CHADRON, Neb. – Freshman hurler Rylee Church nearly made history Saturday afternoon, coming one out away from the 42nd no-hitter in Division II this season as the Colorado School of Mines softball team swept both ends of the day's doubleheader against the Chadron State 3-2 and 4-2. Church powered the Orediggers (18-22, 14-16) to the game one win with help from her defense in a tense seventh inning before Lindy French broke a tie late in game two against the Eagles (4-35, 4-26) to back a complete game by Taylor Wayne to complete the sweep.
 
After two scoreless innings to begin the action in game one, Mines broke through for the first run of the weekend in the third inning as three-straight one-out singles by Sam Whisenand, Kellan Ton and Lauren Romero produced a run and the lead. The Orediggers doubled their advantage in the fourth inning as Emily Rogers came home to score on a one-out single by Lindy French after she led off the inning with a bunt single.
 
In the circle, Rylee Church (4-4) had it working as went six scoreless to begin her afternoon. After stranding four in scoring position over the first two innings, the freshman settled in and began mowing down Chadron State hitters, stranding single runners in the third and fourth innings before working 1-2-3 frames in the fifth and sixth, all the while keeping a zero in the hit column on the scoreboard.
 
Mines added what turned out to be an important insurance run in the top of the seventh. Once again, Romero delivered an RBI single that scored Whisenand after a leadoff single to make it 3-0. Heading to the home half of the frame and chasing history, Church issued a leadoff walk before getting a flyout and a groundout for the first two outs of the inning. One out away from a no-hitter, a second walk brought the tying run to the plate in Macie Selfors. A tricky pop-up in shallow left center blown by the wind fell in after a collision between Oredigger defenders before ultimately being ruled an error as a run scored and put runners on the corners. Unfortunately, the no-hit bid ended the next batter as the lead nearly evaporated as well. Elizabeth Thorngren definitively broke things up with a ringing double to right field that scored one run, but not the second as Whisenand and Romero teamed up with Katie Bauer to cut down Selfors at the dish to end the game with a 3-2 win.
 
Game two opened with a scoreless first before the Orediggers put up single tallies in the second and third innings. Katie Bauer scored on a double to right center by Emiaj Self with one out to get on the board first before Lauren Romero scored on a two-out double to right center by Kendall Aragon to make it 2-0. In the circle, Taylor Wayne seemingly picked up where Church left off, scattering three hits over the first four innings and facing just two over the minimum heading to the fifth. In the fifth, CSC broke through for a pair of runs, taking advantage of some lapses by the Orediggers. A one-out error on a bunt back to the circle allowed Tiffani Mein to score before a wild pitch allowed Amber Boland to cross and knot things up at 2-2.
 
Mines wasted little time regaining the lead as a two-out RBI knock by Lindy French scored Grace Weiler for the go-ahead run in the sixth before Romero's two-out single in the seventh scored Kellan Ton to make it a two-run lead again at 4-2. Pitching with the lead again, Wayne came back with a shutdown 1-2-3 sixth before working around a one-out single in the seventh to close the book on her seventh win of the season.
 
NOTABLES
-Church just missed out on the seventh no-hitter for Mines since 2000 as she ended the day with six strikeouts one hit and two unearned runs to her ledger
-Wayne turned in a strong start as well, going the distance and also allowing two unearned runs on just five hits without allowing a walk and facing six over the minimum
-Whisenand went 3-3 with two runs scored in game one
-Romero went 2-4 in each leg of the doubleheader and drove in a combined three runs while scoring one
-Ton hit safely in each game to run her hitting streak to a career-best 10 games along with stealing a base and scoring a run in game two
-Aragon and French each recorded two hits in game two and drove in runs
-Self and Aragon both doubled in game two; Aragon's was her 10th of the season and 32nd of her career as she closes in on top 10 territory in doubles for her career
 
ON DECK
Mines and Chadron State wrap up their weekend series with another doubleheader starting Sunday 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.