GOLDEN, Colo. – Mines baseball dropped the first game of Saturday's doubleheader to Colorado Christian, 13-11, but the Orediggers rallied with a 9-4 win to close out their regular-season home and conference schedules on Senior Day at Jim Darden Field.
 
Alex Dunagan led the senior class and the Orediggers in run production during his final two games at Jim Darden Field. The left fielder recorded three runs with seven RBI thanks to three hits including a double and a grand slam while batting .375 for the day. Evan Bilter joined the Senior Day party with one run and four RBI after four hits including a double. Tyler Hummel, another senior, batted .500 thanks to three hits leading to two runs and one RBI. Tyler Easter continued the trend of senior success with his .375 average featuring a home run with two runs and two RBI. Senior catcher Tyler Pina added a home run and three RBI as well. Ben Leiphart rounded out the senior production on offense with one run thanks to two walks and a hit-by-pitch. Also notable were five runs and a .500 batting average from Brody Duvall and Jackson Babcock's home run.
 
On the mound, Will Niles started game one and tossed 5.0 innings of three-run, three-hit baseball on a pitch count. He took a no-decision while Matthew Turner wore the loss. Jackson Kay (4-1) went all seven innings of game two on the way to victory. Alex Piscotty added 2.0 innings with a 0.00 ERA. Mateo Aldecocea and Luke Parker also provided innings of relief. Austin DeMello was Colorado Christian's winning pitcher and Chad Naf was the losing pitcher. Caleb Perry earned a save for the Cougars as well.
 
Saturday's finale victory locked Mines (17-29, 14-18 RMAC) in at the #5 seed for the RMAC tournament in two weeks. Colorado Christian (12-34, 7-21 RMAC) stayed alive in the race for the postseason but will need some more wins and some help from around the conference. Overall, the Orediggers produced a .328 batting average while slugging .578 on the merits of four doubles and four home runs. The Cougars were limited to a .254 mark at the plate but still slugged .475 after churning out four doubles and three home runs. They also stole five bases on five attempts. Defensively, Mines committed two errors and CCU had four errors. Neither pitching staff had a remarkable ERA, but both struck out 10 batters each. The Orediggers handed out 13 walks and Colorado Christian walked 11.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
A long-awaited pitchers' duel highlighted the first five innings of Saturday's first game. After one run in the top of the sixth frame, Colorado Christian touted a 4-0 lead. Mines eliminated that deficit and took the lead with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Hummel drove in Easter, Duvall plated Leiphart, and Dunagan pushed the Orediggers ahead with his three-run double. However, CCU clapped back with five runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth. Easter's two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth made the score 13-7 in favor of the visitors. Alex Dunagan railed a grand slam to the Mines soccer field in the bottom of the ninth inning, but two ground balls ended the Orediggers' hopes of a comeback.
 
Game two of the day and the fourth of the series was a different story. Bilter hit a two-run single in the first inning and provided the home team a 2-0 lead. His two-run double in the third inning, combined with Pina's three-run home run pushed Mines out to a 7-0 lead. Meanwhile, Kay and the Oredigger defense carried a one-hitter through the fifth inning. Colorado Christian managed two runs on one hit in the sixth frame and two more runs in the seventh. Kay even took a ball off the face but still made the out in the top of the seventh. However, that offense alone wasn't enough to overcome the 7-0 hole. Even still, Duvall and Babcock added two runs of insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to an error and Babcock's long, long ball. After a first-pitch fly ball to Duvall in center field ended the game, Mines waited briefly and then recognized its 13 seniors on the field.
 
NOTABLES
- Dunagan's seven RBI in Saturday's opener tied the program's single-game record. He's up to 56 this season which are fifth-most by and Oredigger.
- Dunagan also moved into a tie for #4 on Mines' list for single-season doubles with his 22nd of the season.
- Bilter hit the 46th double of his college career which moves him ahead of Mikey Gangwish (2016-19) to #8 on the Orediggers' all-time list.
- Pina's home run was his fourth of the season and seventh of his career.
- Easter now boasts two home runs in 2026 and three during his time at Mines.
- Duvall scored his 60th run of the spring which ranks #6 in program history. He also has 78 hits which are tied for #7 in a single season as an Oredigger.
- Babcock's home run was his fourth of the season and 11th of his career.
- In total, 13 Mines seniors were recognized during Saturday's postgame ceremony. Those guests of honor included Joe Reitz, Alex Dunagan, Tyler Hummel, Grant Reising, Tyler Easter, Ben Leiphart, Jake Verwiel, Tyler Pina, Evan Bilter, Ryan Semin, Alex Honeyman, Nicholas Spidel, and Dillon Alcouffe.
- Head Coach Robby Bales is now 176-169 in his eighth season at the helm.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines travels to Montana next weekend for a three-game, non-conference series at MSU Billings on Friday and Saturday.
 
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.