GOLDEN, Colo. – Coming off a sweep of play Sunday and eyeing their third series win of the season, the Colorado School of Mines softball team was back in action Monday at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field for the final two games of their series against Chadron State. Despite hitting four home runs over the course of the action with three coming from Lexie Semeyn, the Orediggers (13-29, 12-19) were denied the series as the Eagles (14-24, 10-22) claimed a pair of close contests by tallies of 5-3 and 7-6.
 
Game on started as good as Mines could have asked as Allison Westbrook (3-5) stranded a pair in her first inning of work before the offense hung up three runs thanks to a two-out three-run home run by Semeyn to left center to go out front early.
 
Chadron State responded with two runs in the second as a dropped fly ball to right field on what would have been the final out of the inning allowed pinch runner Elia DeLozier to score from second and allowed the inning to continue. Aliyah Rothstein then tripled into the left field corner to score a second run and cut the lead to 3-2.
 
After the Orediggers went down in order in the home second, CSC tied things at three as J'Lyssa Martinez doubled to left center to score pinch runner Angelina Quezada. The Eagles kept it going in the fourth, taking the lead on a sacrifice fly by Jazlyn Arvizo that scored Sydney Loyet to go up 4-3. Mines had a chance to respond in the bottom of the inning as Hannah Roberts and Emily Rogers reached with one-out singles, but were left stranded as a flyout and a groundout ended the inning.
 
Taylor Wayne took over in the circle to start the fifth inning and stranded two runners before being tagged for a run in the sixth on another defensive miscue, this time at second base as CSC extended the lead to 5-3. That score held as the Orediggers managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the seventh before a groundout back to the circle ended the game.
 
In the finale Chadron State struck first with two runs to begin the game as Ashland Baca singled to left to score Arvizo before a miscommunication on a single to first base by Martinez allowed Lauren Zimmerman to score ad make it 2-0 right away. Kellan Ton looked to lead the response as she singled and stole second to open the home half, but nothing came of it as CSC held Mines off the board.
 
Kat Miller (6-11) seemed to settle in somewhat following the rocky start in the first, going on to work four scoreless innings and keep the Orediggers within striking distance despite not having her best stuff as she stranded six Eagles on base through the fifth inning.
 
The Orediggers had a chance to break the seal in the second as Kiyana Tsuei delivered a two-out doble and advanced to third following a single by Lauren Romero, but it was the fourth inning when the offense finally settled in. Cassidy Chvatal led off with a double before Lexie Semeyn turned around the first pitch she saw the straightaway center for her second home run of the day to tie the game at 2-2. A walk by Kailey Morales followed and after a fielder's choice force out at second along with an error which saw Tsuei end up at second, Romero delivered an RBI single to take the lead in a strange plate appearance in which she appeared to be hit by a pitch, but was called back to the box instead.
 
The Orediggers had a chance to potentially put the game away in the fifth as they loaded the bases with one out on a fielder's choice, singled and a hit by pitch, but luck shined on CSC as a liner back to the circle caromed off the glove of Kenzi Garner and allowed a recovery by the shortstop to get the force at home before a flyout to center stranded three to end the inning.
 
Those three runs loomed large as the top of the sixth saw Arivzo tied the game at 3-3 on an RBI single before Zimmermann hit a three-run home run to center to make it a 6-3 game. The Eagles added another run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Loyet, but the Orediggers didn't go quietly into the afternoon sun. Kendall Aragon led off the rally with a double to the fence in center before Chvatal laid into a 1-1 offering and went the other way over the scoreboard in right center for the second time in as many days to make it a 7-5 game. Belle Akins took over in the circle with the game now a save situation, but surrendered a towering no-doubter to Semeyn on just her third pitch as the score moved to 7-6. Unfortunately for Mines, that was all they could muster as Akins retired the next three in order to close things out and split the series.
 
NOTABLES
-Semeyn homered three times on the afternoon to reach double figures on the season and went 3-6 on the afternoon with six RBI and three runs scored highlighted by a 2-3 performance in game two; with her performance, she joins Chvatal on the all-time single-season home run list and is tied for seventh with Kaleigh Starr's 2010 season
-Monday was the second time this season, Semeyn has homered at least three times on the same day, doing so previously on February 17 at UCCS when she homered four times including three in the finale of that series
-Chvatal finished another monster weekend by going 3-7 on the day punctuated with a 3-4 performance in game two in which she doubled and hit another home run while driving in a pair and scoring twice; she now leads all of Division II in home runs following the conclusion of play Monday and is the first Orediggers since 2019 to record 50 or more RBI in a season
-Chvatal and Semeyn are the first Mines teammates with double digit home runs in the same season in 13 years; the last duo to accomplish the feat was Kamee Vessey and Sarah Lustgraaf in 2012, who hit 15 and 10 respectively
-As a team, Mines has now homered 33 times this season and ranks fourth in the RMAC in that metric while Chvatal and Semeyn rank in the top four in the league in homers
-Romero recorded her first career three-hit game in the finale, going 3-4 with an RBI
-Aragon hit safely in both games with a double in game two to run her current hitting streak to seven games
-Tsuei recorded the first hit of her college career in game two, coming off the bench in the second inning as a defensive replacement and doubling down the right field line in her first at bat in Golden
-Westbrook was the unfortunate recipient of the loss in the opener, allowing four runs (two earned) over four innings of work with three strikeouts
 
UP NEXT
Mines is back home next weekend April 12-13 against Adams State.
 
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.