Mines Baseball sweeps Highlands, winning streak now at 10

The Orediggers are on fire, and a sweep of New Mexico Highlands has propelled them to the No. 1 spot in the RMAC.

The win streak is thought to be due to either sophomore infielder Shane Johnny’s new faux-hawk haircut, or the team’s embracement of the school’s nerdiness.

When asked about his strategy, sophomore outfielder Mark Goldie said, “I finally combined my two loves, baseball and physics. Whenever I’m up to bat, some variation of Spidey Sense takes over and I calculate the second that will provide the most linear momentum from the collision of my bat and the ball, along with the effect of gravity and the Coriolis effect. I’ve been holding late-night physics sessions for the outfielders to do projectile motion problems in their head instantaneously in order to get a good lead.”

Thursday’s game got off to a bizarre start. Freshman Christian Rooney-Toon put down the Cowboys on three pitches in the bottom of the first and struck out the side in the second. Unfortunately for Rooney-Toon, the Slate lunch he had eaten before the game did not agree with his stomach, so sophomore righty Brandon Thunderstorm came on in relief. New Mexico Highlands then scored one unearned run on no hits, as Mines committed an error to get the runner on and he promptly stole second, then third, and finally home. Thunderstorm then induced two quick groundouts to get out of the inning.

Mines countered with back-to-back-to-back home runs by Charlie Oregano, Bobby Iceberg, and Evan Brownie.

That would be all the Orediggers would need as Thunderstorm pitched six innings of no-hit baseball, and Eric Shanfish closed the game with a perfect ninth. The end result was a 3-1 win, with Rooney Toon, Thunderstorm, and Shanfish combining for the first no-hitter in CSM history.

Saturday’s first game saw starter Bambi Gilman scatter three runs over nine innings on six hits while striking out seven. The Oredigger bats were lifeless until the top of the ninth, however. A double and two walks set the bases up for senior catcher Jordo Williams. Williams swung at the first pitch and launched the 95 mile per hour fastball way over the left field fence. “If we were at Darden, that would’ve been another one of Jordo’s home runs that would have landed on North Table Mountain,” said Goldie.

With this momentum, the Orediggers routed NMH in the nightcap, as sophomore righty Matt Brownie threw a solid complete-game, allowing only two runs. The offense scored 20 runs, including six in the fourth when they batted around.

The Orediggers’ mojo was stopped by snow in New Mexico, as Sunday’s game was cancelled.
Mines will face Adams State next weekend at Darden Field. Fans should be sure to get their baseball fix E-Days weekend and support their Orediggers, who are in a great position to make the playoffs.