GOLDEN, Colo. – Looking to end the regular season on a high note and carry momentum into next week's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament, the Colorado School of Mines softball team took the field under blue skies and sunshine Friday afternoon against the Adams State. The Orediggers (29-21, 24-17) scored first in each game and never trailed over the course of the afternoon, capping off a 15-1 season at home as they completed the series sweep over the Grizzlies (5-48, 3-41) by scores of 7-2 and 8-0 in five innings.
 
Sadriena Rodriguez (18-7) picked up right where she left off Thursday, spinning a scoreless first inning before her offense scored the first run of the day on an error by the shortstop off the bat of Sara Larson that allowed Kellan Ton to score to make it 1-0. After Rodriguez allowed a two-out single in the home second, Mines doubled the lead to 2-0 when Kendall Aragon lined a sac fly to left field to score Trystin Oshiro-Sano to make it 2-0.
 
The Orediggers' lead doubled again in the third when Cassidy Chvatal belted a two-run home run against the wind on the first pitch she saw to straightaway center to make it a 4-0 game.
 
After a pair of scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth, ASU scored their first runs of the weekend in the sixth with a one-out, two-run double off the top of the wall in left field by Belinda Vargas that narrowly missed leaving the yard as Rodriguez rebounded by getting a pair of groundouts to preserve the lead. Mines came back in the home half with three runs, two coming on a two-out double to left center by Kayleigh Krueger to score Aragon and Lexie Semeyn before Chvatal doubled home Krueger for her third RBI of the game to make it 7-2.
 
Rodriguez handles things from there, striking out the side in the seventh to clinch the series win.
 
In game two, Mines posted another big inning much like the second game Thursday, this time scoring six runs to take a commanding lead and never looking back. Kellan Ton led things off with a walk and a stela of season before being joined on base by Kendall Aragon. Back-to-back singles by Sidney Wilson and Sara Larson each scored a run before Kayleigh Krueger hit a sacrifice fly to center with bases loaded to make it 3-0. Cassidy Chvatal kept bringing the thunder, tripling to left field with a little help from a wild hop in the outfield over the head of the leftfielder to score two runs and make it 5-0. Following two more walks to load the bases, Ton laced a single to left center to score Chvatal and make it 6-0 Orediggers.
 
Allison Westbrook (7-5) handled things from there in the circle, working out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, stranding a two-out double in the third, posting a 1-2-3 fourth on just four pitches and leaving another two-out baserunner in the fifth to keep Adams State off the board.
 
Just two runs shy of ending things early, the Orediggers reignited the offense in the home fifth with a leadoff single to left by Lexie Semeyn. Chvatal was hit by a pitch two batters later to put two on with one out for Kailey Morales, who doubled the first pitch she saw to left center to score Semeyn before Hannah Roberts walked things off with a ringing single through the left side to score Chvatal to post an 8-0 shutout win in five innings to complete the sweep.
 
NOTABLES
-Rodriguez completed her dominant weekend in the circle with a complete game effort in game one, going the distance and striking out 10 while allowing only five hits and in doing so recorded her 18th win of the season, moving into a tie for fourth all-time with Kristen Prudhomme (2014) and taking over sole possession of fourth all-time in career wins with 41, passing Claire Stringfellow (2017-20)
-Westbrook spun her second shutout in as many days, scattering three hits over five innings while striking out a pair
-Ton stole a base in each game to break the Mines single-season program record with 25, passing the previous mark held by Brinley Benson (2011) and Lauren Decker (2023); she also finished the day 2-4 with three walks, two runs and an RBI
-Chvatal ended the regular season with a bang, hitting for the cycle of the course of the two games as she went 3-4 with a double and her eighth home run of the season in game one posting three runs batted in before tripling in game two along with driving in two more and scoring twice to close the regular season with a five-game hitting streak as five of her last seven hits have been for extra bases
-Semeyn hit safely and scored twice in each game to take over second on the team in runs scored with 30
-Krueger's big weekend at the plate continued as she doubled and drove in a pair in game two while adding another RBI in the finale and now has 37 career doubles, breaking a tie with Deborah Ausmus (1993-95) for 10th all-time at Mines while raising her RBI total to 117 and moving into a tie for eighth all-time with Sami Springer (2011-14)
-Roberts concluded a strong weekend at the plate with a hit in each game and also enters the postseason on a five-game winning streak
-Mines finishes the regular season with three home sweeps and a record of 15-1 at Joe Coors, Jr. Field in 2024 and enters the regular season with a mark of 29-21 including 25-17 in RMAC play, posting their highest win total under the direction of head coach Mike Coutts in his third season and so far posting a +4 improvement in the win column
-The three home sweeps this season mark the first time the feat has been accomplished in more than a decade, last taking place during the 2013 season in which Mines went 40-7-1
-The Orediggers are guaranteed a winning season regardless of their results in the postseason
 
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers now wait to see where they'll go and who they'll play in next week's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Softball Tournament based on how the rest of this weekend's results play out.
 
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.