COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Looking to pick up a road series win Sunday, the Colorado School of Mines softball team lined up opposite for two more games against UCCS at Mountain Lion Field under blue skies and sunshine and played to a pair of results that weren't too far off from what resulted Saturday, collecting a 3-0 win in the opener behind a strong pitching performance before being unable to pace the opposition at the plate, falling in game two 6-2
The Orediggers (15-20, 14-12) got a complete game shutout from
Sadriena Rodriguez in the opener as
Kayleigh Krueger provided the thunder on offense, belting a two-run home run to back up the left-hander in the circle in game one, while in game two the Mountain Lions (11-24, 8-18) used the home run ball to power their way to a win, leaving the yard four times to split the doubleheader and force a series split at the end of the day.
After a scoreless first inning, Mines was able to load the bases with one out in the second on a pair of infield singles and a walk. Following a popup for the second out of the inning,
Kendall Aragon broke the seal with a single through the left side of the infield for her second base knock in as many innings to bring home
Renata Boyd for the first run of the game.
After a 1-2-3 bottom of the second from Rodriguez (8-2),
Sidney Wilson led the inning off with a single before Krueger stepped in and promptly stepped out, launching a two-run home run to centerfield for her first round tripper of the season to make it a 3-0 game.
Those three runs ended up being all that Rodriguez needed, as she made it one turn through the lineup without allowing a hit and retired the first 11 batters she faced before allowing a single in the fourth. After retiring the side in order again in the fifth, she worked around traffic on the bases in each of the final two innings to record her third shutout of the season and went the distance for the ninth time this season.
The Orediggers again got on the board first in game two, as with two outs,
Sidney Wilson worked a walk before
Kayleigh Krueger singled to put two runners on for Trystin-Oshiro Sano, who drove a ball deep to left center and narrowly missed a three-run home run as the ball banged high off the fence for a two run double to make it 2-0 after a half inning.
UCCS responded much the same way they did in game two Saturday, as back-to-back solo home runs in the first tied the game back up after two batters. Two more runs came across in the third for the Mountain Lions in the second on a long RBI double followed by a passed ball to make it 4-2 before another solo home run in the third made it 5-2 against starter
Cassidy Chvatal (1-9).
Mines was able to get runners on base in every inning from the third through the sixth, including a pinch hit double in the sixth by
Emilee Sloan, but weren't able to find a way to turn those baserunners into runs.
UCCS closed out the scoring for the day in the home sixth, when they tacked on a run with their fourth solo home run of the game with one out in the inning to make it 6-2 as the Orediggers went down in order in the seventh to close the afternoon and split series.
NOTABLES
-Rodriguez's shutout is the fourth for the Orediggers this season, tying their mark from last season in 12 fewer games
-Rodriguez is also now one strikeout shy of 100 for the season and would be the first Oredigger pitcher to hit the century mark in a season since Sydney Marchando in 2019; she is also just six away from the 200 mark for her career
-Rodriguez faced just four batters over the minimum in her complete game effort and did not issue a walk in the game for the second time this weekend and for the fifth time this season
-Krueger's home run was her first of the season and sixth of her career as she has now left the yard at least once in each season of her time at Mines
-Krueger also now has 20 or more runs batted in each of her first three seasons in an Oredigger uniform
-Aragon went 3-3 with an RBI in the game to lead the way at the dish in the opener
-The Orediggers pounded out 12 hits in the game for their eighth game of the season with 10 or more, with Wilson, Boyd and
Lauren Decker each turning in two-hit outings as seven different players found the hit column
-Oshiro-Sano now has four-multi-RBI games this season and seven in her career with her two-run double in game two
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will be back home next week to host MSU Denver in a four-game series currently scheduled for April 6-7 at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field.
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.
