GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines Baseball team led early in both games of Sunday's doubleheader, but fell victim to a pair of Colorado Mesa rallies with the Mavericks winning 10-6 and 11-9.
 
For the day, Evan Bilter's .571 batting average was tops for Mines at the plate. Mason Andrews scored four times for the Orediggers. I-Ly Hsue led the team with four RBI thanks to two home runs. Wayne Moeck and Luke Folsom also went long and combined for six RBI. Woolwine tied the program's single-game record with three stolen bases. Three runs apiece from Hsue and Woolwine were notable as well. Trent Nielsen turned in two runs and three RBI across the two games. Alex Honeyman and Ben Schoneman were the starters on the mound, but neither factored in their respective decisions. Marcus Lee (2-1) took the loss on the frontend. Jackson Bakovich (3-3) wore the other decision. Weston Siefken and Jackson Kay provided additional relief. The pitching highlights included zero earned runs and two strikeouts for Kay while Schoneman struck out eight and walked zero.
 
Mines (11-10, 4-3 RMAC) hit .355 as a team including four home runs and two doubles. Colorado Mesa (13-8, 6-1 RMAC) batted .439 with six home runs and 10 doubles. That production dealt the Oredigger pitchers a staff ERA of 16.50 for the day despite 17 strikeouts compared to four walks. The Maverick pitchers struck out 14 and walked eight on the way to a combined 9.64 ERA in 14.0 innings of work. There were a total of seven fielding errors committed in the two games.
 
GAME ONE: Colorado Mesa 15, Mines 9
The visitors surged to a 7-1 lead after the first inning and a half. Woolwine and Andrews scored on Nielsen's two-out single in the top of the first. Hsue's three-run bomb sparked a five-run second for the Orediggers. With that in mind, Colorado Mesa's one run in the bottom of the first seemed inconsequential until CMU exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the second frame.  The Mavericks made it 9-7 on a two-out, one-run single in their half of the third.
 
Mines would tie the game at 9-9 in the fourth after back-to-back singles from Folsom and Nielsen. However, the home team tallied six unanswered runs in their last three chances at the plate to pull away. The Orediggers managed two hits in the fifth and forced an error with a walk in the seventh, but could not convert. Mesa's Ethan Voss closed out his win on the mound with a Hsue fly ball to right field.
 
GAME TWO: Colorado Mesa 11, Mines 9
For a third straight game, the Orediggers' bats started hot. Hsue opened the game with a double and Folsom smacked a two-out, two-run bomb for a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first. The two-out roll continued in the same frame with three consecutive singles off the bats of Bilter, Tyler Pina, and Moeck. Mines handed CMU a 4-0 deficit before the Mavericks could ever get to the plate. However, Colorado Mesa quickly hit two solo home runs and made it 4-2 after just one inning of play.
 
Hsue started the second inning by mashing a one-run potato. That kept the visitors in the lead when CMU took advantage of two Oredigger errors for two runs in the bottom of the second frame. The 5-4 score became 6-4 in the third thanks to Moeck's two-out bomb. Nobody scored in the fourth and Mines was shutout in the fifth. Colorado Mesa's leadoff home run in the bottom of the fifth seemed relatively harmless when the Orediggers stacked three runs in the top of the sixth. A wild pitch and the bat of Bilter afforded Mines a 9-5 lead heading into the last two innings. Unfortunately for the visitors, CMU stacked six runs in the bottom of the sixth. By the time Kay stuck out the final two batters and stopped the bleeding, only three outs remained for Mines and the damage had been done. Moeck's leadoff walk was the only fire left for the Orediggers before three pitches led to two outs and the end of the game.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines continues to seek its first win against Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction since 2017.
- Hsue hit his sixth and seventh home runs of the season, giving him 18 for his career. That is tied for #14 on the Orediggers' all-time list with Mike Deal (2005-07) and Toby Solis (1995-98).
- Hsue also moved to 39 career doubles which ties him with Derek Daly (2017-20) for #12 in the program record book.
- Moeck's home run was his third of 2024.
- Folsom now touts three home runs on the season and 24 in his career.
- Schoneman's eight strikeouts in game two on Sunday were the most of any Mines pitcher in a single game this season.
- Bakovich and Kay both made their second appearance of the series on Sunday after coming out of the bullpen in Saturday's opener.
- Woolwine has reached base safely in every game this season.
- Oredigger Head Coach Robby Bales is 128-95 in his sixth season leading Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers close their series at Colorado Mesa on Monday with a single game starting at 12 p.m. Live stats and free video on the RMAC Network will be offered at www.minesathletics.com.

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.