GOLDEN, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines softball team split their series-opening doubleheader Sunday at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field against Colorado Mesa, taking game one 3-1 before falling in game two 10-3. Freshman Madyson Ortiz powered the Orediggers (11-9, 7-3) to the win in the opener behind a season-high seven strikeouts before the Mavericks (8-10, 7-3) pulled away late in game two to split the afternoon.
 
After a 1-2-3 start to the afternoon by Ortiz (2-1), the Orediggers scored first as a steal-and-stop play with runners on the corners and two outs saw Kellan Ton scamper home safely before Kendall Aragon was tagged out in the ensuing rundown to end the inning. CMU came right back with a run in the second on a two-out RBI triple to right center by Paige Pierce that scored Kamdyn Hagerty after she led off with a double.
 
The scored remained level at 1-1 until Mines broke through in the fourth inning with two runs to retake the lead for good. After Lauren Romero led off with a single up the middle, she came around to score on a one-out knock by Katie Bauer to make it 2-1. Bauer, who took second on the throw in, was lifted for pinch runner Sidney Pendowski, who scored three pitches later on an opposite field RBI triple by Emily Rogers to make it a two-run lead.
 
That cushion was more than enough for Ortiz, who after the RBI triple in the second, sat down 12 Mavericks in a row until a two-out double broke up the streak in the sixth inning. Ortiz induced a popup to third to end the inning, and after allowing two to reach in the seventh with the go-ahead run at the plate, worked a foul out to first base to seal the 3-1 win in the series opener.
 
Mines got off to another fast start in game two against Marissa Nehm, scoring twice in the first as Kellan Ton scored on a wild pitch before an RBI infield single by Katie Bauer plated Kendall Aragon to make it 2-0. Taylor Wayne (5-2) started her day with two scoreless innings, but ran into trouble in the third as CMU plated four runs to take the lead. A leadoff double followed by a groundout and two errors resulted in two runs to level the score before a two-out two-run double by Khloe Kubitschek took the lead 4-2 as all four runs in the inning were unearned.
 
Colorado Mesa added another run in the fifth with a one-out single to left center against reliever Rylee Church, who managed to limit the damage as she pitched out of a bases-loaded jam to keep it a three-run game. The Orediggers looked to get back into contention in late as they made it 5-3 in the fifth with a double steal of home and second by Ton and Lauren Romero to cut the lead to two. After a scoreless sixth, the Mavericks pulled away in the seventh as they scored five runs aided by a controversial obstruction call on Emiaj Self on a slow roller to shortstop and several passed balls and wild pitches. Facing a 10-3 deficit with three outs left, Mines showed some life as Kylie Bickford and Kellan Ton both reached to open the inning, but a lineout double play and a groundout ended any hopes of a rally as CMU forced a split on the day.
 
NOTABLES
-Ortiz struck out a season-high seven in the first seven-inning complete game of her career as she allowed one run on four hits and issued just one walk while facing four over the minimum
-Bauer hit safely and drove in a run in each game on her way to extending her hitting streak to eight games
-Ton recorded three hits on the afternoon and went 2-3 in game one while reaching base four times, stealing three bases and scoring three times
-Rogers doubled and tripled across the 14 innings of action and now has four of each on the season and 10 total extra-base hits
-Bickford recorded her first career triple in game two
-Kat Miller recorded a strikeout for her only out in relief late in game two and now has 99 career strikeouts
-Mines' game one win snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Mavericks going back to 2023
 
ON DECK
Mines and Colorado Mesa close out action in their four-game series Monday starting at 11 a.m.
 
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.