GOLDEN, Colo. – An explosion of offense carried the Colorado School of Mines baseball team to an 18-6, run-rule victory against Colorado Christian Saturday afternoon at Jim Darden Field.
 
Brody Duvall had a trio of hits and scored three times with two RBI from the leadoff spot. Alex Freund also scored three times while adding a double and a stolen base. Tyler Easter totaled five RBI as part of a two-hit which included a double. Evan Bilter, Ben Leiphart, and Tyler Hummel joined the two-hit parade as well. Bilter, Alex Dunagan, Easter, Leiphart, and Hummel recorded two runs apiece. Hummel and Leiphart both smacked doubles too, and Hummel stole a base.
 
Alex Honeyman (2-1) was the starting pitcher for the home team. He earned the win after working 5.2 innings of six-run (one earned), 10-hit baseball featuring three strikeouts and one walk. Luke Parker closed out the shortened game with 1.1 innings of no-hit, shutout relief. Parker struck out two and walked one. Caleb Perry (1-3) was the starting pitcher for the visitors. He took the loss after giving up five runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and three walks. He also had three wild pitches and hit two batters.
 
Mines (3-10) recorded a total of 15 hits including three doubles. That made the Orediggers' batting average .535 for the game. Every home batter had at least one hit and one run scored. Eight of Mines' nine hitters notched at least one RBI. Colorado Christian collected its six runs on 10 hits with four doubles and a home run, hitting .322 as a team. Mines' lone error resulted in five unearned runs. The home pitching duo combined to strike out five compared to two walks with one wild pitch and one hit batter. In comparison, CCU struck out six, walked eight, hit seven, and was charged with four wild pitches and three balks.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Single runs in the bottom of the first, second, and third innings afforded Mines a 3-0 lead. Colorado Christian's solo home run in the fourth made it 3-1 until a wild pitch and a Bilter RBI-single pushed the Oredigger advantage to 5-1 after four full innings of play. The turning point of the game came in the bottom of the fifth frame when Mines exploded for 10 runs. Every batter in the lineup scored at least once during the surge. A two-run single by Duvall and a bases-clearing double by Easter were the highlights. Five Cougar runs in the top of the sixth provided a brief answer, but Parker came out of the bullpen and stemmed the tied. Three Oredigger runs in the home half of the sixth inning, combined with a 1-2-3 seventh inning clinched the run-rule victory.
 
NOTABLES
- Leiphart's double was his first of the season.
- Honeyman's outing dropped his season ERA to 6.87. He has 15 strikeouts and nine walks in four starts and 18.1 innings of work.
- Honeyman also ranks #13 in all-time strikeouts for the Orediggers at 127.
- Freund is up to five stolen bases on seven attempts.
- Eight walks and seven hit batters are the most earned by Oredigger hitters in a game so far this season.
- One earned run is the fewest given up by Mines' arms to date.
- Bilter recorded his eighth multi-hit game in 13 opportunities. He's hitting .455 on the year.
- Alex Dunagan and Hummel both extended their hitting streaks to 12 games, respectively, and their reached-base streak to 13 consecutive games.
- Head Coach Robby Bales is now 162-150 in his eighth season at the helm.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines and Colorado Christian closed their non-RMAC series on Sunday at noon at Jim Darden Field.
 
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.