GOLDEN, Colo. – Back at home for only the second time this season and crossing the halfway mark of the 2025 campaign Sunday, the Colorado School of Mines softball team took the field looking to build off their recent success as they took on RMAC leader Colorado Christian. Despite leading for much of game one, the Orediggers (7-21, 6-11) were downed late in the opener 8-2 before outlasting the Cougars (20-8, 16-2) in a marathon 11-inning affair in game two, walking it off 3-2 to split doubleheader action.
 
Game one opened with CCU scoring the first run of the game on a wild pitch as Elyse McMullin doubled to open the action before coming around to score. Taylor Wayne (3-6) bounced back and retired the next three Cougars in order to limit the damage to just one run in the inning. The redshirt junior continued to pitch well over the innings that followed after not making an appearance last weekend. After stranding runners in the second and third innings, she worked a 1-2-3 fourth as she waited for her offense to pick her up.
 
After getting their first hit of the game in the home third, the offense did pick up Wayne in the fourth as Kendall Aragon lined a one-out single to left center before being forced out at second and replaced on base by Lexie Semeyn. Cassidy Chvatal dug in next and worked a 3-1 count before using a break in the wind to launch a two-run home run to straightaway center and take the lead 2-1.
 
Wayne negotiated around a leadoff double in the fifth to preserve the advantage before the Cougars retook the lead for good in the sixth. After a strikeout to open the inning, back-to-back singles and a walk loaded the bases before another single by Kat Hanson, a bases-loaded walk by Cheyenne Stark and a two-run single by McMullin broke the game open as four runs scored to make it 5-2. CCU added three more runs in the seventh on a groundout, dropped fly ball in the outfield and a sacrifice fly as they took the opener 8-2.
 
Game two saw Colorado Christian threaten to score first in each of the first three innings, but Kat Miller (3-7) was having none of it as she left five runners on base and striking out four as she started her day. In the home third, Hannah Roberts announced her return to action loud and proud with a ringing two-run double to left field before coming around to score on a one-out sac fly by Mia Lopez to give Mines the lead.
 
After leaving a runner in the fourth, Miller was tagged for a single run in the fifth as Stark came around to score on a single by Rachel Williams with no outs after she led off with a single to right. The Orediggers' defense stepped up big in the inning as Lindy French keyed off an inning-ending 4-5 lineout double play to keep the score level at 1-1.
 
Mines had a chance to answer back in their half of the inning, as the freshman from Missouri led off with a sharp single inside the bag at third to left field before being lifted for pinch runner Sam Whisenand. A bunt single combined with an error on the throw off the bat of Roberts put runners at the corners. A fielder's choice on a sacrifice bunt by Lauren Romero saw Whisenand tagged out at home before two groundouts ended the inning with two left on base.
 
From there, the score remained unchanged for the next five innings as CCU both sides managed to put traffic on the bases but found themselves unable to drive runners in. Miller stranded two runners in the sixth and seventh along with single runners in the eighth and ninth before getting some help with a caught stealing by Lexie Semeyn in the 10th. Meanwhile, her opposite in the circle Emma Duncan matched her out for out as she left runners in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings against Mines as neither side could get ahead.
 
The score finally changed in the 11th when the Cougars plated the go-ahead run. Stark reached on a one-out single to left and advanced to second on a fielding error before moving to third on a McMullin single through the right side. McMullin stole second to put two in scoring position for Williams, who softly grounded out to second, leaving French no play at the dish as Stark scored to take a 2-1 lead before a flyout to deep center ended the inning.
 
Emiaj Self led off the bottom of the frame with a big time double to left field that forced a pitching change as Carson Griggs came on looking for her second save of the season. Instead, Kendall Aragon greeted the new arm with a 2-2 doubled to left center that easily scored Self and leveled the score at 2-2. An E6 off the bat of Semeyn put two runners on with no outs and after an infield popup for the first out, the next few moments went wild. French put a 1-2 offering from Griggs in play to second where freshman Peyton Marvel took it herself for the out, but the throw to first was low and well short of the first baseman Mia Stankiewicz as it skipped away and allowed Aragon to race home for the game-winning run to walk it off by a final score of 3-2.
 
NOTABLES
-Miller continued her recent run of outstanding pitching, working all 11 innings in game two and allowing just two runs (one earned) despite giving up 16 hits while recording a career-high eight strikeouts; over her last three starts, she has worked 24.2 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) and struck out 11
-Aragon scored the winning run in game two as she finished 2-5 with a triple and an RBI as part of a three-hit afternoon
-Roberts returned to the lineup to go 2-2 with a double and a run scored
-Self also doubled in the game and scored a run
-Chvatal belted her team-leading eighth home run of the season in game one that at the time gave the Orediggers the lead
-Despite being charged with eight runs, Wayne pitched well for five innings and struck out another five to add to her team-leading total of 34
-Brooke Gonzales and Kiyana Tsuei both made their home debuts in pinch hitting and pinch running spots in game two
-The game two win for the Orediggers is the first win over CCU in Golden since April 11, 2021
 
UP NEXT
Mines wraps up the series with CCU Monday with another doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field.
 
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.