COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Fans of offense were sure to be delighted regardless of the outcomes Sunday at Mountain Lion in Field as the Colorado School of Mines softball team and UCCS squared off a day later than originally scheduled for the first two games of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action. The Orediggers (1-11, 1-1) found themselves unable to match the firepower of the Mountain Lions (6-4, 1-1) in game one, falling by a final of 15-5 in five innings before overcoming near-disaster late with a crooked number in extra innings to collect their first win of the Tonbin Echo-Hawk by a score of 14-8 in eight innings in game two.
Fans of offense were treated to plenty of it right away in the opener with 11 combined runs scored across the first three innings. Mines was first on the board thanks to a double steal of home and second by
Kellan Ton and
E Self before
Kendall Aragon lined a two-strike single to right to make it 2-0. UCCS responded with a two-run double in their half of the inning to tie the score at 2-2.
Lindy French scored in the second for the Orediggers on an infield single by Ton as the lead again shifted in favor of Mines, but after starter
Kat Miller ran into issues with three straight hit by pitches to begin the home half,
Ellen Shull (0-3) had her work cut out for her trying to get out of the inning. Unfortunately, the Mountain Lions scored three to take the lead on a wild pitch and another two-run double to make it a 5-3 game.
Hannah Roberts kept it going for Mines in the third as she followed up a two-out single by
Cassidy Chvatal with the first home run of the season for the Orediggers, a two-run shot to left field that tied things up at 5-5. A leadoff double by UCCS in the home half of the frame eventually scored on a wild pitch as the home team retook the 6-5 lead.
The Orediggers had a chance to score again in the fourth as Ton doubled to left before being joined on base once more by Self, but the second-year freshman was thrown out at second to end the inning. UCCS meanwhile added onto their lead in dramatic fashion in the inning, mashing four home runs along with a two-run double to take a 15-5 lead.
In need of some runs to avert being run-ruled, the Orediggers got a pair of baserunners in Aragon to lead off the inning and Roberts with two outs, but a long foul out down the left field line saw things in the series opener come to an end early.
Game two opened in similar fashion at the dish with both teams plating four runs in their first at bats of the afternoon. Three straight walks loaded the bases for the Orediggers before
Cassidy Chvatal was plunked with bases loaded to force home
Kellan Ton. After a strikeout,
Hannah Roberts worked a walk to score
Mia Lopez before
Lexie Semeyn hit a long single off the left field wall that scored
Kendall Aragon and Chvatal to take a 4-0 lead. UCCS came right back with four runs right away in the home first, as five-straight one-out hits including three doubles resulted in tying the game up after six outs of action.
After a scoreless second inning, Chvatal led off the third with her first home run of the season to centerfield to retake the lead 5-4.
Taylor Wayne (1-2), who settled in nicely after the first inning, continued to shine in the circle working around a leadoff single to retire the next three she faced for her third consecutive scoreless inning.
Wayne's efforts were rewarded in the fifth as Mines tacked on two more runs. Aragon doubled to right center as the first batter of the inning before coming around to score on a line single to left by Chvatal to make it 6-4. Chvatal later scored in the inning on a sacrifice fly in foul territory up the third base line by
Lexie Semeyn that made it 7-4. The Mountain Lions did get a run back in their half of the fifth on a fielder's choice force out at second that allowed a runner on third to score, but Wayne buckled down induced a flyout to right and a pop out to second to escape further damage.
The Orediggers kept it going in the sixth as
Emily Rogers laced a one-out single to left center before coming around to score on a triple to the gap by Ton that again made it a three-run game at 8-5. After going down in order the top of the seventh, Mines looked to hang on against league's top producing offense entering the weekend. After a leadoff groundout, consecutive singles with a wild pitch in between put runners at the corners for UCCS. A call to the bench for a pinch hitter didn't pan out as Wayne picked up a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but disaster struck on the first pitch of the very next batter as an opposite field three-run home run to left field tied the game at 8-8 and send the action to extra innings.
The Orediggers wasted little time submitting a response to the events of the previous inning, as Semeyn turned around the second pitch of the extra frames to straightaway center for a solo homer to retake the lead 9-8.
E Self followed by with a pinch hit single before
Emily Rogers joined the party as she left the yard with a two-run shot to right center that made it a three-run lead. Ton kept things rolling with a single back through the box and scored on a throwing error made at third base on a bunt by Lopez, who ended up at third by the time the dust settled. Aragon then grounded a slow roller to second to plate another run and made it 13-8 Mines before Chvatal blasted her second homer of the game to straightaway center to make it a six-run game.
Looking to avoid a repeat of the seventh, Wayne went right at the Mountain Lions and needed just 10 pitches to retire the side with a couple of groundouts and a flyout to close the book on a wild and wacky 14-8 win to get in the win column for the first time in 2025.
NOTABLES
-Roberts' home run was her first of the season and second of her career; both her home runs have come on the road with her last coming on March 14, 2022 at New Mexico Highlands
-She finished the afternoon with three RBI and a 2-3 performance in game one
-Chvatal's home runs were her first and second of the season and the 11th and 12th of her Mines career
-The senior finished the afternoon 4-7 with four RBI and five runs scored including a 3-4 performance in game two
-Semeyn's home run was likewise her first of the season and the eighth of her career as she has now homered in each of her four seasons wearing a Mines uniform
-She finished the day 3-6 with four RBI as well including 2-3 with all her runs batted in in game two
-Rogers belted her first home run of the season and second of her career to finish 2-4 with two RBI in game two
-Ton went 4-7 on the afternoon with two hits in each game highlighted by a game one double, scoring three times and driving in a pair
-Aragon recorded three hits on the day including a double as part of a two-hit effort in game two
-Wayne recorded the win in the circle, scattering eight runs on 16 hits and working five scoreless innings across her eight for the afternoon; the win is the seventh of her career and first since April 23, 2023 at New Mexico Highlands
-Echo-Hawk collects her first head coaching win leading the Orediggers and improves to 251-345 in her career all-time with her last win coming while as head coach at UTEP on May 5, 2019 against Florida International
UP NEXT
Mines and UCCS close out week one of league action Monday with another 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.