GOLDEN, Colo. – Taking the field for their second series of the season at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field, the Colorado School of Mines softball team looked to gain some ground in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings as they resumed league action against Fort Lewis Friday. In the opener, it was a pair of four-run innings backing up six shutout innings in the circle that led the Orediggers (14-14, 10-10) to an 8-0 run-rule win before they had to withstand a seventh-inning rally by the Skyhawks (7-20, 5-13) but held on to complete the sweep with a 6-4 win in game two.
 
Fort Lewis looked like they might strike first in game one as Alex Tenorio laced a leadoff triple to left center, but Sadriena Rodriguez (7-5) would have none of it as she retired the next three batters to hang a zero on the board before stranding a runner in the second and working a 1-2-3 third as she waited for her offense to get going.
 
Get going is exactly what the Orediggers did in their half of the third, as Cassidy Chvatal reached on an error by the shortstop Tenorio to set the table. After a sacrifice bunt by Hannah Roberts, freshman Kellan Ton continued her red-hot hitting of late, doubling down the line in left to score Chvatal before moving up to third on a single by Kendall Aragon. After Aragon stole second and Sidney Wilson worked a four-pitch walk, Sara Larson singled back through the back to plate a pair and make it 3-0. Two batters later, Kayleigh Krueger joined in on the fun with a single into center that scored Wilson to make it a four-run game.
 
Rodriguez had to work out of some trouble in the top of the fourth as FLC looked to answer, as a one-out single, a two-out walk and an error loaded the bases, but the fifth-year left-hander dug deep to pick up one of her nine strikeouts in the game to end the inning.
 
In the sixth, the Skyhawks again got traffic on the bases with a leadoff single by Kayla Stone followed by a one-out walk by Cat Rodman, but again Rodriguez was nails as she struck out the next two she faced to keep her shutout intact. In the bottom of the frame, the Mines offense got rolling again as back-to-back triple to open the inning by Lexie Semeyn and Krueger led to a quick run that made it 5-0. After a strikeout, Chvatal doubled the other way to deep right center and following a groundout to third, came around to score on a single to left center by Ton to make it 7-0 and set the table for an early ending. After Ton stole second with ease, Aragon laced a ball to shallow center just outside the reach of a diving try in center as it fell in for a hit to score Ton easily as the Orediggers took game one by a tally of 8-0 in six innings.
 
Game two saw Kat Miller (3-3) work a 1-2-3 first and get rewarded right away with a pair of runs on an RBI triple by Kendall Aragon that scored Ton following a leadoff single and an RBI single to right center by Sidney Wilson. Mines tacked on another run in the second on a sacrifice fly to left field by Kailey Morales that scored Cassidy Chvatal after she led off with a single to make it a 3-0 lead.
 
Two innings later, Kayleigh Krueger singled through the right side with one out in the home fourth to set the table to Chvatal, who didn't miss an 0-1 offering as she hammered it deep to left field and toward Highway 6 for a two-run home run to make it a 5-0 Oredigger advantage.
 
Miller worked around traffic on the bases in the third and fourth innings, leaving three runners on base to keep her shutout big going but was unable to do the same in the fifth. A leadoff single by Cali Niccum was followed by a wild pitch and a one-out single to put runners at the corners. A bizarre play allowed a run to score as the runner at first Tenorio broke for second and looked to be out by plenty, but a miscue on defense saw the throw deflect off the glove of Roberts cutting in from second to potentially cut the throw and reverse the play back to home if the runner at third went in motion and carom into left field to make it 5-1 before the sophomore right-hander struck out what ended up being the final two batters she faced in the game to end the inning.
 
Mines got that run back though in the home fifth with two outs as Wilson was plunked on a 2-2 offering and lifted for pinch runner Sam Whisenand, who scored on a first pitch double to left center by Sara Larson to make it 6-1.
 
Allison Westbrook came on in relief in the sixth and walked the first batter she faced before getting two quick outs and looked to finish the frame strong, but instead had to work around a pinch-hit double in order to get a flyout to left to keep the lead at five. In the seventh, FLC looked to rally again and got another leadoff walk followed by a one-out error and back-to-back singles that loaded the bases and scored a run to make it 6-2. A wild pitch saw another run scored with a line drive sac fly to left bring home a third run, but again Westbrook managed to get out of trouble with a routine flyout to center to close out a 6-4 game two win.
 
NOTABLES
-Ton went 3-7 on the afternoon, going 2-4 with a double, a season-high two RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases in the opener while going 1-3 with a run and a stolen base in game two, extending her hitting streak to five games and raising her average to .358
-Aragon also posted a 3-7 day, driving in a run and hitting safely in each game including a triple in game two and scored twice and now has 14 RBI, tying her mark from last season and is now hitting .394
-Chvatal celebrated her birthday in style, going 3-6 on the day, belting an RBI double and scoring twice in game one before going 2-3 with her second two-run home run of the week in game two and now leads the team with three home runs and is tied for second with 14 RBI; she now has two career home runs against the Skyhawks, the last coming almost two year ago on March 26, 2022 by way of a third-inning grand slam in a 9-7 win
-Chvatal's home run in game two is the first Orediggers home run to leave the park at Joe Coors, Jr. Field since Kayleigh Krueger left the yard on April 16, 2022 against Regis; while Mines did have a home run at home last season, it came on an inside-the-park home run by Emilee Sloan
-Krueger finished the day 3-6 with a triple, two RBI and a run scored in game one and scored again in game two and has 12 RBI on the season now
-Larson posted a 2-6 day but did drive in two runs in game one while doubling home another run in game two and now has nine RBI on the year
-Wilson accounted for two runs on the day, scoring in the opener and going 1-2 with an RBI in game two and is now up to 15 RBI on the year
-Rodriguez fanned nine in her complete game shutout effort, scattering four hits and allowing only two walks with her fourth shutout of the season, one shy of her mark from last year she marks her name again into the Mines records for single-season strikeouts
-Rodriguez now stands at 299 career strikeouts and 30 career wins over 331 innings pitched heading into action Sunday and is cemented at fifth all-time in Mines history in strikeouts, and posted her 31st career win, passing Carrie Wittkopf (1999-02) as is now tied for fifth with Sydney Marchando (2018-21) while moving into a tie for second all-time with Hallie Smith (2015-18) in career shutouts with 12
-Miller shined in ger game two start, allowing just one unearned run on five hits with a career-high seven strikeouts over five innings
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers and Skyhawks close out their series Saturday with two more games starting 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.