ALAMOSA, Colo. – Under sunshine and blue skies at the ASU Softball Field Saturday, the Colorado School of Mines softball team put up their best single-day offensive showing of the season on their way to a pair of wins over Adams State 6-0 and 20-2 in five innings. After a pitcher's duel dominated the first five innings of the opener, the Orediggers (22-22, 18-16) blew things open late to back the first shutout of the season from Rylee Church before putting on an offensive clinic in game two, blowing out the Grizzlies (9-35, 8-24) with their highest single-game run total in nearly 20 years to sweep both ends of the doubleheader.
 
Saturday's opener was a low-scoring affair for the first five innings as a lone Mines run in the second inning was all the offenses could muster in a pitcher's duel. After Rylee Church (5-4) pitched her way out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the first, Mines manufactured a run on the bases as Madyson Ortiz got in a run down between first and second long enough to allow Grace Weiler to race home for the opening run of the day. After Church got some help from her defense in the home second with a double play ball, she went 1-2-3 in the third and stranded a runner in the fourth before running into more challenges in the fifth. After surrendering a single and walk to begin the frame, Church got a pair of quick outs before a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Caylie Eiguren. With Adams State threatening again, Church dug deep and after falling behind 2-0 got Eiguren to flyout to centerfield for the final out to maintain the lead.
 
The Orediggers blew things open in the sixth, scoring four times to pad their advantage. Sam Whisenand led off with a walk to turn the lineup over and after being sacrificed into scoring position, she scored on a ground-rule double to right center by Lauren Romero. Romero scored moments later on a single up the middle by Kendall Aragon as she replaced Romero at second by taking the extra 60 feet on the throw home. Katie Bauer kept it going with a single up the middle to put runners on the corners before being run for at first base by Mia Lopez. With Weiler at the plate, Lopez attempted to get into a rundown between first and second but an errant throw down sailed into the outfield, allowing Lopez to advance to second and Aragon to trot home and make it 4-0. After a flyout to right field, Madyson Ortiz stepped in and singled to right field and bring home Lopez to make it a 5-0 game.
 
Now pitching with a comfortable advantage, Church retired the Grizzlies in order in the home sixth before her offense added another run in the seventh. Whisenand again started things with a one-out walk before being joined on base by Kellan Ton and Romero with infield single to load the bases. Aragon stepped in next and rolled over a pitch to first base as Adams State got the force out at the plate, but an error trying to throw behind Ton at third missed high and wide as it went into left field allowing the junior left fielder to score and make it a six-run lead. The only hiccup in the bottom of the seventh was a four-pitch one-out walk as Church induced a force out at second before a liner back to her in the circle closed out the 6-0 win in the series opener.
 
As action resumed in game two, the offensive momentum of the Orediggers did as well as they erupted for nine runs over the first two innings. A leadoff walk to open the game by Kellan Ton was cashed in two batters later as Kendall Aragon singled up the middle for the opening salvo. Lauren Romero, who followed Ton with a single, scored shortly after when Aragon got hung up in a rundown between first and second to make it 2-0. Adams State cracked the scoreboard in the home first as Denae Ojeda led off with a single before coming in to score on a base hit to left center by Aubree Davis. After a walk loaded the bases with one out, Taylor Wayne gathered herself and worked a grounder to first base for the force out at home before a lineout to second ended the inning and left three on base.
 
The Orediggers blew things open in the second, sending 11 batters to the plate as they scored a touchdown and converted the extra point to make it a 9-1 game. Lindy French led off with a ringing double into the left field corner before an infield single by Sam Whisenand put runners on the corners and turned things back over to Ton and the top of the order. After a groundout back to the circle put two in scoring position, Romero singled to left to plate French for the first of four consecutive run-scoring base hits. Aragon followed with a ball back to the middle to score Whisenand before she scored along with Romero on a two-run triple by Katie Bauer that made it 6-1. Grace Weiler followed with another single back up the middle that brough Bauer home and spelled the end of the day for Celie Page in the circle. Emiaj Self walked on four pitches from Jaklynn Harteker and after a wild pitch and a strikeout, French stepped in for the second time in the inning and went the other way to right field, scoring Weiler and Self to make it 9-1.
 
The offense wasn't done as they continued to pile on in the third inning as nine more runs went on the board. Romero scored on a one-out triple by Aragon before an RBI groundout to shortstop by Bauer allowed Aragon to scamper home and make it 11-1. Three-straight walks to Weiler, Self and Wayne loaded the bases for Lindy French, who singled through the left side to bring home two more as the lead swelled to 12. Payton Torres took over in the circle for Harteker as Mines started to go to their bench. Emily Rogers drew the pinch hit assignment for Whisenand in the nine spot and with help from a wild pitch, drove in pinch runner Kiyana Tsuei and Wayne on a ball back through the box that made it 15-1. Sydney Pendowski was next off the bench as the lineup turned over as she advanced the cause with a hit by pitch. Romero dug in next and singled to left field, scoring both runners and ending up at third after a fielding error as the lead moved to 17-1. Aragon's second triple of the game to left center made it a 17-run game.
 
Kat Miller (3-3) took over in the circle in the home third as Adams State managed to string together some quality at bats to load the bases with two outs before Davis singled through the left side to get a run back and make it 18-2. Miller rebounded by getting Brylyn Haddick to hit one on the ground to shortstop as Self flipped to Romero for the force at second to end the inning. Neither side scored in the fourth despite getting traffic on the bases. Substitutions continued aplenty in the fifth as Mia Lopez led off with a single through the left side before scoring on a triple to right center from Kate Whipple to make it 19-2. Whipple scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly to center by Weiler to make it an 18-run game. Heading back out in the home fifth with the outcome long since determined, Miller worked around a first pitch single to retire the next three batters in order to close out the 20-2 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Church went the distance in the series opener for her first career shutout as she struck out five and allowed just three hits over seven innings before collecting a pinch hit single in the fourth inning of game two
-Ortiz recorded her first career multi-hit outing at the plate in game one, going 2-2 with a walk and an RBI
-Romero recent hot streak continued as she went 5-7 on the day thanks to 2-4 in the opener with a ground-rule double, RBI and a run scored and 3-3 with four runs scored and an RBI in game two
-Aragon drove in a run and scored in the opener before going 4-4 with four RBI, two triples and two runs scored in game two
-French went 3-3 with a career-high four RBI and a double in game two
-Bauer hit safely in both games, as her highlights came in game two as she went 1-3 with a run scored and a three-run triple
-Self reached base four times in game two, going 1-1 with a triple and three walks while scoring twice
-Rogers delivered a two-run pinch hit single in game two as she has now hit safely in seven of her last eight games and brought her average back above .300 on the season
-Miquela Tammaro made her collegiate debut at first base off the bench in game two
-Morgan Stewart recorded her first career base hit with a pinch hit single in the fifth inning of game two
-Mines broke the program's single-game record for triples with five in game two, surpassing the previous mark of four against MSU Denver back on May 6, 2011
-The 20 runs scored by the Orediggers in game two are the most in a single-game since they plated 25 against UCCS on April 23, 2008 which happened 6,569 days ago
 
ON DECK
Mines and Adams State close out their series Sunday with doubleheader action 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.