GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball team saw its 2023 campaign come to a close on Thursday afternoon in a 4-2 loss to #1-ranked Colorado Mesa at the RMAC tournament.
 
The game was close from start to finish, thanks in large part to Oredigger starting pitcher Alex Honeyman. Against the top-ranked team in all of NCAA Division II, the true freshman spun 6.1 innings and struck out four batters with one walk while giving up four runs (two earned) on eight hits with two walks. In the end, Honeyman (1-1) still took the decision. Jackson Bakovich was the only other pitcher to appear for Mines. He came out of the bullpen and tossed 1.2 innings of flawless baseball, surrendering zero runs on zero hits with zero walks and two strikeouts. Bakovich needed just 21 pitches to retire five batters.
 
On offense, Mason Andrews, Adam Houghtaling, and Caden Bonds accounted for the Orediggers' hits. Andrews smacked a home run, Houghtaling had a single in four at-bats, and Bonds hit a single while notching a RBI. Garret Nielsen accounted for Mines' other run. He earned a base on balls in each of his three trips to plate and did not record an at-bat on the day.
 
Mines (22-25) scratched out its two runs on three hits while walking four times. Colorado Mesa (43-9) stacked up eight hits but left six runners on base. The Mavericks' pitching staff offset four walks by striking out 11 Orediggers. Meanwhile, Mines' arms struck out six CMU hitters and only walked two. The difference in the game were two Mesa doubles along with a home run and a pair of Oredigger errors on defense. Kannon Handy (6-2) was the winning pitcher for CMU and Anthony Durbano (8) earned the save.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Thursday afternoon's showdown at The Diamond was a nine-inning sprint. The contest lasted just one hour and 54 minutes with outstanding defensive play on both sides. Mines nearly struck first in the opening frame, but Colorado Mesa converted a double play from the outfield to end the inning. Honeyman and the defense worked 2.1 scoreless thanks to a flash of the glove by Danny McDermott in the second inning that resulted in the Orediggers' own double play.
 
The top-seeded Mavericks hit a solo home run and notched a two-out, RBI hit in the bottom of the third to take 2-0 lead. Andrews' leadoff home run in the top of the fourth inning provided an immediate response from the visitors. Unfortunately for Mines, a pair of two-out errors in the home half of the fourth frame allowed CMU to tally two more runs. However, the Orediggers responded immediately again. Garret Nielsen started the fifth with a walk and Bonds eventually drove him in with a hit down the left-field line. That made the score 4-2, and no more runs would be had.
 
Stacked zeros appeared on the scoreboard after the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Bakovich provided the highlight on the tail end, starting his relief by taking over a 2-0 count before working a groundball and striking out the next batter. He also fanned one as part of a 1-2-3 eighth inning. However, CMU's First-Team All-RMAC closer shut down the Oredigger bats and that was that.  
 
NOTABLES
- Since 2016, Mines is 11-12 in the RMAC Baseball Tournament.
- Honeyman matched his career high in innings pitched, strikeouts, and fewest earned runs allowed. It marked just the first loss of his collegiate career.
- Andrews' home run was his 10th of the season which puts him tied for #16 in the program record book. He also notched his 50th RBI of the season to take over #12 on the single-season list.
- Additionally, Andrews scored his 51st run of the year which is tied for #14 in the Mines record book.
- Caden Bonds, Shuta Araki, Danny McDermott, Adam Houghtaling, Blake Ripp, Kevin Zapanta, Garret Nielsen, and Reece Noel all closed out their collegiate careers on Thursday.
- Noel finished his with a career ERA of 0.00.
- Houghtaling and Nielsen go down as two of the best sluggers in program history, combining to score more than 100 runs on 188 hits with 150 RBI thanks to 59 doubles, two triples and 36 home runs. Both have multiple listings in the program record book.
- Bonds and McDermott represent one of the most-consistent infield duos in program history thanks to a total of 331 appearances and 305 starts.
- Overall, Bonds totaled 100 runs and 96 RBI on 154 hits including 27 doubles, three triples and eight home runs.
- McDermott joins the all-time slugger conversation thanks to 27 home runs along with 33 doubles, and four triples on the way to 118 RBI.
- In just one year, Araki produced seven runs on four hits and one RBI in only 20 games and five starts while committing just two errors at shortstop.
- The pitching duo of Zapanta and Ripp also goes down in history thanks to a total of 266 strikeouts across more than 250 innings in 72 appearances and 35 starts. Their combined win-loss record was 20-16.
- Zapanta finished top-10 all-time in career strikeouts and single-season strikeouts.
- Head Coach Robby Bales finished his fifth season leading the Orediggers with an overall record of 117-85.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
As Mines enters the offseason, multiple season awards have yet to be announced including all-region teams and academic all-district and all-America teams. All honors will be unveiled at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can follow Mines baseball on Twitter at @OrediggersBSB. They can also follow all of Mines Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @MinesAthletics, and online at www.minesathletics.com.