GOLDEN, Colo. – Under overcast skies and with temperatures in the mid-40s, the Colorado School of Mines softball team was up against the elements as well as the opposition on Friday as they opened their final weekend of competition in the 2025 season against New Mexico Highlands. It was a tale of two games for the Orediggers (21-31, 20-21), as they held off an early game one surge by the Cowgirls (14-38, 8-34) 7-3 in the opener before storming back from a four-run deficit in game two to hang up a 12-spot in the bottom of the fifth inning to complete the afternoon sweep with a 15-7 win in the nightcap.
 
Allison Westbrook started the action with a 1-2-3 top of the first before the Orediggers jumped on the board with a run in their first trip to the dish. Kellan Ton led off the bottom of the first with a walk and went first to third on a single up the middle by Emiaj Self, scoring moments later on a sacrifice fly to left by Kendall Aragon. Cassidy Chvatal and Lexie Semeyn followed with a single and a hit by pitch to load the bases, but Jazmyn Griego was able to tight rope out of danger with just one run allowed.
 
In the second, Westbrook ran into trouble right away, walking the first two batters before ceding the circle to Taylor Wayne (6-9) who inherited a 1-0 count to Alessandra DeLaTrinidad and subsequently walked the bases loaded. A flyout to right was much needed for the first out, but two pitches later NMHU got on the board when Alexia Apodaca was plunked to force home a run to tie the game. Wayne then worked out of trouble with a fielder's choice to get the out at home before a strikeout left the bases loaded.
 
The Cowgirls then took the lead in the top of the third, getting a pair of walks from Griego and Dioni Lincoln. After a strikeout, Karla Banegas banged a double to center field to score both runners and make it a 3-1 lead. Unfazed, the Orediggers responded with three runs in the home half of the inning. Self kicked off the rally with a double to left center before Chvatal worked a one-out walk. A deep fly ball to the warning track in left by Semeyn was dropped by the left fielder, allowing Self to score and advancing Chvatal to third while Semeyn stood at second when all was said and done. After a popped up bunt attempt for the second out, Kailey Morales came through with a go-ahead two-run double down the line in left to make it a 4-3 lead.
 
Wayne settled in and worked a 1-2-3 top of the fourth before navigating around a single and a walk in the fifth to strand a pair and maintain the one run lead as she waited for the offense to get restarted. In the home fifth, Mines tacked on another run to make it a two-run game as Semeyn turned a leadoff walk into a trip around the bases as a sac fly to center by Lauren Romero to make it 5-3.
 
Wayne continued to deal in the sixth, navigating around a one-out single in the top of the sixth before the offense added two more runs in their bottom of the inning. Aragon led off with a single and ended up at third on a throwing error before scoring on a sac fly by Chvatal to make it 6-3. Semeyn was hit by a pitch again to keep the line moving and after an infield popup, Morales came through again with another run-scoring double to make it 7-3.
 
NMHU managed a leadoff baserunner in the top of the seventh as they looked to rally, but it didn't amount to much as Wayne recorded the final three outs on the next 10 pitches to close the book on a 7-3 win.
 
Game two saw the Orediggers strike first after Kat Miller stranded a pair to resume action in the top of the inning. Kellan Ton led the home half off with a single before stealing second and advancing to third on a groundout to second. Kendall Aragon made it runners on the corners with a bunt single to the pitcher Banegas before stealing second herself to put two in scoring position. After a strikeout brought Lexie Semeyn to the dish, Ton scored on a bizarre series in which the Cowgirls attempted to pick off Aragon at second. Aragon managed to escape the rundown and return to second safely, allowing Ton to score before being tagged out as she tried to ambitiously take third with the infield congregated around second base.
 
NMHU threatened in the top of the second as they managed to load the bases against millers with one out, but the junior induced an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play to preserve the lead. Mines then scored two more runs to go up 3-0 in the bottom of the second. Lexie Semeyn returned to the dish and led off with a walk before Kailey Morales worked a walk of her own. Lauren Romero then singled off the glove of Banegas to load the bases for Emily Rogers, who delivered a sacrifice fly to right field before a timing play with runners at first and third allowed Morales to score to make it a three-run game.
 
New Mexico Highlands stormed back to take the lead in the top of the third. Griego led off with a walk and after a wild pitch, Lincoln single to put runners on the corners. Heaven Medina then hit into a fielder's choice to score Griego as Self attempted to start a double play at second, but ended up losing the handle on the ball as the throw sailed into right field. Banegas helped her own cause with another two-run double, this time to right center to tie the game at 3-3 before score on a fielder's choice by Giana Marez as a grounder to Emily Rogers at second saw her turn and fire home as they tag looked to be in time, but the home plate umpire ruled the runner safe to make it a 4-3 game.
 
After the Orediggers went 1-2-3 in their half of the inning, NMHU extended their lead to 5-3 with another odd sequence. On a full-count walk to Dioni Lincoln with runners at the corners, the Orediggers unnecessarily threw down to second and allowed Amaya Castille to score. Following another 1-2-3 from in the home fourth, the Cowgirls made it a 7-3 game on an RBI groundout by Annika Ruiz to first and a wild pitch that scored Giana Marez, chasing Miller as Ellen Shull (3-5) took over in the circle to finishing the inning.
 
For the hardy souls in attendance that braved the cold, the wind and the wet, Mines rewarded them with a see-it-to-believe it bottom of the fifth. Romero led off with a single to left field before Taylor Wayne lined a one-out single to center. The lineup turned over to Ton next as she beat a five-player infield shift with an RBI double up the middle off the glove of both the pitcher and the second baseman played the over shift on top of the second base.  Self followed with a walk before Aragon laced a two-run single through to right side to close within one and make it 7-6. Chvatal was the next in line and turned around a 2-2 offering to left field for a two-run home run to take the lead 8-7. Semeyn kept the line moving as she reached on an E6 that was ultimately the beginning of the end for NMHU.
 
Morales delivered her third double of the day to score Semeyn and make it 9-7 and force pitching change as Kennedy Williams took over in the circle. Romero was hit by the first offering before Rogers lined a single to center to load the bases again. A wild pitch moved everyone up and score Morales to make it 10-7 before Wayne walked to keep the bases loaded. Ton then singled the other way to left field to plate Romero as Mines went station to station on the bases. Self kept the line moving with an infield single to second to score Rogers before Aragon dug in for the second time in the inning and delivered a walk-off three-run double to the wall in centerfield to complete the 12-run inning and take game two with a final score of 15-7.
 
NOTABLES
-Morales opened the final weekend of her career by going 3-5 with three doubles, four RBI and two runs scored over the course of the day
-Self went 3-6 with a double and two hits in game one while scoring twice on the day and driving in a run in game two to extend her hitting streak to 12 games
-Aragon ran her hitting streak to nine games with a 4-7 day highlighted by going 3-4 with the game-ending double in game two and driving in six runs while scoring two more and stealing two bases; she accounted for six of the 12 Mines runs in the fifth inning of the nightcap, driving in five and scoring one and now has a career-high 11 stolen bases this season
-Aragon also scored the 100th run and registered the 200th hit of her career during Friday's doubleheader
-Roberts came off the bench to go 2-2 in game one
-Chvatal hit safely in each game and added to her RMAC leading home run total with a two-run blast in game two for her 20th of the season; she finished the day with three RBI and now has 63 on the season, good for sole possession of second all-time having passed Katie Kocman's 2009 season and is now one shy of tying Clara Larson's 2018 campaign for the most all-time
-Wayne picked up the win in relief in game one, working six innings and allowing two runs on four hits while striking out five against three walks; she then made her first appearance of the season in right field in game two and went 1-2 at the dish with a walk and two runs scored
-Ton shook off a tough start to the series in game one to go 3-4 in the nightcap with a double, two RBI and three runs while also pocketing a pair of stolen bases to make it back-to-back 25 steal seasons, tying her own record for the most in a season and moving into a tie for second all-time with Brielle Asato (2015-18) for second all-time with 50 as the third player to ever reach that milestone
-Semeyn accounted for five runs on the day despite not recording a base hit thanks to two hit by pitches and a walk
-Romero went 2-2 with a pair of runs scored in game two
-Shull earned the win in relief in game two, working one inning with one strikeout
 
UP NEXT
Mines wraps up the 2025 season Saturday with another doubleheader against New Mexico Highlands starting at 11 a.m. Senior Day festivities will be held following the conclusion of the series.
 
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.