COLORADO SPRINGS – Oredigger junior Toby Scoles led the #23-ranked Colorado School of Mines Baseball team to a doubleheader split with Regis on Sunday as he exploded at the plate in his hometown while playing at Mountain Lion Field.
 
Scoles finished the day touting a .571 average at the plate. He racked up four runs and four RBI thanks to two home runs while fielding 1.000 at first base as well. Caden Bonds and Noah Kuzma both hit .500 and combined for two runs and two RBI courtesy of two doubles and one triple. Jason Hall came up big as well, scoring three runs and notching one RBI on one home run. Trevor Howard capped the long-ball performances by sending a solo dinger out to left field. Jakob Pigati and I-Ly Hsue chipped hits for extra bases into the effort as well.
 
Drew Hill (3-0) headlined Mines' pitching staff by earning the victory out of the bullpen in game one. Hill tossed 3.1 innings of one-run, one-hit relief while striking out five batters. Walter Pennington (1-1) started the opener but did not factor in the decision after giving up five runs through 3.2 innings. Kevin Zapanta started game two and wore the loss after 2.0 innings of work. Weston Siefken, Mitch Menard, Ben Schoneman, Will Scott, Nick Gardner, Sam Slusser and Ian Durgin all appeared in relief as well.
 
As a team, Mines (6-3) posted a batting average of .338 over the two games and racked up 11 hits for extra bases including four home runs. On the other side, Regis (2-4) matched the Orediggers with 22 hits but only had seven extra-base hits. However, Mines struck out 17 times at the plate while RU only submitted to 11 strikeouts on offense. Overall, both pitching staffs produced inflated earned-run averages due to 37 total runs. The Orediggers held the final ERA advantage by a margin of 7.31-8.62 due to miscues in the field.
 
GAME ONE: #23 Mines 12, Regis 11
Intermittent sunshine on a partly cloudy day masked deceptively chilly temperatures in Colorado Springs. However, the cool feel in the air appeared to have minimal effect on either team's bats. Regis proved as much with two runs in the opening frame followed by four from the Orediggers. Mines' quartet of runs were off a RBI-single from Howard and three-run home run by Scoles. After just one inning of action, Mines held a 4-2 advantage.
 
Bonds and Howard drove in single runs in the second and third innings to help the Orediggers out to a 6-3 lead. But Regis struck back in a big way by plating eight in the fourth, rallying back to claim an 11-6 lead of its own. Then, Mines' defense locked down behind Hill on the mound to hold the Rangers scoreless over three straight frames. The offense followed suit and started the rally behind a four-run outburst in the fifth panel. Pigati sparked the outburst with a 400-foot, pinch-hit double to center field. Hsue capped it by coming in to score on a broken double steal.
 
Still trailing by one run at 11-10, Mines entered the bottom of the final frame determined to score and the Orediggers did not disappoint. Hall completely eliminated Regis' lead by smacking a one-out, solo home run over the left-field fence. Scoles and Pigati continued carrying the torch with back-to-back singles. An intentional walk to Hsue loaded the bases in a strategic move by the Rangers, but it made no difference. Schoneman checked into the game as a pinch-hitter and delivered the walk-off sacrifice fly to left field. Scoles trotted easily across the plate to complete the comeback.
 
GAME TWO: Regis 11, #23 Mines 3
Sunday's finale saw the Orediggers' bats follow the sun behind the clouds and cool off as quickly as Mountain Lion Field on the campus of UCCS. At the same time, the Rangers continued to stoke the offensive fires as they burst out to a 6-0 lead with three runs in the second and three more in the third. Mines provided a two-run response in the bottom of the third thanks to a RBI triple off the bat of Bonds and a groundball RBI from McDermott.
 
Eight runs through the first third led to four straight shutout innings before Regis broke the silence again with a two-run eighth and three-run ninth. Scoles attempted to lead another Oredigger comeback as he drilled a leadoff dinger in the bottom of the ninth. Clayton Daly kept the glimmer of hope alive on a one-out double, but that would cap the offense for the day. Regis worked a ground ball and a strikeout to survive with a split.
 
NOTABLES
- Over the last half decade, Mines is 13-6 in its series against Regis.
- The Orediggers' game-one victory gave them four straight wins before the streak was snapped in game two. It marked Mines' longest winning streak of the season so far.
- Hill leads all Oredigger pitchers with his 3-0 record. He's tops among Mines' starters with a 2.70 ERA.
- Hall's four home runs this season are the most of any Oredigger on the roster. He has nine hits with just one single. The redshirt sophomore boasts three doubles, one triple and four dingers.
- With a pair of doubles in two at-bats, the duo of Schoneman and Clayton Daly are slugging 2.000 on the year.
- Sunday afternoon marked Clayton Daly's collegiate debut.
- Scoles now leads the team with 12 RBI through nine games.
- Zapanta's start on the mound marked the first of his collegiate career.
- Robby Bales is 46-18 in two years as the head coach for the Orediggers.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines' next weekend series comes Feb. 21-23 at MSU Billings. Live stats and video of the games will be available at www.minesathletics.com.