GOLDEN, Colo. – Mines baseball played its home openers on Friday and walked away with a doubleheader split against Fort Hays State, winning game one 6-3 before dropping game two, 14-12.
For a second straight twin bill,
Jackson Babcock delivered the hot bat. He hit .556 across two games with three runs on five hits including two doubles one grand slam and five RBI.
Trent Nielsen had the highest batting average for the Orediggers at .667. He scored twice and drove in two more.
Canon Humphreys checked turned in a .500 clip at the plate thanks to two doubles as part of four hits. Humphreys also scored twice. Additional notes on offense included
Tyler Pina notching four runs and two doubles, two doubles off the bat of
Alex Dunagan, and three RBI apiece for
Jackson Woolwine and Dunagan.
On the mound,
Alex Honeyman and
Grady Booth were the starters. Honeyman did not factor in his decision despite providing 6.0 innings of two-run (one earned), four-hit work. He struck out three and walked three. Booth (0-3) took the lass after surrendering five runs on six hits, but he walked zero and struck out three.
Seaver Newby (2-0) was the winning pitcher. He churned out 3.0 innings of relief and allowed just one run on three hits with four strikeouts and zero walks.
Luke Parker and
Grant Reising registered 0.00 ERAs out of the bullpen.
Sam Monk,
Carter Gorling, and
Peter Lynch also pitched in relief.
As a team, the Orediggers (2-7) batted .343 on the day. Fort Hays State (5-4) hit at a .303 clip. The Orediggers' pitching staff posted a combined ERA of 7.00 thanks to 16 strikeouts and three walks. In comparison, Tiger arms put together a 7.94 ERA after striking out 15 and walking four. The difference in the game, on paper, were six fielding errors by the Orediggers compared to three fielding errors by FHSU. In spite of that factoid, each team only scored three unearned runs. Also notable were 10 doubles and one home run for the home team. Fort Hays State notched just four doubles, but pounded out three home runs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mines' first home game of 2025 was decided in the seventh inning and sealed in the eighth. The Orediggers took an early lead on Nielsen's RBI single in the second inning. Fort Hays State surged to a 3-1 lead on single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh frame. After the stretch, Mines exploded for a crooked number. Three runs to be specific. Moeck drove in Humphreys and Woolwine plated Nielsen and Dunagan. In the eighth, Dunagan's two-run double provided the Orediggers' a 6-3 cushion. Newby did not disappoint in his third inning of relief. He worked a line drive, foul ball, and strikeout to seal the victory.
In the second game, stacked zeros in the first inning were a red herring. After that shutout, there were no scoreless frames until the ninth. The Tigers cracked the scoreboard first, but it was just one run. Dunagan and Nielsen drove in two runs during the home half of the second and gave Mines a 2-1 lead. It was a short-lived advantage. Fort Hays State racked up nine runs across the next three innings before Babcock's controversial grand slam in the fifth pulled the home team back in the game. Just past the halfway point, the Orediggers faced a 10-7 deficit. Nielsen scoring in the sixth inning made it 10-8. Then, FHSU re-expanded its lead by four runs.
Evan Bilter, Pina, and Babcock did their best to provide Mines a rally. They drove in a total of four runs in the eighth. Unfortunately for the Orediggers, the ninth yielded nothing.
NOTABLES
- Babcock's grand slam was an inside-the-park home run after an acrobatic attempt was ruled not a catch. It was his first collegiate home run.
- Humphreys and Babcock are both hitting over .400 for the season with a combined 31 hits.
- Newby now touts a 2.03 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP thanks to 12 strikeouts compared to two walks across 13.1 innings of work. He's 2-0 with one save in four appearances.
- Oredigger Head Coach
Robby Bales is now 149-112 in his seventh season leading Mines.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines heads to Colorado Springs next weekend for non-conference games against Adams State and UCCS. A full preview and live coverage information will be available next week 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.
