GOLDEN, Colo. – For the second consecutive day, the Colorado School of Mines split their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference doubleheader with UCCS Sunday afternoon at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field by scores of 7-6 in game one and 9-3 in game two. After the Mountain Lions (8-5, 2-2) withstood a seventh-inning rally and surrendered three home runs in the opener, Taylor Wayne powered the Orediggers (6-8, 2-2) to the victory in game two, providing one of two home runs in the final while working another complete game in the circle to earn the split to open league action.
 
It was a mirrored start to game one as Mines and UCCS matched each other inning for inning over the first four frames. After two runs scored in the top of the first, Kendall Aragon tied things up in the bottom of the inning with a two-run home run the other way to left center on her first big fly of the season. Following a two-out RBI single against Madyson Ortiz (0-1) in the second, Mines came game with another homer, this time from Katie Bauer to lead off the inning and keep pace at 3-3. Another two-out run in the third by the Mountain Lions preceded Emily Rogers scoring on a sacrifice fly by Miquela Tammaro as the early drag race continued. UCCS scored another two-out run in the fourth, and again Mines punched back as Kylie Bickford hit a towering one-out solo home run to straightaway left to make it a 5-5 game.
 
The Mountain Lions finally gained the edge in the fifth, converting again with two outs against Ortiz with back-to-back RBI singles to make it a 7-5 game before reliever Abby Hayes, who came on in the fifth, worked the first scoreless inning of the day as she left two Orediggers on base. Ellen Shull worked around a leadoff double to post a scoreless sixth before working a 1-2-3 seventh to give Mines a chance. After two quick outs against UCCS ace Autumn Kunze, Tammaro started the rally with a ringing double the other way to left center. Sam Whisenand came on to pinch run and subsequently scored on a double in nearly the exact same spot Emiaj Self to make it 7-6. Self was then lifted for Sidney Pendowski on the bases as the freshman speedster managed to get to third following a wild pitch, but a flyout to center field dashed hopes of a comeback with a loss to open the day.
 
Game two started briskly in a battle of the aces between Kunze and Taylor Wayne (4-1) with a pair of scoreless innings by each to begin the finale. Wayne went 1-2-3 in the first before stranding one in the second while Kunze started to look human against the Oredigger offense, getting tagged for three hits early and also committing an error defensively. UCCS broke through first in the third inning, plating three runs to jump on the board first. A leadoff double by Katie Steinmetz set the tables as she scored two batters later on a JV Goldsworth sacrifice fly to left. A pair of defensive miscues by Mines with a single in between allowed for a pair of two-out runs to score as the Mountain Lions continued their timely offense. Mines came right back with two runs in the bottom of the inning, as Kellan Ton led off with a single before coming around to score on another error by Kunze following a bunt single by Kendall Aragon. Aragon then worked her way around and scored with two outs on a single the other way to left by Miquela Tammaro to make it 3-2.
 
With renewed vigor in the circle, Wayne worked around a leadoff error in the fourth to hang a zero before helping her own cause moments later. Originally in the flex position in the lineup, Wayne stepped in for Brooke Gonzales in the home half with one out and immediately tied the game on the first pitch she saw, belting a homerun of the left field fence to draw even at 3-3. A pair of two-out walks in the fifth were no issue for Wayne as she went back to work in the circle before being given the lead for the first time with a two-run bomb to left by Emily Rogers that made it 5-3.
 
The fifth-year senior made light work of UCCS in the sixth with a quick 1-2-3 inning before her offense put things out of reach with a crooked number in the bottom half. Emiaj Self led off by reaching on an E6 before Wayne flexed back into the lineup and reached on a bunt single to third base. After a passed ball, the pair scored on an RBI double into the left field corner by Kylie Bickford to make it a four-run game. As the lineup turned over, Ton kept the line moving with a single that saw Bickford advance on a bad throw before scoring on a sac fly by Lauren Romero. Ton then scored on a squeeze bunt back to reliever Janessa Giugilano to close the scoring and make it a 9-3 game. Pitching now with a six-run cushion, Wayne wasted little time putting a bow on things in the seventh, hastily retiring the Mountain Lions in order for her second win of the weekend.
 
NOTABLES
-Wayne capped off her weekend with another epic performance in game two, striking out three and allowing just one earned run on four hits over seven innings on her way to the win, while going 2-2 with a solo home run and scoring twice
-For the weekend, Wayne went 4-5 at the plate with a home run and four runs scored while in the circle, she worked 14 innings and allowed four earned runs on 12 hits with five strikeouts
-The home run Sunday was the second career home run for Wayne, with her last coming 1,441 days ago all the way back on March 14, 2022 at New Mexico Highlands in a game in which she was also the starting pitcher and struck out three while allowing just one earned run in a run-rule 12-1 win in five innings
-Aragon recorded a three-hit day Sunday, hitting her first career home run in Golden in the opener before going 3-3 with an RBI and two runs in game two
-Ton also recorded a four-hit day including a 3-4 performance in game two with two runs and pocketed three more stolen bases on the day
-Tammaro closed out her fine weekend at the plate with three hits, doubling twice in game one and driving in a run in each game as she ended the weekend 4-10 at the plate with three extra-base hits and five RBI
-Bickford homered in game one, doubled in game two and drove in three over the course of the day
-Rogers mashed her second home run of the season in game two after a triple in game one and is now slugging .706 on the season with six of her 11 hits going for extra bases
-Bauer hit her first career home run in game one as part of a three-hit day that included a 2-4 performance in the opener
-The game one homers by Aragon, Bauer and Bickford marked the second time in the last 370 days that three Orediggers homered in the same game, the most recent being when Cassidy Chvatal, Lexie Semeyn and Hannah Roberts all left the yard in a 14-13 loss to UCCS last season in Colorado Springs
-A total of five different Orediggers homered Saturday
 
-Ortiz made her first career start in game one, working five innings and allowing five earned runs on 11 hits with a strikeout
-Shull worked a pair of scoreless innings in game one to close out a weekend in relief in which she tossed four scoreless frames
 
ON DECK
The Orediggers hit the road to end February and start March with a four-game series against Fort Lewis next weekend.
 
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.