LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Colorado School of Mines head softball coach recorded her 300th win at the collegiate level Sunday as her team closed out the regular season with a series split against New Mexico Highlands. The Orediggers (26-28, 22-22) powered their way to an 11-5 win in the opener behind 17 hits before the Cowgirls (19-37, 17-27) rallied late in the finale to pull away and stay in front for the 8-6 win.
The Oredigger offense picked up in game three of the series right where it left off Saturday.
Kellan Ton singled, stole second then took advantage of two throwing errors on the play to score the first run of the game.
Grace Weiler's RBI single to right field scored
Lauren Romero before
Kylie Bickford wore one off the foot with bases loaded to force home
Katie Bauer and take a 3-0 lead. Two more runs crossed in the second as a one-out RBI double by
Kendall Aragon scored Romero before the senior trotted home on a sacrifice fly by Bauer to take a 5-0 lead. The Cowgirls got on the board in their half of the inning after a triple and a passed ball allowed Jazmyn Griego to score, but Mines got that run right back in the third on a single back through the box by Ton that brought home
Emiaj Self to make it 6-1.
After an RBI double by Shaylene Saladin scored Hallie Watkins and made it 6-2 after three innings, a leadoff home run on the second pitch of the fourth by Bauer pushed the lead back to five. A solo home run by Giana Marez and an RBI single by Andrea De La Trinidad saw the Cowgirls close to within three at 7-4, but that was as close as things got for the rest of the game. The Orediggers came back with three in fifth thanks to a two-run double by Romero and an RBI groundout by Bauer to extend the lead to six at 10-4. After NMHU stole a run in the sixth, Aragon got that run right back in the seventh as she homered to straightaway center with one out to make it an 11-5 game.
In the circle,
Kat Miller (4-4) started the day, working four innings as she allowed four runs on seven hits with a strikeout.
Madyson Ortiz earned the save in relief, working the final three innings as she allowed just one unearned run to wrap things up with help from her defense in the seventh. Ton and Self teamed up to cut down Saladin at the plate before a 2-6-4-6 run down between second and third resulted in Griego being tagged out on the play. A two-pitch flyout to centerfield wrapped things up as Ortiz picked up her second save of the spring.
In the final action of the regular season with a lineup comprised largely of reserves, the Orediggers struck first as
Emily Rogers led off with a single before stealing second and coming around to score on a throwing error on a bunt laid down by
Sydney Pendowski. After a scoreless second inning, the Cowgirls took the lead against
Taylor Wayne with a four-run third as a pair of run-scoring singles by Saladin and Aliya Rhees along with a Griego sacrifice fly put them up 4-1. NMHU added another run in the fourth against
Rylee Church when Cheyenne Ben's one-out single to right field scored De La Trinidad to extend the lead and make it a four-run game.
In the fifth, Mines had their best scoring chance since the start of the game and took full advantage. A one-out pinch-hit single by
Kendall Aragon followed by an E5 off the bat of Rogers set the table for Pendowski, who ripped a double down the left field line inside the third base bag to score two and make it 5-3.
Miquela Tammaro advanced the cause as she flared a single the other way to shallow left center after a passed ball to score Pendowski and trim the deficit to one and chase starting pitcher Jolissa Valdez.
Kate Whipple greeted London Lamb with a loud double to left center that one-hopped the fence and scored pinch runner
Mia Lopez all the way from first to tie things up at 5-5. After a groundout to first put Whipple at third with two outs,
Lindy French's slow roller to third was thrown away by Griego up the right field line, allowing the run to score and French to take second on the play as the Orediggers reclaimed the lead 6-5.
Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived as NMHU tied things up in the fifth before scoring twice in the sixth to go back in front. In the fifth, Griego scored from third on an error on a rundown of Olivia Boswell between first and second after Marez struck out. In the sixth,
Ellen Shull (3-4) came on in relief and was tagged for three base hits by the first three batters she faced, the last of which from Watkins scored Yasmin Villa for the go-ahead run. A passed ball later in the inning scored Watkins before the Orediggers turned a 5-3-2-6-4 triple play to end the inning and give themselves a chance in the seventh. Unfortunately a rally was not to be as Lamb set Mines down in order to force a draw on the weekend.
NOTABLES
-Ton went 3-5 with an RBI and two runs scored while stealing a base in the opener
-Romero went 2-3 with a double, two RBI and three runs scored
-Aragon's home run in the seventh inning of game one was her third of the season as she went 2-5 with a double as well, two runs, two RBI and a stolen base before delivering a pinch hit single in game two
-Bauer's solo home run in Sunday's opener was her fourth of the season as she moved back atop the team leaderboard and finished up 3-4 with three RBI and two runs scored
-Ortiz reached base four times, going 2-3 with two walks in game one while earning the save with three innings in the circle as she allowed one unearned run on six hits with a strikeout
-Self went 2-5 with a double and a run scored in game one
-Weiler also went 2-5 with an RBI in game one
-Pendowski stole two bases in game one before going 1-4 and being credited with a run and three RBI in game two
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Lucy Herston and
Kate Whipple each made their first career starts in the series finale while Tammaro made her first career start at first base with Pendowski debuting in left field
-Echo-Hawk's career record now stands at 300-394 (.432) over 13 seasons between Mines, Portland State (five seasons, 148-127, .538) and UTEP (six seasons, 104-207, .334); in two seasons at Mines, her record stands at 48-60 (.444) and she already ranks sixth all-time in wins as head coach of the Orediggers
ON DECK
Mines heads to the 2026 RMAC Softball Championship in Lakewood next week with a quarterfinal matchup against #3 seed MSU Denver Thursday at 2:30 p.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.
