COLORADO SPRINGS – Oredigger relief pitcher Seaver Newby and outfielder Jackson Woolwine keyed an 8-7, comeback victory for the Colorado School of Mines Baseball team on Monday at UCCS.
 
Newby (3-0) earned the win on the mound thanks to 7.2 innings of work in relief of starter Grady Booth. The sophomore struck out four, walked two and gave up four runs (three earned) on 14 hits. Woolwine hit a three-run home run which tied the game as part of a two-hit day. He also scored twice. Tyler Hummel came up big as well, recording three hits and scoring two runs. Additional multi-hit games were provided by Tyler Pina, Trent Nielsen, and Ben Leiphart. Mason Andrews, Jackson Babcock, and Evan Bilter notched one double each. Leiphart scored multiple runs.
 
The Orediggers (5-8) had to come from behind to get the win after UCCS (7-4) posted a team batting average of .425 and a .650 slugging percentage. Mines accomplished its task with timely hitting and two fortuitous fielding errors by UCCS. Overall, the Orediggers hit .341 and slugged at a .488 clip thanks to three doubles and one home run. The opposing pitching staffs combined for 12 strikeouts compared to just three walks. Mines did commit one error in the field.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Monday's matinee started with a Woolwine single, a Babcock double, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Pina. The afforded Mines a brief, 1-0 lead. Three UCCS runs in the second put the Orediggers in an early hole. However, Babcock plating Hummel in the third inning to make it 2-3 at the time, made all the difference. After Newby emerged from the bullpen to get the Orediggers out of the third frame, the Mountain Lions only found single runs in the third, fifth, eighth, and ninth innings. Mines staged its rally starting just before the seventh-inning stretch.
 
Leiphart and Hummel started the top of the seventh with back-to-back, one-out singles. Those set the table for Woolwine's three-run home run which tied the game, 5-5. There was no more scoring before the stretch, but the Orediggers carried their momentum into the eighth inning as well. Andrews started the frame with a double, and Bilter drove him in with another double. Leiphart's single followed and put runners on the corners. Then, Hummel put the ball in play and forced the second UCCS error of the game. It allowed one more run. A wild pitch by the Mountain Lions later in the inning brought Leiphart in to score and made the tally 8-5 in favor of the Orediggers.
 
The home team's response started with a leadoff double in the bottom of the eighth. He eventually came around to score, cutting Mines' lead to 8-6. Things got dicey in the ninth despite a quick groundball double play from Hummel to Canon Humphreys to Leiphart. A solo home run for UCCS made it 8-7, and the next two batters hit singles. The final at-bat of the game featured four foul balls and a pop-up to Humphreys at shortstop.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines improved to 23-12 in the all-time series against UCCS.
- Woolwine's home run was his first of the season and eighth of his career.
- For the season so far, Newby is 3-0 with one save and a 2.57 ERA thanks to 16 strikeouts compared to four walks across five appearances and 21.0 innings.
- Andrews moved into the program record book with the 36th double as an Oredigger. He's tied for #18 in career doubles.
- Babcock recorded an extra-base hit in every game over the weekend. In three starts, the true freshman hit .667 and slugged 1.8333 with eight runs on eight hits including three doubles, one triple, and three home runs with 10 RBI.
- Only one of Babcock's eight hits was a single, and that completed his cycle on Saturday against Adams State.
- Oredigger Head Coach Robby Bales is now 151-113 in his seventh season leading Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers travel to Illinois this coming weekend for a four-game series at Quincey. Free live stats and pay-per-view video of each game will be 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.