GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Colorado School of Mines scored three runs in the sixth to come back and beat UCCS, 7-5, and stay alive in the RMAC Softball Tournament. 

The Orediggers advance to face MSU Denver in an elimination game Friday night at 7:45 p.m. It'll be a rematch of their first-round pairing, a dramatic 7-6, nine-inning win by Mines.

Katie Leiker led Mines at the plate going 3-for-3 while Kara Jones and Hana Mawlawi each drove in two runs. Sydney Marchando (16-5) picked up the win in relief of starter Claire Stringfellow.

Mines went up 3-0 in the first thanks to a Boston Ludlow sacrifice fly and Mawlawi's two-run single to left, but UCCS matched the score with Taylor Reidhead's three-run homer inside the rightfield foul pole in the third. 

The Orediggers retook the lead in the fourth when Kendall Murphy drove in Stefanie Brunello with a single, but the Mountain Lions answered in the bottom of the fifth when an Alex Cook RBI double and Rayle Glover's sac fly gave them a 5-4 lead. Their advantage didn't last long, however, as Mines struck for three runs in their half of the sixth; Leiker got the rally going with a single to score Dani Valerio, and Jones gave Mines the lead with a double off the fence to lead 7-5.

Marchando worked a quick sixth, then had to get out of trouble in the seventh as UCCS put the tying run at second before Marchando induced a popup to short and Mawlawi grabbed a fly ball in foul territory to end the game.

Stringfellow pitched 4.1 innings and allowed three earned; Marchando sparkled with 2.2 innings of two-hit, scoreless ball to pick up the win. Reidhead started and left in the fourth after allowing four runs and walking five; Braelyne Crenshaw (8-8) took the loss, however, allowing the three runs in the sixth.

NOTABLES
- Mines owns a 2-1 season edge over UCCS. The Mountain Lions end their season at 28-26, while Mines improved to 28-20.
- The Orediggers will face MSU Denver for a sixth time this year, leading the series 3-2 after Thursday's dramatic comeback win in the ninth.
- In the winners' bracket, Colorado Mesa plays Dixie State Friday night. The winner of the Mines-MSUD game will face that game's loser on Saturday morning for the right to advance to the championship.
- Leiker now has 193 career hits.
- Marchando is the sixth different Mines pitcher to reach 16 wins in a season all-time.