Mines (1-5) at Cal State San Marcos (0-2) – Friday, 2 p.m. (PT) – San Marcos, Calif. [Live Stats] [CCAA Network-PPV]
Mines (1-5) at Cal State San Marcos (0-2) – Saturday, 11 a.m. (PT) – Doubleheader – San Marcos, Calif. [Live Stats] [CCAA Network-PPV]
Mines (1-5) at Concordia Irvine (2-0) – Monday, 11 a.m. (PT) – Doubleheader – Irvine, Calif. [Live Stats] [Live Video]

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CALIFORNIA STATE OF MIND
The Colorado School of Mines Baseball continues its season-opening road trip with five games in four days out West in California. Action starts Friday afternoon with a single, nine-inning game at Cal State San Marcos. First pitch of the opener is set for 2 p.m. (PT). The Orediggers and Cougars close their series with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 11 a.m. (PT). Mines will take Sunday off before heading to Concordia Irvine for a Monday doubleheader. Those finals games begin at 11 a.m. (PT) with a cutoff time of 4:45 p.m. (PT) for travel constraints.
 
HOW TO WATCH
Mines' three games in San Marcos will have pay-per-video through the CCAA Network. Fan can purchase a month-long pass for $9.95 or a season all-access pass for $79.95. Fans should be aware that both subscriptions renew automatically and withdrawals the money from the card on file unless the membership is manually canceled. Monday's game should be offered on CUI's live video platform through Hudl and Team 1 Sports. All five games will also have free live stats linked above, on www.minesathletics.com, and on social media.
 
WEATHER FORECAST
The forecast for San Marcos, Calif., on Friday and Saturday features partly-cloudy skies and high temperatures in the mid-60s. There is no projected precipitation and only a light breeze. Monday in Irvine, Calif., brings overcast skies and a high temperature of 63 degrees. There is a 20-percent chance of precipitation for the trip's finale.
 
KANSAS RECAP
Last weekend, the Orediggers played a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday at Emporia State in Kansas. Friday saw Mines wear a pair of heartbreaking, walk-off losses. The scores were 3-2 and 5-4 with the later coming after 11 innings. Ben Schoneman tossed a complete game but still took the loss. In game two, Luke Folsom spun 5.0 innings and gave up just one earned run while striking out six and walking one. Matthew Dobberthien eventually took the loss in relief. On Saturday, Mines was one-hit in a 2-0 loss to start the day. The Orediggers' only hit was a Jackson Woolwine double to start the game. Like Schoneman, Mines' start Alex Honeyman went the distance but also took the loss. In the series finale, the Orediggers earned their first win of the season and their first win ever against Emporia State thanks to a 10-1 margin. Starting pitcher Carter Gorling earned the first win of his collegiate career after striking out seven batters across 5.0 innings. Mines scored its 10 runs on 16 hits with no hits for extra bases. Across the four games, Keene Tanaka batted .333 and drove in three runs. Trent Nielsen also hit a home run for Mines – his first of the season.
 
CALIFORNIA HOMECOMING
The Orediggers' trip to California marks a homecoming of sorts for multiple Mines players. Seven different Orediggers list California as their home state. That list includes Tyler Stull (Chino Hills), Peter Lynch (Tarzana), Trent Nielsen (Carlsbad), Tyler Pina (Morgan Hill), Wayne Moeck (San Diego), Evan Bilter (Pleasanton), and Jacob Johnson (Danville). San Marcos, Calif., is located nearly midway between Los Angeles and San Diego. Irvine is on the south side of the greater Los Angeles area. Stull, Lynch, Nielsen, and Moeck all hail from the southern region of California. However, the hometowns for Pina, Bilter, and Johnson are all significantly further north. The high schools represented by those seven Orediggers include Chino Hills (Stull), Calabasas (Lynch), Carlsbad (Nielsen), Ann Sobrato (Pina), Rancho Bernardo (Moeck), Foothill (Bilter), and Monte Vista (Johnson).
 
THE PURSUIT OF HISTORY
With his double against #17 Southern Arkansas on opening weekend, Luke Folsom now boasts 44 doubles in his career. That ties him for #6 in program history with Stefan Revielle (2006-08). The next two Orediggers on the list are Mikey Gangwish (45) and Logan Smith (49). Folsom also happens to already hold the Mines record for doubles in a season with 29. Furthermore, Folsom is looking to climb the program's career home runs list. He's already tied for #9 with 21. Teammate Mason Andrews also touts 21 home runs in his career making it a race to see who climbs higher. The all-time record is 46 set by Mikey Gangwish (2016-19). If that weren't enough, Folsom #14 in career RBI with 108. Mikey Gangwish also owns that Mines record at 186. Finally, Ben Schoneman's five strikeouts last weekend pushed him to 134 for his career. That puts the graduate student #11 in program history, just six back of Nate Olinger (2013-16).
 
SCOUTING CAL STATE SAN MARCOS
A rainy February in California has limited Cal State San Marcos to just two games which have resulted in two losses. The Cougars dropped a doubleheader to Concordia Irvine on Saturday, Feb. 10, by scores of 10-3 and 6-4. Phoenix Sommay is the current batting leader with a .750 average. Mateo Lake boasts three hits and a .600 average as well. Mauricio Guardado and Luke Reece have both scored two runs. Cameron Mahaffy's double marks CSUSM's only hit for extra bases. He also leads the team with two RBI. Sammy Murphy is the Cougars' early leader on the mound. He touts a 2.25 ERA in one start with four strikeouts compared to two walks across 4.0 innings. Luke Higgins and Conner Gleissner own the two decisions. Cal State San Marcos was picked to finish ninth out of 11 teams in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
OREDIGGERS AGAINST THE COUGARS
Colorado School of Mines and Cal State San Marcos met on the diamond for the first time in 2022. The Orediggers went out to California for a four-game series and won the first three before falling in the finale. That puts Mines 3-1 in the all-time series against CSUSM. In the inaugural meeting, Wayne Moeck hit two doubles and a home run. Weston Siefken, Jackson Bakovich, Luke Folsom, Ben Schoneman, and Marcus Lee all pitched against the Cougars as well.
 
SCOUTING CONCORDIA IRVINE
Heavy rain in California unsurprisingly impacted Concordia Irvine as well. The Golden Eagles have played just two games and won both. The pair of wins came in the aforementioned doubleheader against Cal State San Marcos. Isaiah Walz started both games and hit .667 with a double while scoring three times. Jordan Bolden also started twice and hit .571 with two doubles and a triple on the way to four RBI. Only four CUI pitchers were needed for the two victories. Riley O'Sullivan started and earned one win thanks to a 1.93 ERA with seven strikeouts and zero walks in 4.2 innings. Jake Covey earned the other victory with 4.1 innings of scoreless relief. He struck out six and walked four. An unknown #45 earned a 2.0-inning save. Members of the PacWest Conference, Concordia Irvine was picked fourth out of nine teams in the coaches' preseason poll.
 
WALTER PENNINGTON REPORTS
Walter Pennington showed for big-league spring training on Wednesday, Feb. 14, as part of pitchers and catchers reporting for the Kansas City Royals. The left-handed hurler signed a free-agent contract with the Kansas City Royals in the summer of 2020 and played the 2021 season with the organization's Low-A affiliate, the Columbia Fireflies. In 2022, Pennington started with the Royals' High-A club in the Quad Cities (Iowa). He quickly moved up to AA and finished the season with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. In 2023, Pennington started with the AA Naturals and made another quick move – this time up to AAA Omaha. While with the Storm Chasers, the lefty went 7-2 in 41 appearances and one start. He posted a 3.69 ERA thanks to 64 strikeouts in 61.0 innings of work while walking just 31 batters. He also tallied 11 holds and held opposing hitters to .234 at the plate.  As of January 10, Pennington was officially assigned to the Kansas City Royals, marking a promotion to the major league club. The promotion currently applies just to 2024 Spring Training, but still makes Pennington the most successful professional baseball player in Mines history in terms of advancement.
 
IN THE PROS
Over the last six years, four Orediggers have entered baseball's professional ranks. Mikey Gangwish (2016-19) was the first as he played professionally in Australia before returning to a contract with the Evansville Otters of the independent Frontier League. He has since retired and earned his master's degree at Mines. The second was Trevor Kehe (2017-19) who was drafted in the 36th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Baltimore Orioles. He worked in the Orioles organization for three years and advanced as far as High-A ball with the Aberdeen IronBirds before retiring. Rounding out but leading the trio is Walter Pennington (2017-20).
 
THE SKIPPER
The 2024 campaign marks Mines' sixth season with Robby Bales as head coach. During his tenure as the Oredigger skipper, Bales holds an overall record of 118-90 with a mark of 75-59 in RMAC play. He has coached 17 All-RMAC players, 10 all-region players, three all-Americans, two RMAC Pitcher of the Year winners, one RMAC Freshman of the Year, seven CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, one MLB Draft Pick and had one player signed as a free agent in the MLB. Additionally, Bales has guided Mines to the NCAA Tournament once, and RMAC Tournament three times, advancing to the regional and conference tournament final in 2019. Bales' teams have also performed in the classroom as the squad brought home the RMAC Brechler Award in 2020, 2021, and 2023 as the team boasting the highest combined GPA in the conference.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines has next weekend off. The Orediggers resume play with their 2024 home openers starting Saturday, March 2. Mines is slated to host Minot State and Colorado Christian in a doubleheader at Jim Darden Field. First pitch is currently slated for 12 p.m. with free live video on the RMAC Network and free live stats linked at www.minesathletics.com.a
 
Fans can keep up with Mines baseball on "X" (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @OrediggersBSB. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, "X" and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.