GOLDEN, Colo. – Back at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field for the final two games of the weekend, the Colorado School of Mines softball team looked to close things out right this time and not let one get away like the last time they played on their home field as they lined up looking for a series win over Fort Lewis. Fortunately for the Orediggers (16-14, 12-10), they came to play for a full 14 innings and got the job done, staving off another late rally to win the weekend in game one 8-6 before pounding out 14 hits in the finale to back up strong pitching in the circle to complete their first sweep of the season by a score of 6-2 over the Skyhawks (7-22, 5-15).
 
Coming out to start the day, Fort Lewis turned a leadoff double by Alex Tenorio into a run with a sacrifice fly two batters later by Alex Burriel to take the first lead of the day. Mines got a couple of baserunners in the home first as they looked to answer but nothing came of it as a groundout ended the inning.
 
After giving up the early run, Sadriena Rodriguez (8-5) was nails starting in the second inning. Her first strikeout of the day in the first was the 300th of her collegiate career and one of eight she would post on the day, recording two more in the second as she left two in scoring position following a double and a single and another in the third, leaving another runner on at second as she waited for the offense to get going.
 
The bottom of the third saw the Orediggers' bats get going as Sidney Wilson started the rally with a one-out single to shortstop. Sara Larson followed with a single to right, but a misplay by the right fielder allowed her to come all the way around the bases to score behind Wilson to take the lead 2-1. Lexie Semeyn followed with a single back through the box as she scored two batters latter on an RBI double to center by Cassidy Chvatal to make it 3-1.
 
Rodriguez came back with a shutdown 1-2-3 inning in the fourth before allowing a run on a two-out single again involving Burriel and Tenorio as the Skyhawks clawed back within a run at 3-2 on a ball that bounced in and out of the glove of an on the move Chvatal as she tried to flag down the final out of the inning. In the home fifth, Mines answered back and then some, scoring three runs to stretch their lead back out. Semeyn started the frame with a walk before a bunt single by Kayleigh Krueger put two runners on. Following a groundout and passed ball on a missed squeeze attempt that saw Semeyn score with a head first slide, Trystin Oshiro-Sano stood in with another runner at third and delivered a double into the left field corner for the second run of the inning. After a groundout to shortstop, the lineup turned over to Kellan Ton who continued her red-hot hitting and single up the middle to score Oshiro-Sano and make it a 6-2 game.
 
FLC left a runner on in the sixth as Rodriguez worked around a two-out walk, her only free pass of the day, while Mines tacked on a pair in the bottom of the inning on an RBI triple by Lexie Semeyn that scored pinch runner Sam Whisenand following a walk by Wilson and an RBI single by Krueger to make it a six-run lead at 8-2 going to the sixth.
 
As it turned out, those two runs ended up being pivotal with how things unfolded in the seventh. Allison Westbrook took over in the circle and alternated walks with flyouts to right field, managing to get two outs but loading the bases for the Skyhawks and the heart of their order. Two more wild pitches in the inning resulted in two runs before Kat Miller was called upon to try for the final out of the game and after giving up a two-run double to Cat Rodman, got a lineout to Larson at third on a 3-2 count to stop the rally in its tracks and collect the save on an 8-6 win.
 
Turning right around in game two, Miller (4-3) got the start and worked around a one-out double to hang a zero in the first and a left two in the second following a single and hit by pitch as she too waited for the offense to get going. At the dish, Mines got runners in scoring position in both the first two innings, something they ended up doing in all but three innings over the course of the day, but a bad luck double play in the first and a strikeout in the second resulted in three left on as it remained scoreless.
 
Heading to the third, Fort Lewis cracked the board first on an RBI fielder's choice by Burriel following another leadoff double by Tenorio and a single by Cara Daugherty as they took a 1-0 lead. After being held off the board in the bottom of the third and Miller holding FLC at bay in the fourth, the Orediggers cranked out three runs to take the lead in home half of the frame. Lexie Semeyn started things off with a single before being joined on base by Cassidy Chvatal with a one-out single of her own. After a flyout to right field, Kailey Morales worked a four-pitch walk to turn the lineup back over to Kellan Ton who slapped a single through the left side to score Semeyn and keep the base loaded for Kendall Aragon, who drove a 2-1 offering into right center for a pair to take the lead 3-1.
 
Pitching with a lead now, Miller again had to navigate traffic in the fifth as two singles and a walk loaded the bases, but a foul out to Kayleigh Krueger resulted in a clean inning and three left on base. Mines tacked on two more runs in their next trip to the plate, this time with Krueger getting it going with a one-out single to left. Hannah Roberts followed up with a two-out single into right before Morales again worked a walk, this time earning it with a nine-pitch at bat to bring Ton back to the dish with base juiced. The freshman remained unfazed and delivered again, singling up the middle to score two and make it a 5-1 game.
 
Heading to the sixth, Miller departed and handed things back over to Sadriena Rodriguez in her second relief appearance of the season. After getting a pair of quick outs around a walk, a double into the right field corner that went in and out of the glove of Chvatal as she was on the run allowed Tenorio to score and make it a 5-2 game, but again Mines got the run back in their half as Krueger laced a two-out single to right that scored Sara Larson to make it a 6-2 ballgame.
 
Now up four, Rodriguez looked to close things out but the Skyhawks didn't make it easy, getting a walk and a single in the inning but this time there was no drama to be had as the fifth-year graduate student got a fly out to center and pop up to Wilson on the infield to close out the win and cap off the weekend sweep.
 
NOTABLES
-Krueger ends the weekend probably wishing she could face Fort Lewis every game after she posted a 6-8 afternoon with two RBI and two runs scored and closing the series 9-14 with four runs scored, four RBI and a triple and raising her average from .243 to .307
-Ton capped the best weekend of her young career with a 4-8 day at the dish, going 2-4 in each game and driving in four runs, three of which came in game two for a season high; the freshman now carries a seven-game hitting streak and finished the weekend 7-15 with six RBI, three runs scored, a double and three stolen bases after entering the series with just one RBI on the year
-Larson went 3-8 with two runs scored on the afternoon and is now on a five-game hitting streak following a weekend in which she held down the cleanup spot and went 5-13 with a double, three RBI, two runs scored and was 3-3 on stolen bases
-Semeyn posted a 3-7 day including a 2-3 game with an RBI and three runs scored with a triple in game one
-Wilson was 3-5 with three walks, a double and a run scored on the day and hit safely in each of the final three games of the weekend and closes the weekend with her average up to .315
-Chvatal capped her birthday weekend with a hit in each game, doubling home a run in game one and scoring in game two and raising her RBI count to 15 and her average to .280
-Oshiro-Sano recorded her fifth double of the season and drove in a run in game one
-Aragon drove in a pair in game two as part of a 2-4 performance and is now tied for the team lead with 16 RBI alongside Semeyn
-Sam Whisenand recorded the first stolen base of her career in game one
-Rodriguez went six strong in a winning effort in the opener, striking out eight and allowing two runs on seven hits to improve to 8-5 on the season before coming back to work the final two frames of game two, allowing a run on two hits
-Rodriguez became the fifth pitcher in program history to reach the 300-strikeout mark in a career in game one, joining Kelly Unkrich (2010-13), Carrie Wittkopf (1999-02), Hallie Smith (2015-18) and current pitching coach Libby Balogh (2010-11) while picking up the 32nd win of her career in the circle, passing Marchando for sole possession of fifth place all-time in Mines history
-Miller posted her first career save in recording the final out in game one and picked up her fourth win of the season in game two, backing up her Friday start with five strong innings, scattering eight hits and allowing just one run
-Mines tallied 12 extra-base hits on the weekend and scored at least six runs in each of the four games this weekend while posting double-digit hit totals in three of the four games, including 14 in the finale for their third-highest output of the season and best at home in 2024
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers will hit the road for their next eight starting Thursday and Friday when they head north to Spearfish, South Dakota for four games with Black Hills State ahead of Easter weekend.
 
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.