GRAND JUNCTION – The Colorado School of Mines baseball team staved off MSU Denver, 13-11, and advanced to the championship game of the 2026 RMAC Tournament on Saturday before falling to top-seeded and #1-ranked Colorado Mesa, 20-11, in the final contest of the tournament.
For the day,
Evan Bilter hit .600 with four runs on six hits including two doubles and one triple.
Alex Dunagan stayed hot at the plate, batting .545 with four runs on six hits with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI.
Luke Parker,
Tyler Hummel, and
Tyler Pina all hit .500 as well. Pina added two home runs while Parker and Duvall also provided long balls. Parker, Pina, and
Jackson Babcock all scored three runs each. Pina posted six RBI and Duvall had four. Bilter, Dunagan, Pina, Babcock, and
Alex Freund had one stolen base apiece.
Matthew Turner and
Will Niles were the starting pitchers. Neither factored in their respective decisions. Turner lasted 3.2 innings and Niles departed after 1.2 innings of work.
Jackson Kay (5-1) was the winning pitcher in game one thanks to his 1.2 innings of relief.
Tai Nguyen (4) earned the save in the day's opener and pitched in both games.
Alex Piscotty,
Nicholas Spidel,
Kenji Bray,
Luke Parker, and
Brandon Schaff provided additional innings of relief. Spidel pitched in both games and gave up just one run on two hits across 3.1 innings of work out of the bullpen.
As a team, Mines (21-33) batted .423 at the plate and slugged .769 thanks to seven doubles, one triple, and six home runs. The combined batting average for MSU Denver (38-16) and Colorado Mesa (49-5) was .316. Oredigger pitching only surrendered two doubles and four home runs across the two games for a combined slugging percentage of .494 for the Roadrunners and Mavericks. However, six fielding errors for Mines hindered its championship effort. Neither MSU Denver or CMU committed an error in the field. The Orediggers were also hurt by issuing 21 walks compared to 13 strikeouts. The higher-seeded arms totaled 14 strikeouts and five walks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
During the first game of the day, Mines and MSU Denver went back-and-forth through the first three innings. A three-run home run for the Roadrunners tied the game at six in the top of the fourth frame. Then, the Orediggers exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the same inning. The outburst included home runs from Parker and Dunagan while Duvall added a double and Babcock, Parker, and Hummel had RBI hits as well. That pushed Mines to a 13-6 advantage. The Orediggers' 13 runs also included long balls from Duvall, Dunagan, and Pina, and a Babcock double. Mines didn't score in the fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth frames. The Roadrunners slowly clawed back with one run in the fifth, three in the sixth, and another in the ninth. In the end, Nguyen came out of the bullpen and hit a batter before getting two fly balls to clinch the win.
Saturday's second contest, the championship game of the tournament, was a David-vs-Goliath proposal as Colorado Mesa entered as the top-seeded host and #1-ranked team in the nation. Even so, Mines jumped ahead, 4-0, after plating four runs on five hits in the bottom of the first inning. The Mavericks tied the game with two runs in the second and two more in the third. Single runs for both teams in the fifth kept the score knotted, 5-5. When CMU posted a 10-run sixth inning, the writing was on the wall. The Orediggers attempted to respond by tallying one in the sixth and one in the seventh. A solo score for the Mavericks in the eighth led to a quartet of runs in the ninth. Mines' last chance at the plate included a Pina home run, an RBI-walk for Duvall, and a one-run single for Dunagan. However, the game ended with bases loaded and a called strike on Babcock after nearly four hours of action.
NOTABLES
- Mines' trip to Saturday's championship game was its first since 2019.
- Dunagan hit his 11th and 12th home runs of the season which tied him for #12 in the program record book. He closed his Oredigger career with 17 home runs overall.
- Dunagan also recorded his 24th and 25th doubles of 2026 which pushed him into a tie for #2 in the program record book. He finished his time at Mines with 37 doubles which rank top-20 all-time.
- Furthermore, Dunagan ended the spring touting 73 RBI which are second-most by any Oredigger ever.
- Duvall's four hits on Saturday gave him 92 for the season which sets the new program record for knocks in a year. The previous record was 85 set by Trevor Kehe in 2019.
- Additionally, Duvall scored 73 runs during the season which put him #3 in the Mines record book.
- Doubles for Bilter and Duvall during Saturday's games put both Orediggers in the top-20 for doubles in a season at Mines.
- If not for Duvall's 92 hits, Bilter would have broke the program record for hits in a season with 86. He closed his time as an Oredigger with 209 hits which puts him tied for #10 all-time.
- Bilter's 141 career RBI also rank top-10 in program history and his 67 RBI this season are #3 in Mines' history.
- Bilter leaves Mines with a career batting average over .400 with 126 runs on 209 hits including 48 doubles, two triples, 15 home runs and 141 RBI.
- Dunagan's final Oredigger stat line includes a batting average over .300 with 104 runs on 127 hits including 37 doubles, six triples, and 17 home runs with 97 RBI and 23 stolen bases.
- Spidel, who appeared in four of Mines' five tournament games led the team with a 7.02 season ERA while posting a 1-1 record with 16 strikeouts.
- Bilter, Babcock, and
Tyler Easter all reached base safely in the final 10 games of the season.
- As a team, Mines broke the program records for single-season batting average, runs scored, hits, and RBI.
- Head Coach
Robby Bales is now 180-172 after eight seasons leading the team.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines closes its 2026 campaign with an overall record of 21-33. Additional postseason awards will be announced at www.minesathletics.com.
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.
