March 3, 2013
Basil, Dunham Lead Diggers To 6-5 Victory
GOLDEN – A quality start from senior Blake Dunham coupled with a 4-for-4 effort and three stolen bases from junior Charlie Basil led the Colorado School of Mines baseball team to a 6-5 victory over Regis in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader at Jim Darden Field in Golden.
Making his first start of the season, Dunham (1-0) scattered seven hits and three earned runs over eight innings while striking out four in the process. He allowed just one extra-base hit over an efficient 78-pitch outing.
Freshman Nate Olinger closed out the ninth inning for his second save of the season, but needed a 1-6-3 double play to get out of the inning with the tying runner on third base.
Basil finished with four singles and a walk in reaching base in all five of his plate appearances on the afternoon. He also knocked in one of Mines' (4-6, 1-2 RMAC) two runs in the eighth and scored one in the three-run seventh while finishing 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts.
Olinger added a 1-for-3 line at the plate with a run scored and a double, while sophomore backstop Evan Brown added a 1-for-2 hitting line with a run scored, a double and a pair of walks.
Junior second baseman Kyle Wallace finished 1-for-4 with a team-high two runs scored while the squad notched nine hits total during the contest.
Regis took the first lead of the game in the top of the fourth but Mines answered the first run with one of their own in the home half of the fifth frame. Bobby Egeberg grounded into a fielder's choice with two outs but the Regis (7-2, 2-1 RMAC) fielder was not able to make a play with two outs, allowing Wallace to score from third.
Mines then took its first lead of the contest with a three-run seventh that started with a sacrifice bunt from sophomore Zach Bothwell that scored Wallace from third. On second base in the next at-bat, Basil stole third and raced home on a throwing error by the Rangers' catcher, giving Mines a 3-1 lead. The Orediggers added another run when Jordan Williams singled in Olinger, who was sitting on second base following a double.
Regis added a pair in the top of the eighth, but the Orediggers answered in their half of the inning, first on a pair of doubles by Brown and Travis Ramos, with Ramos' double scoring Brown from second. Basil then knocked in Ramos on a single to left center that pushed Mines' lead to 6-3.
After an error allowed a runner to reach in the top of the ninth, Olinger was then hit with his first allowed home run at the collegiate level when Willy Gustin went deep to dead center, cutting the Orediggers' lead to 6-5.
With a runner on third, Olinger then started a 1-6-3 double play on a comebacker to get out of the jam and give Mines its first conference victory of the year.
