GOLDEN, Colo. – Back at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field to open the Easter weekend, the Colorado School of Mines softball team looked to maintain their position in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings, hosting MSU Denver in the first two games of the weekend Friday afternoon and were able to just that, gaining a pair of wins over the number two team in the league, winning by twin scores of 7-2.
 
The Orediggers (17-20, 16-12) scored first in each game and got contributions up and down the lineup all afternoon on both sides of the ball, as Sadriena Rodriguez shined in the circle in the opener while Kayleigh Krueger went 5-8 over the course of the day as the Roadrunners (25-14, 21-7) were held to just two runs on five hits in each game against Mines pitching.
 
After Rodriguez navigated around a one-out double in the top of the first to hang a zero, the offense came through with the first run of the game on an RBI fielder's choice by Sara Larson that scored Kendall Aragon with bases loaded after she led the inning off with a single through the left side.
 
Three more runs came across in the second, as Lexie Semeyn, Lauren Decker and Aubree Karraker reached to lead the inning off before Aragon wore a pitch off her helmet to force home a run as MSUD made a pitching change. Hannah Roberts wasted little time welcoming the new arm to the action, blasting a 3-1 offering to dead center and barely missing a grand slam, instead settling for a two-run double off the 220 sign to make it 4-0.
 
Kayleigh Krueger tacked on another run in the fourth when she singled up the middle with one out to plate Sidney Wilson who beat the throw back in from the outfield to make it 5-0 Orediggers.
 
The Roadrunners got on the board in the fifth, as an infield single to shortstop saw the leadoff batter of the inning cross home following a walk and sacrifice bunt. Mines answered right back in their half of the inning, as single back through the box by Aragon plated Aubree Karraker after she reached base on a triple down the right field line to make it 6-1.
 
Following the second 1-2-3 inning of the day from Rodriguez, the Orediggers added another run in the sixth, as Krueger led off with a double to left center before being lifted for pinch runner Paige Dompier, who scored two batters later on an RBI groundout to shortstop by Emilee Sloan to make it 7-1.
 
Rodriguez (9-2) allowed a leadoff triple to score in the seventh on a sac fly to center, but was able to retire two of the next three batters, getting a swinging strikeout to end the ballgame and cap off her 10th complete game of the season.
 
Game two saw Allison Westbrook (3-1) make her first home start of the season in the circle and following a scoreless top of the first, the Orediggers took advantage of some defensive miscues to hang a crooked number on the board to open the game.
 
Hannah Roberts reached with one out on a fielding error at first base and advanced to second on a second error by the right fielder who overran the ball on the play. Sidney Wilson then doubled a 1-1 delivery to the left center fence to score Roberts for the first run of the game. After the second out of the inning, Sara Larson singled to centerfield to score Wilson and took second on the throw before advancing to third on an infield single by Renata Boyd. Larson scored moments later on the back end of a double steal, as Boyd swiped second and went wide on the slide to force the defender to turn her back on the play as the third run of the inning came across. A single to right by Trystin Oshiro-Sano allowed Boyd to race home and make it 4-0 before the inning came to an end.
 
Following a scoreless second, MSU Denver broke through in the third with two outs for their first run of the day on an RBI single down the right field line that found just enough green grass between a trio of Mines defenders.
 
Two more runs came across for Mines in the bottom of the fourth, as a two-out double to left center by Kayleigh Krueger allowed Kendall Aragon to score easily from third and Wilson race all the way around from first to again beat the relay home and make it a 6-1 game.
 
MSUD led off the top of the fifth with a solo home run and followed with a single to force a pitching change by the Orediggers, but Cassidy Chvatal came on and was able to work out of trouble in the inning, stranding two on base to preserve the four-run lead.
 
Mines got that run back in the bottom of the inning, as a two-out double to right center by Aubree Karraker allowed Lauren Decker to score all the way from first and make it a five-run game again at 7-2. With no change to the score in the sixth, Decker moved to the circle to work the seventh and close things out, needing just seven pitches to do so and wrapping up the second win of the day.
 
NOTABLES
-Rodriguez became the first Mines pitcher since Sydney Marchado in 2019 to record a 100-strikeout season, doing so with her first strikeout of the afternoon
-Rodriguez also reached 200 career strikeouts in the sixth inning of the opener to end the inning, becoming the first pitcher to reach the milestone since Marchado in the 2021 season
-Krueger posted a monster day at the plate, finishing 5-8 with two doubles and three RBI
-Decker went 3-3 at the plate in game one with a run scored and also scored in game two
-Aragon went 2-3 with two RBI in the opener and scored a run in each game
-Roberts went 3-7 on the day, with a pair of hits and two RBI in game one while scoring a run in game two
-Karraker finished the day 2-5 with two extra-base hits, and RBI and a run scored
-Larson drove in a run and stole a base in each game
-The trio of Westbrook, Chvatal and Decker held MSU Denver to just two runs on five hits (5-24) in game two
-At the plate in both games, Mines went 22-58 (.379) with 14 runs scored and six extra base hits
-As a team, the Orediggers have now surpassed the overall win total from last season (16) and have tied their total number of conference wins from last season (16) as well and their nine home wins this season are the most in the last three seasons

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will close out their four-game series with the Roadrunners Saturday at 11 a.m. before hitting the road for the next two weeks, starting with a trip to Alamosa to take on Adams State next weekend April 14-15
 
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.