CANYON, Texas — The Eastern New Mexico University softball team pushed 24th-ranked Colorado School of Mines twice Saturday in West Texas A&M’s Lady Buff Classic, but the Zias dropped 6-5 and 9-7 decisions to the Orediggers. The first game went eight innings.

ENMU (4-7) completes play in the event with a 10 a.m. (MST) clash today against Regis University.

Trailing 3-1 in the first game, the Orediggers scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth and carried that lead into the seventh when the Zias forced extra innings on an RBI single by junior outfielder Melanie Alderette.

Freshman Katie Ramsay then drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth, but Mines rallied for two in the bottom half to win it.

In the second game, the Orediggers opened an 8-1 lead through 3 1/2 innings efore the Zias rallied back. Freshman Amy Smith belted a two-run single and Ramsey hit a run-scoring double in a three-run fourth.

Trailing 8-5 going into the bottom of the seventh, freshman Elizabeth Velasquez whacked a two-run homer to cut the deficit in half before the Orediggers closed it out.

Ramsay and Velasquez combined for six hits in the two games, four of them for extra bases.

Hounds upend Highlands — In the University of the Southwest baseball round-robin at Hobbs, ENMU snapped a five-game losing streak against New Mexico Highlands by pounding the Cowboys 14-7.

The teams have now split two meetings this season, and the Hounds (4-1) pulled to 40-42 in their alltime series with NMHU (4-1). No other details were immediately available.

The teams will clash again at 11 a.m. today before ENMU wraps up play for the weekend against the host Mustangs at 2 p.m.