Mines vs. UCCS, Saturday, 1 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
Mines at Fort Lewis, Saturday, 3 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
Mines at Fort Lewis, Sunday, 10 a.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
Mines vs. UCCS, Sunday, 12 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
all games at Fort Lewis
 

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THIS WEEKEND
Mines heads across the Continental Divide for the only time this season to visit Fort Lewis in a three-team RMAC pod weekend with UCCS. The Orediggers (14-11, 13-4 RMAC) will play both teams once each day, and head into the weekend having won seven of their last eight games. The host Skyhawks are 9-24 overall and 4-16 in the RMAC, while UCCS is battling for a postseason spot at 15-16 overall and 11-8 in the RMAC. All games will be streamed live on the RMAC Network.

LAST WEEKEND
Facing the RMAC's highest-rated pitching staff, Mines took three of four games from Dixie State in a critical series among conference leaders. The two teams split on Saturday as Mines won 4-2 before DSU won 4-1; on Sunday, it was all Orediggers taking a tight first game 3-1 before busting out for a 9-2 win in the finale. Claire Stringfellow factored into all three wins, going 2-0 with a save, while Clara Larson led Mines at the plate going 6-for-13. Kendall Murphy and Boston Ludlow each hit home runs as Ludlow drove in a team-high five runs and slugged .700 over four games. Sydney Marchando also picked up a win with a 1.12 ERA and eight strikeouts in eight innings.

EARLY RMAC LOOK
Midway through the conference schedule, Mines is well-positioned among the RMAC leaders. Colorado Christian (14-2, .875) leads the league with Colorado Mesa (16-3, .842) in second, then Mines at 13-4 (.765) with Dixie State (13-7, .650) in fourth. After that top four there is a clear divide as UCCS, MSU Denver, Regis, and Black Hills State are all hovering around .500. Crucially, Mines owns two wins over Colorado Mesa and three over Dixie State for tiebreaking purposes; the Orediggers face CCU in Lakewood on April 13-14.

ON A ROLL, PART 1
On Feb. 25, Claire Stringfellow's ERA stood at 3.77 and she was 0-3. Fast forward to today, and Stringfellow's ERA has plummeted to 2.01 as she sports a 6-5 record with two saves. Stringfellow has not allowed an earned run in her last 22.0 innings pitched and she has two shutouts in her last four starts. Since the start of March, the Orediggers are 8-2 in games she has appeared in.

ON A ROLL, PART 2
Kendall Murphy is having a terrific freshman season and is a legitimate RMAC Freshman of the Year candidate slashing .385/.473/.603 with 24 runs, 17 RBI, and 11 doubles out of the leadoff spot. Murphy is also riding a remarkable streak – she has reached base in all 24 games she has played in as an Oredigger. That has helped her average a run per game as the rookie has combined 30 hits with 12 walks this year.

ON A ROLL, PART 3
The final in a trifecta of active streaks for Mines belongs to shortstop Clara Larson. Larson enters this weekend on an 11-game hitting streak – the longest by an Oredigger this year – which is five games shy of her career high. Like Murphy, Larson also has a knack for getting on base as she has an impressive 18-game streak going in that category. Larson is slashing .363/.441/.600 with a team-high 23 RBI and 12 extra-base hits this season.

IN THE CIRCLE
Mines sports the RMAC's second-lowest staff ERA at 2.59 led by the duo of Claire Stringfellow and Sydney Marchando. Stringfellow ranks second in the RMAC among pitchers with 40+ innings with her 2.01 ERA, while Marchando is sixth at 2.63 and is third in the RMAC in strikeouts at 69.

FLASHING THE LEATHER
A year after finishing eighth in the RMAC in team fielding percentage at .944, Mines is the league's most improved defensive team in 2019, currently second at .966. The Orediggers have committed just 24 errors in 715 chances.

BETTER THINK TWICE
Catcher Megan Dickson heads into this weekend second in the RMAC in throwing out would-be base stealers, picking off six this season. Dickson is also the only RMAC everyday catcher to be error-free this season as she sports a 1.000 fielding percentage in 114 chances.

MINES NOTABLES
Mines won three of four from Fort Lewis last year, including a pair of run-rule victories on the road, and swept a four-game series with UCCS at home ... Six of Mines' 11 losses this year have come to teams either ranked at the time or ranked currently in the NFCA Top 25 … This weekend will be the first time Mines has played an RMAC game at its originally-scheduled site … Mines has four active players with 100+ hits: Katie Leiker (162), Clara Larson (157), Kara Jones (147), and Boston Ludlow (110) … Larson continues to approach the Mines career home run record as she now has 27; Kaleigh Starr hit 34 between 2007 and 2010 … Larson is now fifth on the Mines career RBI list at 131 as she eyes Starr's 136 for fourth … Leiker is now sixth all-time at Mines in stolen bases after swiping her 34th two weeks ago … Jones is sixth all-time at Mines in doubles with 41 … Claire Stringfellow is one of only five RMAC pitchers with multiple saves ... Kylie Redding earned her first career save in the series finale against Dixie State … Mines pitchers are holding opposing batters to just .255 this season and their nine home runs and 33 extra-base hits allowed are the fewest in the RMAC by a wide margin (10 fewer than Dixie State).