GOLDEN,CO- The Cougars began their fourth RMAC series of the season on Saturday as they visited Colorado School of Mines for a doubleheader. Led by timely hitting, CCU held off a strong Orediggers team for a doubleheader sweep. 

GAME ONE
The Cougars started off hot, as Logan Menzies crushed an early three-run homer in the first inning. From there, a pitching duel ensued and no one scored until the fifth. Mines brought a run across the plate to tighten the gap to two, but Leah Garcia responded with a triple in the fifth to make it 4-1. CCU closed the game out for a 4-1 victory over the hosts.

Kali Crandall picked up her tenth win on the year as she twirled a complete game victory with 12 strikeouts and only two hits allowed. Menzies pushed the offense with her early three-run shot.

GAME TWO
The second contest was low scoring throughout as the COugars struggled to push a run across. An error led to a 1-0 lead for the hosts in the second, a lead they would hold through five complete innings. In the sixth, CCU finally broke through on a Savannah Tourville single to send the game to the final inning tied 1-1. In the seventh, the offense came alive for the Cougars. After a long battle that saw her fend off numerous pitches with foul balls, Kenzie Midlleton gave her team the lead with a solo homer on a full count. Samaria Roope went on to pick up an RBI groundout, and Kayla Middleton ripped a two RBI triple to extend the lead to 5-1. A run in the final inning from Mines was not enough as CCU closed out a 5-2 victory.

Abrie Castillo had a strong game, pitching 5.1 innings with eight strikeouts. Crandall closed out the game with a big two outs with the bases loaded in the sixth, and finished the game with 1.2 innings pitched. Kenzie and Kayla Middleton came up big in the seventh for their team, hitting the go ahead homer and insurance triple .

The Cougars will close their series with another doubleheader on March 12 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. MST in Golden.