ALAMOSA, Colo. – Eyeing their second series win in as many weeks, the Colorado School of Mines softball team was able to do one better Sunday as they returned to action against Adams State, picking up their second series sweep of the season with a doubleheader sweep by scores of 8-4 and 8-2.
 
For the Orediggers (22-21, 21-13), big innings were the order of the day as four of the five scoring innings Sunday afternoon resulted in at least three runs as the offense pounded out 26 hits over the course of 14 innings while the Grizzlies (9-34, 6-26), despite leading early in the finale, found themselves unable to match Mines' offensive output as they succumbed to the sweep.
 
After both teams left a runner on in the first inning, Mines got on the board first in the second. Sara Larson and Renata Boyd each singled and stole a base to get into scoring position for Sophie Furniss, who singled back up the middle to score both runners before advancing to third as the throw home got away from the catcher. After Lauren Decker reached on an infield single and stole second, Aubree Karraker grounded out to second to score Furniss from third. Decker scored moments later on a wild pitch on ball four to Kendall Aragon which made it a four-run inning for the Orediggers.
 
ASU did get a run back in the home half of the inning, as a leadoff solo home run to left field cut the lead to 4-1.
 
Following a third inning that saw each side go down in order, the fourth inning saw Mines hang another crooked number on the scoreboard. Furniss, Decker and Karraker all singled to start the frame and load the bases as the lineup rolled back over for Aragon, who slashed a single through the left side to make it 5-1 and force an ASU pitching change. Hannah Roberts wasted little time welcoming the new arm to the game, as she singled back up the middle to score a pair and make it a 7-1 game.
 
The second run of the game for Adams State came in the bottom of the fourth, as Belinda Vargas went deep for the second time in the game, this time to centerfield as lead was trimmed back to five at 7-2.
 
Furniss continued her red-hot day at the plate in the fifth as she answered back with an RBI single back up the middle to score Renata Boyd and make it 8-2.
 
Starter Sadriena Rodriguez (12-2) pitched into the sixth but ran into some trouble with one out as a pair of runs scored in the inning, but Taylor Wayne was able to come on in relief and retire five of the six batters she faced to wrap up the ball game as Mines took the game by a final of 8-4 and picked up their second-straight series win.
 
The series finale started out scoreless through an inning and a half until Adams State got on the board with some creative baserunning, as a delayed steal of third following a one-out double resulted in an errant throw that allowed pitcher Jade Garbiso to score and help her own cause.
 
Mines had a chance to answer in the top of the third, as Kendall Aragon reached with a one-out single to left before being joined on base by Sidney Wilson with a two-out single of her own. A wild pitch allowed both to move into scoring position but ASU escaped the inning with a flyout to left field.
 
The Grizzlies maintained their 1-0 lead until Mines finally broke through in the fifth inning. Aragon tripled down the left field line with one out as was promptly replaced on third after Hannah Roberts split the left center gap with a triple of her own to tie the game at 1-1. After a strikeout, Kayleigh Krueger singled to left to plate Roberts before coming around to score on a double to left center by Trystin Oshiro-Sano to make it a two-run game at 3-1.
 
ASU was able to get one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning, getting the first two runners on before a sacrifice bunt advanced both 60 feet. An RBI groundout to shortstop made it 3-2, but Allison Westbrook (5-1) was able to get a popup to first base to strand the tying run on base and end the inning.
 
The Orediggers answered right back in the top of the sixth in a big way, as Sara Larson, Lauren Decker and pinch hitter Sophie Furniss all reached to load the bases with no outs. After lineout to shallow left, Roberts drove in her second run of the game with a single to right center that eluded a diving defender to score Larson. Sidney Wilson's sac fly to center score Decker before Krueger singled into center and scored Furniss and Roberts to make it 7-2. Oshiro-Sano picked up her second extra-base hit of the game with an RBI double to left center that saw Krueger come all the way around to score as in all five runs came across in the inning.
 
Cassidy Chvatal came on to work in the home sixth and navigated around a leadoff single to record two strikeouts in the inning before working a 1-2-3 seventh to finish off the 8-2 win and complete the series sweep.
 
NOTABLES
-Furniss finished game one 3-4 with three RBI and two runs scored and now has 10 RBI this season; it was also the first three-hit game of her career
-Decker went 2-3 with two runs scored and a stolen base in game one and went 1-4 with another steal and a run scored in game two; she is now tied with Kaleigh Starr (2007-10) and Paige Noehring (2014-17) for third all-time in stolen bases with 45
-Boyd posted a 1-2 game one with a walk, two steals and two runs scored before going 2-3 in game two and now owns an eight-game hitting streak; she now has 17 stolen bases on the season, two shy of her career-high set last season and is up to 58 in her career
-Roberts now has 13 RBI on the season and finished the weekend with eight in the series after driving in two runs in each game Sunday; she finished the weekend 8-16 (.500) at the plate with five runs scored as well
-Krueger finished 2-4 with a triple in the opener before going 3-4 with three RBI and a pair of runs scored in game two; for the weekend she went 8-14 at the plate with four RBI and four runs scored and now has the first 30 RBI season of her career
-Oshiro-Sano went 2-4 with a double, the first triple of her Mines career and two RBI in the finale to finish the weekend with three extra-base hits and six RBI
-Rodriguez worked 5.1 innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits while striking out three
-Wayne worked 1.2 innings of scoreless relief and allowed just one hit for her first scoreless outing since a complete-game win shutout over Chadron State on March 20
-Westbrook picked up her fifth win of the season, going five innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits with two strikeouts
-Chvatal turned in a scoreless relief appearance and with her three strikeouts, reached and passed 100 career strikeouts in a Mines uniform
-Eight different players recorded a hit in each game Sunday
-Three triples Mines had in game two Sunday are the most in a game this season and is the first game with three triples since February 23, 2013 against Western New Mexico, and one shy of the single-game program record of four, set back in 2011 against MSU Denver
-Mines stole six bases in the game, marking the fourth such game this season with at least that many, and finished the day with nine after stealing three more in game two; as a team, the Orediggers are now two stolen bases shy of the single-season record of 81
-The Orediggers outscored ASU 33-13 over the course of the series and had at least 10 hits in each game with 12 or more in three out of four to finish the weekend 48-121 (.397) with eight extra-bases hits
-With the game two win Sunday, Mines is over the .500 mark for the first time this season and improves to 21-13 in RMAC play
-For the first time since 2021, Mines has completed two four-game sweeps in the same season

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will be 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.