendering two runs in the first inning, allowing just three hits over the final four innings and retiring the side in order in the sixth and finished the day with three strikeouts in her 12th complete game effort of the season
-Westbrook picked up her fourth win of the season and worked six innings, allowing three unearned runs on five hits while striking out two
-Decker picked up her third save of the season as Mines has now doubled their team total of saves from last season, with six in 2023
-The Orediggers have reached the 20-win mark in a season for the first time under second-year head coach
Mike Coutts and have now won 20 or more games for the second time in the last three seasons, while the 19 RMAC wins so far this season are just one shy of the 20 recorded in the 2021 season
LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers will wrap up their weekend in Alamosa with two more games Sunday against Adams State beginning at 11 a.m. before playing their final road games of the season next weekend as they'll head to Las Vegas, New Mexico to play New Mexico Highlands in a four-game series.
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.
