GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado School of Mines played its second game of the 2024 RMAC Baseball Tournament on Thursday and suffered an 11-3 loss at the hands of second-seeded Regis under the lights at The Diamond on the campus of Colorado Mesa.
Despite the setback,
Canon Humphreys produced at the plate with three hits, batting. 600 for the game. He also scored once and had one RBI.
Jackson Woolwine turned in a two-hit, one-RBI performance on the evening.
Keene Tanaka,
Evan Bilter,
Tyler Pina, and
Trent Nielsen all notched hits as well. Tanaka and Pina scored the other two runs. Bilter accounted for the remaining RBI while also adding a pair of walks.
Alex Honeyman (6-4) was the starter on the mound and took the decision. He provided four gritty innings which included seven runs (three earned) with two strikeouts and three walks.
Nicholas Spidel and
Weston Siefken came out of the bullpen and combined to pitch the remaining four innings.
Mines (28-20) took its first loss in the conference tournament after leaving 15 runners on base and hitting .279 as a team. Regis (31-20-1) stranded nine baserunners, but hit .324 overall to score its 11 runs on 11 hits with nine RBI. The Orediggers' lone error led to four unearned runs. The Rangers had a clean sheet on defense. Each team tallied two doubles apiece. Mines' pitching staff turned in four strikeouts compared to six walks. Regis also walked six, but struck out 10. Griffin Bruder (3-1) was the winning pitcher on the merits of five shutout innings featuring six strikeouts and three walks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
With two outs in the first frame, Mines loaded the bases but could not convert. Regis put two on base in the home half of the opening inning, but also failed to convert. The Orediggers left two more runners on base in the top of the second before two Ranger runs on three RU hits made the score 2-0 after two complete. Mines nearly broke through in the fourth inning, but a bang-bang play at home plate led to another zero on the top half of the scoreboard. Five Regis runs in the bottom of the fourth inning pushed the Oredigger deficit to 7-0.
The visitor's turn at the plate in the sixth inning breathed some life into the Mines offense. Woolwine singled and plated Humphreys from second base. Bilter drew a RBI-walk, making the score 7-2. Unfortunately for the Orediggers, a groundball double play ended the bases loaded threat and left two more runners in scoring position. A single from Humphreys scored Pina in the top of the seventh. Then, after the stretch, Spidel worked a bases-loaded double play for another zero on the scoreboard. However, Regis eventually stacked four runs on three hits in the bottom of the eighth inning. That proved too much for Mines to overcome, even though Nielsen singled and Pina doubled during the Orediggers' last chance at the plate.
NOTABLES
- From 2009 through Thursday evening, Mines sits 36-39 in the ongoing series against Regis.
- Bilter's double against the Rangers was his 16th of the season. He's now hitting .430 in his first collegiate campaign.
- Folsom recorded the 74th walk of his career on Thursday night and Andrews worked his 69th free pass.
- Two strikeouts for Honeyman put him at 60 on the season and 81 for his collegiate career.
- Nielsen's late-game hit against Regis was the 80th as an Oredigger.
- Pina stands at 10 doubles in his second collegiate season.
- Oredigger Head Coach
Robby Bales is 145-105 in his sixth season leading Mines.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines faces sixth-seeded CSU Pueblo in an elimination game on Friday at 3 p.m. If the Orediggers win, they play again at 7 p.m. against the loser between Regis and Colorado Mesa. Pay-per-view video will be offered on the RMAC Network with free live stats linked at www.minesathletics.com.
Fans can keep up with Mines baseball on "X" (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @OrediggersBSB. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, "X" and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.
