Arkansas Tech Winter Invitational [Tournament Central]
hosted by Scrapyard Softball Complex, Conroe, Texas
   Mines vs. #14 Tarleton State, Friday, 6 p.m. CT [Live Stats]
   Mines vs. Texas A&M International, Saturday, 10:30 a.m. CT [Live Stats]
   Mines vs. Cameron, Saturday, 1 p.m. CT [Live Stats]
   Mines vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville, 9 a.m. CT [Live Stats]
   Mines vs. #9 Texas A&M-Commerce, 11:30 a.m. CT [Live Stats]
 

---

PLAY BALL!
After a 274-day wait since the end of the 2018 season, Colorado School of Mines softball will start their 2019 season Friday with a five-game slate at the Arkansas Tech Winter Invitational at the Scrapyard Softball Complex north of Houston, Texas. The Orediggers will take on South Central regional opponents in #14 Tarleton State, Texas A&M International, Cameron, Texas A&M-Kingsville, and #9 Texas A&M-Commerce, with a single game Friday night and doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. Live stats for each game will be available on minesathletics.com. In-game updates can also be found on Twitter @minessoftball.

LARSON NAMED PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
After a monster 2018 season, Clara Larson was picked by the RMAC's coaches as the conference's Preseason Player of the Year last week. As a sophomore, Larson earned NFCA First Team and D2CCA Second-Team All-America honors after hitting .425 and slugging .839 with 15 home runs, a program-record 64 RBI, 21 doubles, and 59 runs scored. She earned a bevy of postseason awards including Google Cloud/CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-America, First-Team All-RMAC, and NFCA and D2CCA First-Team All-South Central.

JONES PICKED FOR PRESEASON ALL-RMAC TEAM
Larson wasn't the only Mines honoree as Kara Jones was selected to the Preseason All-RMAC team in the utility spot. Jones split her time between catcher, first base, and designated player last season and hit .388 with a .517 slugging percentage and .459 on-base percentage. Jones drove in 30 runs with a home run and 16 doubles, and walked 15 times. Defensively she turned in a .981 fielding percentage.

MINES PICKED SIXTH IN RMAC POLL
Mines was chosen sixth in the RMAC preseason coaches' poll coming off three consecutive RMAC Tournament appearances. New RMAC member Dixie State was picked first just ahead of defending champion Colorado Mesa as the two split first-place votes; Colorado Christian, Regis, and MSU Denver rounded out the top five ahead of Mines.

HOME SWEET HOME
This weekend's tournament will be a homecoming for four Orediggers who hail from Greater Houston. Kylie Redding is from Katy on the west side of Houston, Loren Dempsey is from Crosby located northeast of the city, and both Claire Stringfellow and Megan Dickson call Houston home. With no NCAA Division II opponents in the Houston area, it will be the first time any of them have played a collegiate game so close to home.

IN THE CIRCLE
Mines returns four of its five pitchers from a year ago including their top three ERA leaders in Claire Stringfellow, Maddie Rogers, and Sydney Marchando. Stringfellow, a 2018 Honorable Mention All-RMAC pick, developed into the staff ace as a sophomore, going 14-7 with a 2.59 ERA, both leading the team. She struck out 68 in 124.1 innings pitched and held opposing batters to .273. Rogers was 4-4 in eight starts and 17 appearances overall, notching a 3.64 ERA in 50 innings of work, while Marchando had a strong finish to her rookie season with a 4.27 ERA and 1-3 record in 41 innings of work. Kylie Redding also returns after throwing 9.2 innings across seven relief appearances.

IN THE FIELD
The news continues to be good for Mines elsewhere on the field as the Orediggers return starting experience at all but two positions: centerfield and third base. The bulk of Mines' offensive production returns in the infield quartet of shortstop Clara Larson (.425/.493/.839), catcher/1B/DP Kara Jones (.388/.459/.517), catcher Megan Dickson (.333/.434/.642), and Katie Leiker (.299/.375/.457). That core will be buoyed by the return of first baseman Boston Ludlow, who hit .326 in 15 games a year ago before suffering a season-ending injury. Loren Dempsey adds to Mines' depth at catcher and DP having started 34 times a year ago and driving in 15 runs on 23 hits. Sophomore Hana Mawlawi will also push for playing time in the infield, as will freshmen Claire Smith and Sam Wade.

In the outfield, Mines returns starting leftfielder Dani Valerio, who scored 29 runs hitting .209 last year, as well as the rightfield platoon of Stefanie Brunello and Kelsey Buechler, who combined for 25 runs and 13 stolen bases last year. Freshman Kendall Murphy will be in the mix for playing time as well.

NUMBERS TO WATCH
Boston Ludlow is four hits away from 100 for her career ... Katie Leiker is Mines' active hits leader at 140 ... Clara Larson is Mines' active leader in career RBI (109) and home runs (25) ... Larson is second all-time at Mines in homers, chasing Kaleigh Starr's record of 34 ... Kara Jones ranks ninth all-time at Mines in doubles with 38.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will head back to Texas in week two for five games at the St. Mary's College Classic in San Antonio on Feb. 8-10.