HOUSTON – Mines starting pitcher Walter Pennington and third baseman Danny McDermott teamed up on Friday morning to give the #23 Orediggers a 2-0 victory over #21 Arkansas Monticello on opening day of the 2020 season at Minute Maid Park.
 
Pennington (1-0) made the start on the mound and earned the victory after 5.1 innings of shutout baseball featuring just three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. The senior hurler rolled through 23 batters and worked five ground balls with four fly balls. Zachary Kriethe came in on the backend for the one-inning save. He gave up no runs on one hit and needed just nine pitches for three outs. In the middle, Ian Durgin, Weston Siefken and Mitch Menard made up the bridge that led to the combined shutout for the Orediggers.
 
At the plate, McDermott provided a bright spot on a day when the bats proved cold. The sophomore went 1-for-3 with one run and two RBI on a home run and a walk.  He accounted for both RBI and 33 percent of Mines' hits. Alex Bumpus added a base knock of his own while Gabe Garvens capped it off with a double. Additionally, Trevor Howard added a sacrifice that eventually led to an Oredigger run.
 
Mines (1-0) found victory despite hitting .107 as a team while Arkansas Monticello's (0-1) pitching staff racked up 11 strikeouts and out-hit the Orediggers by a margin of 4-3. In the end, the difference came on defense where Mines turned three double plays compared to zero by UAM. The Orediggers notched two hits for extra bases and Arkansas Monticello had just one. It marks Mines' first opening-day victory since 2017.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
As the wind howled back home in Golden, the roof stood open at Minute Maid Park in Houston. However, despite the city's reputation for hot and humid weather, a chill grabbed the air with temperatures barely in the 50's. That, combined with cloudy skies, set the scene for a pitchers' duel to open the season. It started with Pennington dealing a 1-2-3 opening frame that included two strikeouts. The Boll Weevils gave up a walk before recording three straight outs, and the race to score a run ensued.
 
No runs were scored through the first four innings as Pennington racked up five strikeouts. Two of those whiffs came in the top of the fifth inning with UAM threatening to score. The Weevils used a leadoff single and an Oredigger error to put runners on first and second base with only out. However, Pennington refused to surrender. He earned the second out with five-pitch strikeout looking before hitting a batter to load the bases. The senior lefty remained unfazed as he fanned the final hitter on three straight pitches.
 
It was the bottom of the fifth inning when the Orediggers struck gold. McDermott stepped to the plate as the leadoff hitter. He took one ball and one strike before sending the third pitch down the right-field line and over the fence to give Mines a 1-0 lead. Not only was it the first home run of the season for the Orediggers, it was also the first hit of the season as Mines ended Monticello's no-hit bid.
 
The Boll Weevils threatened again in the top of the sixth inning. However, Pennington worked with the defense and the bullpen to keep UAM off the board. It started with a strikeout, but the runner still reached base after an Oredigger error. A single to center field put runners on first and second base with nobody out, but Pennington struck out the third batter for the first out of the inning. At that point, Durgin came out of the bullpen in relief and worked a fly ball to center and a pop-up to second to end the threat.
 
Two more innings went by scoreless before Mines added one run of insurance in the bottom of the eighth inning. The padding came courtesy of a leadoff, bunt single by Bumpus, which led to McDermott drawing an RBI walks. It all proved academic in the end despite an interesting debut from Kriethe. The true freshman opened the top of the ninth by hitting the UAM batter. He then worked a fly ball before giving up an infield single. The very last play of the game was a double play from Caden Bonds, to Garvens, to Toby Scoles, clinching the 2-0 victory.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines is now 1-1 on opening day with Robby Bales as head coach.
- McDermott's home run marks the fifth home run of his career.
- Pennington's win improves his all-time record to 22-8. That puts the senior alone at #2 on the Orediggers all-time wins list.
- The last time Mines won on opening day was Feb. 10, 2017 in a 10-1 victory over MSU Billings at Jim Darden Field in Golden, Colo.
- The Orediggers' last shutout came in the 2019 regular-season finale as Drew Hill pitched a complete game in a 6-0 win against MSU Denver on May 4 at Jim Darden Field.
- Garvens' double on Friday morning was the 12th double of his career.
- Bumpus, Siefken and Kriethe all made their Oredigger debuts, appearing for the first time in a Mines uniform in Friday's victory.
- Mines' last win with a team batting average under .200 was March 23, 2019 in a 5-4 victory at Regis. The Orediggers hit .130 in the win.
- Robby Bales boasts an all-time record of 41-15 as the head coach at Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers continue the 2020 Houston Winter Invitational on Saturday against Arkansas Tech at 10 a.m. (CT). Live stats of the game will be available at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.