GOLDEN, Colo. – In action a day earlier than originally scheduled to try and beat the weekend weather forecast, the Colorado School of Mines softball team was back at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field Thursday for their final regular season series of the season against Adams State. For the Orediggers (27-21, 23-17), dominant pitching and a high-scoring day at the plate highlighted by a no-hitter in game one by Sadriena Rodrguez and a three-run home run in game two by Kayleigh Krueger propelled the home team a pair of run-rule shortened wins over the Grizzlies (5-46, 3-39) by scores of 8-0 in six innings and 9-0 in five innings.
 
Things were scoreless through an inning and a half in game one until Mines got the offense clicking in the home second, starting with a leadoff single to left center by Lexie Semeyn followed by another single by Krueger. A sacrifice bunt by Cassidy Chvatal moved both runners up 60 feet and allowed Semeyn to come home and score on a wild pitch before Emily Rogers drove a sac fly out to center that easily scored Krueger to make it 2-0.
 
The only blemish on the day in the circle for Rodriguez (17-7) came leading off the top of the third as she issued a five-pitch walk to the leadoff hitter, but retired the next three in order including a diving snag in foul ground toward to backstop by Krueger on a bunt attempt.
 
After being held off the board in their half of the third, the Orediggers doubled the lead in the fourth as Krueger got things going with a one-out single to left. Chvatal followed with a single of her own before Rogers drove in her second run of the game with a single of her own down the left field line as Krueger scored from second. After a fielder's choice forced out Chvatal at third, what looked like an inning-ending groundout to third off the bat of Kellan Ton was muffed at first to load the bases for Kendall Aragon, who worked a five-pitch walk of her own to force in a run and make it 4-0 before a foul out ended the inning.
 
A scoreless fifth inning was followed by a four-run sixth that resulted in things ending early in game one. Chvatal reached to start the frame after being plunked with two strikes and was joined on base by Rogers who walked on four pitches. Hannah Roberts came through with a single to left center to score Chvatal and make it 5-0 and after a flyout to left, Aragon reached on a beautifully placed bunt single to load the bases. A lineout to center by Sidney Wilson made it seem as if Adams State might escape the jam, but three-straight walks to Sara Larson, Semeyn and Krueger resulted in three runs coming across to end things an inning early by a final score of 8-0.
 
For her part, Rodriguez absolutely carved up the Grizzlies' lineup in the opener, retiring the final 12 batters she faced after the walk in the third and striking out the last 10 batters of the ballgame, finishing her outing having faced one over the minimum for the first no-hitter of her career.
 
Game two saw Mines jump ahead early and stay ahead by a wide margin, scoring eight times in the opening frame. Kellan Ton led off with a triple to left center and scored moments later on a single that same way by Kendall Aragon, who advanced to second on an effort by the centerfielder. After a groundout moved Aragon up 60 feet, she scored on a single to left by Sara Larson to make it 2-0.  After a wild pitch and a walk to Lexie Semeyn, Krueger continued her hot day at the dish by turning a first pitch offering around and sending it over the fence in centerfield to make it a 5-0 lead. Cassidy Chvatal and Trystin Oshiro-Sano kept things rolling with back-to-back doubles to score a run followed by a single from Hannah Roberts to put runners at the corners and turn the lineup over with still just one out. Roberts then stole second for her first act of larceny of the season to set the table for Ton who drove home two with a single through the left side to make it 8-0 before ASU finally got out of the inning.
 
For starter Allison Westbrook (6-5), those eight runs were more than enough as after a 1-2-3 first, she worked around a two-out single to strike out two in the second and hang another zero. The Orediggers added another run in the home half of the inning, as two singles sandwiched around a hit by pitch loaded the bases with Chvatal, Oshiro-Sano and Roberts as Ton dug in once more with ducks on the pond. The freshman delivered again, but this time just one run scored as Oshiro-Sano was thrown out at home on a strike from center, but nonetheless the lead moved to 9-0.
 
Westbrook was on a cruise control in circle, striking out the first batter in the third and again working around a two-out single, this time thanks to Semeyn who delivered a strike to Sidney Wilson at second to erase a would-be base stealer to end the inning. The righthander again encountered two-out traffic in the fifth before recording another strikeout to strand the runner and after a leadoff single in the fifth, needed just nine pitches to retire the final three batters of the game to post her first career shutout and seal a 9-0 win in game two.
 
NOTABLES
-Rodriguez broke the single-game program record for strikeouts in a game with 14, setting a new career-high mark and finally got her no-hitter, as she lost one in the seventh inning last season on the road at New Mexico Highlands after a 20-minute delay in which the score incorrectly reflected a run-rule win for Mines in five innings, but instead was off by a run and required the final inning to be played before ultimately ending in a run rule in six innings
-Rodriguez now has 17 wins on the season, tied for fifth all-time in a season with Carrie Wittkopf (2022) and one shy of fourth behind Kristen Prudhomme (2014) while becoming the fifth 40-game winner in Mines history
-The no-hitter was the first of Rodriguez's career, and the first by a Mines pitcher since March 6, 2011 when recent Mines Hall of Fame inductee Kelly Unkrich spun a seven-inning no-no in a 4-0 win over New Mexico Highlands, which also took place in Golden
-Westbrook spun her first career shutout in game two, striking out a career-high six and allowing only four hits
-Krueger posted a 3-6 day at the plate highlighted by the home run and drove in four while scoring three, moving into a tie for ninth all-time in program history with 114 career RBI with Kara Jones (2016-19)
-Ton stole a base in each game and now has 23 on the season, one shy of tying the single-season record and posted a 3-3 effort in game two with a triple while tying a season high with three RBI and also scoring once
-Roberts went 4-6 at the plate including a 3-3 performance in game two, scoring twice and driving in a run on the day
-Larson went 3-6 on the day with two hits in game two and drove in a run in each contest
-Chvatal went 3-4 on the day with an RBI and three runs scored
-Oshiro-Sano doubled for the 20th time in her career, scored and drove in a run in game two
-Mines pitching allowed four hits and recorded 20 strikeouts against just one walk in 11 innings of work Thursday
-Mines has now surpassed last season's win total of 25 and with their 23 RMAC wins this season are now two away from tying the mark of 25 which came back in 2019 and is the currently the most league wins since that season
 
UP NEXT
Mines concludes the regular season Friday starting at 11 a.m. against Adams State at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field. Senior day ceremonies for this year's class will be held prior to the start of game one.
 
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.