Mines vs. New Mexico Highlands, Friday, 12 p.m./2 p.m. [Live Updates]
Mines vs. New Mexico Highlands, Saturday, 11 a.m./1 p.m. [Live Updates]
at Pueblo South High School
 

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THIS WEEKEND
The "spring" season continues across northern Colorado as the forecast for extreme cold and potential heavy snow has forced Mines' home series with New Mexico Highlands to move to Pueblo South High School on Friday and Saturday. The games will be played Friday at noon and Saturday at 11 a.m., with free admission both days. Due to the venue change, no live video or stats will be available, but live updates can be found at @minessoftball on Twitter.

LAST WEEKEND
Mines got off to a solid start to RMAC play with two wins out of three games against Black Hills State in Denver on Sunday and Monday. Mines' bats erupted for 11 runs off 11 hits in the opener, an 11-3 win, to support Sydney Marchando's nine-strikeout relief effort. Clara Larson led the Mines bats with a two-hit, five-RBI night while Hana Mawlawi went 3-for-4 with a double and Kendall Murphy drove in two runs on two hits. On Monday, a sixth-inning comeback by BHSU handed them a 5-4 win in game one despite two-hit games by Murphy and Kelsey Buechler, but Mines won the finale 3-0 behind a superb complete-game shut from Marchando and Megan Dickson's two-run home run.

LARSON HEATS UP
After a tough opening three weekends, returning all-American Clara Larson showed why she earned so much national recognition with a huge series at the plate against Black Hills State. Larson led Mines hitting .545 (6-11) and slugging .909 with 6 RBI, two doubles, and a triple in three games. She also stole two bases and walked once to no strikeouts.

ROOKIE SHOWS HER STUFF
Mines' breakout player of the season so far is freshman Kendall Murphy, who leads the team hitting .378 and slugging .386 through 10 games. The rightfielder has a team-high four doubles and is tied with Kelsey Buechler for the team lead in runs scored at six, while also being tied with Larson for the team RBI lead at seven.

SYD SHINES
The Orediggers' leader in the circle this season has been sophomore Sydney Marchando, whose 2.48 ERA and 1.19 WHIP lead the staff in 36.2 innings pitched. Marchando is coming off one of the best weekends of her career as she had a 0.00 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched, including a complete-game shutout in the series finale. Her nine strikeouts in a five-inning relief stint on Sunday marked her career high in an appearance.

YOINK!
Kelsey Buechler tied the program single-game record with three stolen bases on Sunday against Black Hills State, joining Karrie Rein (2003) and Kari Gonzales (1999) in the Mines record book. Buechler stole third in the third inning, second in the fourth, and second in the fifth, scoring off the first two swipes. Mines stole a season-high six bases overall in that game.

MINES VS. NMHU
Due to the quirks of conference scheduling, Mines has not played New Mexico Highlands since the 2016 season, when the Orediggers won twice in a three-team pod in Durango. Among active Orediggers, Loren Dempsey smashed 6 RBI across those two games while Kara Jones picked up four and Dani Valerio had four hits; Maddie Rogers earned a win in their first game with five strikeouts.

MINES NOTABLES
Katie Leiker, Mines' active hits leader, notched her 150th career hit last weekend … Clara Larson is Mines' active leader in career RBI (115) and home runs (25) ... Larson is now eighth all-time at Mines in RBI and is second all-time at Mines in homers, chasing Kaleigh Starr's record of 34 … Megan Dickson hit Mines' first home run of 2019 in the final game against Black Hills State, a two-run shot that was the eighth of her career … Kara Jones ranks ninth all-time at Mines in doubles with 38 … Mines has not played five of a scheduled 16 games this season due to weather: three to rain, one to snow, and one to cold below 25 degrees.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines is scheduled to play Colorado Mesa on March 9-10.