GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Back on the road for the second time in the first three weeks of the season, the Colorado School of Mines softball team looked to rebound from an RMAC opening split Saturday at the CMU Softball Field against Colorado Mesa to begin week two of conference action. Despite putting up strong performances on both sides of the ball in each game, the Orediggers (5-7, 2-4) fell to the Mavericks (8-4, 6-0) in both ends of the doubleheader, falling 3-1 in the opener before being dealt a walk-off loss in game two 5-4.
 
Game one opened with a scoreless first inning despite both sides getting traffic on the bases before Colorado Mesa managed to plate a run in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly to take the lead before doubling their advantage in the third on another sac fly to make it 2-0.
 
Mines rallied in the fourth when Kendall Aragon led off with a single before scoring on a two-out double by Sara Larson to cut the deficit in half at 2-1. Sadriena Rodriguez (3-3) shut down Colorado Mesa in their half of the fourth, working around a leadoff double to hang a zero as the Orediggers looked to tie things in the fifth with a pair of singles by Cassidy Chvatal and Sidney Wilson, but nothing came of the rally as CMU was able to pitch out of trouble in the fifth.
 
The Mavericks added an insurance run in the home fifth with a two-out solo home run to left field that made it a 3-1 game. Lexie Semeyn and Sara Larson looked to lead a rally in the top of the sixth as they both singled to put two on with one out, but a lack of timely hitting from the bottom of the order resulted in no change on the scoreboard.
 
Allison Westbrook came on in relief in the sixth and worked around a leadoff single, getting a double play to end the frame and send things to the seventh. Looking to rally and extend the game, Kendall Aragon reached on a fielder's choice with two outs but a groundout on the next batter saw CMU take game one 3-1.
 
Game two began with Colorado Mesa jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the home first with a groundout and an RBI single up the middle to again take the first lead of the game and added a run in each of the next two innings on a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to lead 4-0 after three innings.
 
In the Mines fourth, Trystin Oshiro-Sano worked a one-out walk and two batters later came around to score as Kayleigh Krueger blasted a two-run home run to left center to cut the gap in half and make it a 4-2 game. Cassidy Chvatal (0-2) moved from right field to the circle for the home half and worked a 1-2-3 inning to keep momentum in favor of the Orediggers as they continued to fight back in the fifth.
 
Chvatal led things off with a single and was joined on base in short order by Hannah Roberts before Kellan Ton laid down a bunt to move the pair into scoring position while reaching on a single to load the bases. Sidney Wilson stepped in next and drove an 0-1 offering into left field to score and tie things up at 4-4 as Mines had a chance to take the lead following a walk by Lexie Semeyn to load the bases, but CMU was able to escape the jam and keep things level.
 
Chvatal worked around a leadoff single in the fifth before both sides tossed a scoreless sixth as the shadows started to grow long in the late afternoon sun. Leading off the seven, Ton worked a leadoff walk to put the Orediggers in prime position to begin the frame as Wilson reached next on an error by the shortstop to put two on with no outs. A sac bunt by Aragon moved the duo up 60 feet each and into scoring position, but a pair of groundouts meant no runs came across as the action moved to the bottom of the seventh. Chvatal needed just five pitches to retire the first two batters she faced as Mines looked to send the game to extra innings, but a walk-off solo home run by Ava Fugate resulted in a different outcome as the Mavericks took game two by a final of 5-4.
                                       
NOTABLES
-Wilson finished the day 3-7 at the plate including a 2-3 day in game one and 1-4 with two RBI in game two
-Larson doubled and drove in a run in game one to finish 2-3 with an RBI before going 1-3 in game two
-Krueger blasted her first home run of the season in game two to finished 1-3 with two RBI
-Roberts went 2-3 with a run in game two in her only action of brother
-Aragon posted a 2-4 performance with a run scored in the opener
-Chvatal went 1-3 in each game and scored a run in game two while also working 3.2 innings of relief and allowing just one run on two hits without issuing a walk
-Rodriguez went five innings in the opener and allowed three runs on five hits with two strikeouts
-Westbrook worked a scoreless inning of relief in game one, allowing just one hit and facing the minimum
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers close out the weekend with Colorado Mesa Sunday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines softball on X at @MinesSoftball and on Instagram at @mines_sb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, X and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.