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7
Colo. Sch. of Mines CSM 22-24
8
Winner Regis RUBB 29-22
Colo. Sch. of Mines CSM
22-24
7
Final
8
Regis RUBB
29-22
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Colo. Sch. of Mines CSM 1 0 1 0 4 0 1 0 0 7 9 2
Regis RUBB 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 3 8 8 0

W: Ramil, Dom (3-4) L: Blake Ripp (5-5)

Cicini_Padilla celebration 5.10
Paul Shepardson / Paul Shepardson Photography

Game Recap: Baseball | | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

No. 3 seed Rangers rally for six runs in final two innings, walk-off No. 4 Mines to begin RMAC Tournament

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The No. 3 seeded Regis University baseball team opened the 2023 RMAC Tournament in wild fashion, rallying from a 6-0 deficit to walk-off No. 4 seed Colorado School of Mines, 8-7, out at The Diamond in Grand Junction.

With the victory, the Rangers (29-22 overall) advance to take on No. 2 seed Metropolitan State University of Denver at 7 p.m. Thursday in the second round of the double-elimination tournament.

"It was a huge game for us and I'm proud of our guys for sticking with it and playing hard the entire game. Putting up those runs late in the game helped build some confidence and momentum for our guys," said Regis head baseball coach, Drew LaComb. "We got some really big pitching performances from our bullpen and it was a really good, complete team win."

HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado School of Mines (22-24 overall), which was swept by the Rangers during the regular season (April 16-17) in Golden, owned the first five innings of play Wednesday as the Orediggers tacked on a run in the first, a run in the third, and four runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 6-0 lead.

Orediggers' starting pitcher Kevin Zapanta struck out seven of his 12 batters through the first five innings and only allowed just one hit before the Rangers flipped the script in the latter innings.

Regis began chipping away in the sixth when senior first baseman Matt Marlow delivered a RBI sac fly to get the Rangers on the scoreboard. One inning later, sophomore utility man CJ Difiglia launched his second home run of the spring to right field that again trimmed the CSM lead to five at 7-2.

The Rangers would firmly get back in the game in the eighth when senior third baseman Colten Chase hammered a three-run, two-out home run — his fifth of the season and third bomb at The Diamond in Grand Junction in 2023 — to chase Zapanta and bring Regis within two at 7-5.

"Our guys were able to make some adjustments with our approach that third time through. Our guys had to sit on one pitch and hunt that because (Zapanta) was throwing three pitches for strikes," LaComb said. "It was really difficult to try and cover all three so we had to commit to one and we were able to put some great at-bats together."

Regis would build off that momentum in the ninth as redshirt sophomore Joey Cicini got the rally started with a leadoff homer of his own to trim the deficit to 7-6.

Junior outfielder Levi Padilla followed with a hard single to center, moved into scoring position on a passed ball, and to third on a sacrifice bunt from Adam Paniagua to put the tying run just 90 feet away.

"I think that inning started with the energy in the dugout. Our guys wanted to battle, fight and do whatever we needed to do," LaComb said. "Joey got us started with a great at-bat, hit the ball hard. Then Levi backed it up with another one, Adam got a bunt down and we were off and rolling. Guys were just able to string some really good at-bats together that last inning."

Padilla would score to tie the game on a RBI single from sophomore Vinnie LaGatta. Two batters later, with pinch-runner Nolan Johnson now at first, a single by Maxim Fullerton and an intentional walk issued to Marlow loaded the bases with two outs for Chase.

Chase wasted little time attacking the first pitch he saw, driving it to center where the outfielder over ran the liner coming in and drop the ball, allowing Johnson to trot home with the walk-off run.

For Chase, he finished the day 1-for-5 with a team-leading four RBI and was mobbed in center field by his teammates after punching the Rangers' ticket to Round Two.

"He's a fifth year senior, a leader and for him to put together those kinds of at-bats were huge. He's a great kid who has been currying us lately so I was really happy to see him have those at-bats," LaComb said of Chase.

Regis was in a position for the walk-off win thanks in large part to the work out of the bullpen Wednesday as senior right-hander Michael May (1.0 IP, 0ER), junior Logan Deskin (1.1IP, 1ER), and junior lefty Ethan Sloan (1.2 IP, 0ER, 2Ks) all helped bridge the gap to the ninth inning before sophomore Dom Ramil got the final out of the inning. Ramil earned the victory, improving to 3-4 overall on the spring.

UP NEXT: The Rangers will now prepare to face No. 2 seed MSU Denver, which had its own walk-off win over Colorado State University Pueblo on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Diamond in Grand Junction.

"MSU Denver is a good offensive club, a very good team and we're going to have to compete and hit with them, as well," LaComb said. "We'll need to show up ready to play and build off the momentum we got from (Wednesday)."
 
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Scoring Summary

Score By Innings
Play CSM RUBB
CSM TOP 1st L Folsom doubled to right center, RBI (1-2 BFK); Houghtaling scored. 1 0
CSM TOP 3rd M Andrews scored on a balk. 2 0
CSM TOP 5th Houghtaling singled to right field, 2 RBI (1-1 BS); M Andrews scored; J Woolwine scored. 4 0
CSM TOP 5th G Nielsen homered to left field, 2 RBI (2-1 BSB); Houghtaling scored. 6 0
RUBB BOT 6th Matt Marlow flied out to lf, SF, RBI (0-0); Lagatta scored. 6 1
CSM TOP 7th Houghtaling homered to right field, RBI (1-0 B). 7 1
RUBB BOT 7th CJ Difiglia homered to right center, RBI (2-2 KBBS). 7 2
RUBB BOT 8th Colten Chase homered, 3 RBI (1-0 B); Matt Marlow scored; Fullerton scored. 7 5
RUBB BOT 9th Joey Cicini homered, RBI (0-2 KF). 7 6
RUBB BOT 9th Lagatta singled to right field, RBI (0-0); Levi Padilla scored. 7 7
RUBB BOT 9th Colten Chase reached on an error by cf, RBI (0-0); Matt Marlow advanced to second; Fullerton advanced to third; Johnson scored, unearned. 7 8

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