SPEARFISH, S.D. – On the road Thursday for a rare trip to South Dakota, the Colorado School of Mines softball team looked to keep their winning ways going as they took on Black Hills State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action. It was a mixed bag for the Orediggers (17-15, 13-11), as they pounded out 16 hits in game one to win 16-4 in six innings before the Yellow Jackets (11-18, 10-14) gave it right back to them in game two, taking advantage of three errors to take game two and split the doubleheader by a final score of 11-2 in five innings.
 
It was a couple of scoreless innings to start the day though Black Hills State did get the first batter of the game around to third in the bottom of the first, but Sadriena Rodriguez (9-5) was able to retire the next three she faced before striking out a pair as part of a 1-2-3 second.
 
In the third inning, the top of the Mines lineup stood in for a second time as Kellan Ton led the inning off with a single before being joined on base by Kendall Aragon who dropped a great bunt into a tough spot defensively up the third base line. A sacrifice bunt by Sidney Wilson moved the pair up 60 feet each before Sara Larson's groundout to the right side plated Ton for the first run of the day. Lexie Semeyn followed with a single through the left side to score Aragon before a pop-up ended the inning. BHSU managed an answer right away in their half of the inning as the first three batters reached by way of a walk and two singles. A fielder's choice at home resulted in a force out for the first out of the inning, but an RBI single to left and a sac fly plated a pair of runs before a two-out loaded the bases. Rodriguez's opposite number Shayla Tuschen was hit by a pitch to force home the go-ahead run before a pop-up to first ended the inning.
 
The Orediggers wasted little time drawing back even in the fourth as Cassidy Chvatal led the frame off with her second single of the afternoon before a throwing error on a bunt by Trystin Oshiro-Sano saw the attempt to get Chvatal at second sail into centerfield to put two runners on for Hannah Roberts. Roberts also dropped down a great bunt just up the first base line and fielded by a charging Ashlynn Pauwels, but her throw was inside the bag and wide into right field, which allowed Chvatal to score and Oshiro-Sano to advance to third to tie the game. As the lineup rolled over for a third time, Ton stood in and kept up her hot hitting, delivering another RBI single to left to regain the lead 4-3. Following a sac bunt by Aragon that moved Roberts and Ton up to second and third, Wilson belted one out to centerfield for a sac fly to bring Roberts around before Larson laced one into the outfield grass to score Ton to make it a three-run game at 6-3.
 
Rodriguez responded with a shutdown 1-2-3 inning in the home fourth, getting an infield pop-up, fly out and a line out to send her offense right back to the plate in the fifth. Keeping the momentum of the previous inning going, Kayleigh Krueger and Chvatal each reached on one-out walks before a flyout to left allowed the former to move up 60 feet to put runners on the corners for Roberts, who delivered again on a single through the left side for a run to turn the lineup back over. Ton recorded her third hit of the game on a knock through the right side before Aragon chased the starter Tuschen with a bases-clearing double to right center to make it a 10-3 game.
 
After Black Hills State managed to loaded the bases in their half of the inning but came up empty, Mines went back to work at the plate, as Larson reached on a leadoff error before Semeyn single to put runners at the corners. With the game now on the verge of run-rule territory, Semeyn swiped her second base of the day before Krueger laced a single to left to being in Larson and make it an eight-run game. Krueger then stole second before an E5 off the bat of Chvatal loaded the bases with still no outs in the inning for Trystin Oshiro-Sano, who lined one into center to score two more with Krueger nearly being thrown out at home but sliding in safely as the catcher mishandled the relay throw to make it 13-3. Roberts followed with a two-run double to the right center gap as the offense continued to roll. Following a lineout and a walk, Wilson notched her first hit of the day, singling to left to score Roberts and make it a 16-3 game before BHSU finally got out of the inning.
 
Looking to close things out early, Rodriguez got tagged for a run in the home half of the sixth, but left two on base as she retired the final three batters she faced and capped off the winning effort with a strikeout to take the opener.
 
Kendall Aragon and Sidney Wilson reached for the Orediggers in the first to start off game two with a single and a walk respectively, but a couple of flyouts allowed Black Hills State to get out of the inning. Meanwhile, BHSU got a one-out baserunner with a hit by pitch, but Kat Miller (4-4) got out of any potential trouble with a 6-3 double play to end the frame.
 
In the top of the second Mines scored first with two outs as a ball out toward second off the bat of Kellan Ton was fielded cleanly, but Hannah Roberts won the foot race to the bag as Cassidy Chvatal came all the way around from second to score on the play. Aragon stood in next and flared a single the other way to shallow left, allowing Roberts to come around and score as the throw home was late before a fielder's choice force out at third ended the inning.
 
In the bottom of the third, BHSU managed to draw back even with two outs by way of a throwing miscue on a stolen base attempt with runners at the corners and allowed both Yellow Jackets on base to score and make it a 2-2 game heading to the fourth.
 
The home half of the fourth saw Miller get the first two outs easily enough despite hitting a batter in between, but a wild pitch and two walks forced a pitching change as Allison Westbrook came on and looked to get out of the inning, but instead got tagged for a two-run single to right field before issuing a walk to load the bases back up. A ground ball to first looked to be a ticket out of trouble, but Krueger couldn't come up with it as another run scored and the inning continued. Things unraveled further with a two-run single into the left field corner before an error by Wilson saw a sixth run cross home to make it 8-2 before BHSU's home run leader Ashleynn Pauwels stood in and reset the inning with a three-run home run to right made it an 11-2 game before Miller re-entered and got a groundout to finally get out of it.
 
Now on the wrong end of the run rule situation, Mines looked to extend the game in the fifth as Kayleigh Krueger singled to right with two outs, but a groundout to short ended things early as the Yellow Jackets rallied for a split, taking game two in five innings.
 
NOTABLES
-Aragon had a 4-5 day in the doubleheader, going 2-3 with a double, three RBI in and a run scored in game one while going 2-2 with an RBI in game two and now leads the club with 20 RBI for the year
-Ton posted another three-hit game in the opener, going 3-5 with an RBI and scoring three times
-Semeyn went 3-5 with a run, RBI and two stolen bases in the opener
-Chvatal finished the afternoon going 3-4 with a pair of walks and four runs scored, three of which came in game one
-Roberts went 2-4 with a double, three RBI and three runs scored in the winning effort while going 1-2 with a run in game two
-Wilson drove in a pair in game one as did Oshiro-Sano who also scored twice
-Krueger posted a hit in each game and scored twice while driving in a run in the win
-Krueger's RBI in game one was the 105th of her career and now has her three back of Sarah Lustgraaf (2009-2012) for 12th all-time in Mines history
-Larson also recorded a hit in each game and drove in two runs in game one to put her into double figures for runs batted in on the season with 11
-Rodriguez went the distance for the seventh time this season, striking out four and allowing four runs on eight hits over six innings to record her 32nd career win, taking over sole possession of fifth from Sydney Marchando (2018-21) who had 31 in her four season
-All nine starters in game one recorded a hit while eight of nine drove in a run and also scored
-The 16 runs scored in game one Thursday are the most in a game since 2019, when they scored 16 hits on March 1 against New Mexico Highlands, while their 16 hits are tied for the second most in a game in the last six seasons and the fifth such time it has happened in that span
-Mines also pounded out 16 hits against BHSU last season on February 19 in a 12-6 win at home
 
UP NEXT
Mines and Black Hills State close out the weekend Friday with a doubleheader 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.