Mines at Colorado Christian, Sunday, 12 p.m./2 p.m. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
Mines at Colorado Christian, Monday, 2 p.m./4 p.m. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

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THIS WEEKEND
The Orediggers head across town for a critical RMAC series against Colorado Christian, delayed a day due to weather to Sunday-Monday. The third-place Orediggers (20-13, 19-6 RMAC) will hope to make up ground on the second-place Cougars (27-10, 20-4 RMAC) with only three weeks left in the regular season.

LAST WEEKEND
Mines took three out of four from Regis, the first time since 2011 that the Orediggers won a road series against the Rangers. Solid pitching and opportunistic hitting carried the Orediggers as they won 9-3, 6-3, and 6-2 before Regis won 4-2 in the finale. Clara Larson led Mines at the plate hitting .467 and slugging 1.000 for the series, generating extra bases on five of her seven hits. Kendall Murphy also had a big series hitting .438 with a .750 slugging percentage. Sydney Marchando won twice, allowing four earned runs over 14 innings, while Claire Stringfellow was 1-1.  

IN IT TO WIN IT
With three weekends of play left, Mines is still in contention in the RMAC, currently sitting third at 19-6 (.760). Colorado Mesa remains in first at 24-3 (.889) with CCU right behind at 20-4 (.833); Dixie State looms in fourth at 20-8 (.714) with MSU Denver fifth at 14-10 (.583). In addition to CCU, the Orediggers have yet to play CSU-Pueblo and MSU Denver; Mines owns two wins over Colorado Mesa and three over Dixie State.

THE MATCH UP
This weekend's series will pit the RMAC's best offense in CCU (.355 avg., .608 slugging) against the RMAC's third-best pitching staff (2.68) and second-best defense (.967) in Mines. CCU batters rank among the RMAC leaders in multiple categories including Stephanie Day (2nd in RBI at 46), Charlotte Romero (5th in average at .430), and Kacie Burger (9th in slugging at .716). Mines, meanwhile, has used timely hitting to support starters Claire Stringfellow (2.43, 5th) and Sydney Marchando (2.66, 8th) this season.

ON A ROLL
Rightfielder Kendall Murphy's remarkable rookie campaign keeps rolling as the freshman has a slash line of .385/.465/.606 out of the leadoff spot this year. She extended her reached-base streak to an incredible 32 games (every game she has played as an Oredigger) as she had hits in all four games last weekend. Murphy leads Mines with 34 runs scored as well as 15 doubles this year.

THEY ALL COUNT THE SAME
Katie Leiker leads Mines with a career-best .476 on-base percentage this year thanks to a .323 batting average and team-best 16 walks. But she's also managed to get on base another way – Leiker is tied for the RMAC lead this season being hit by a pitch 12 times. Leiker has had a knack for drawing HBPs in her career and now has 36, which is believed to be a Mines record and ranks just outside the NCAA's all-time top 25 for Division II, which has a threshold of 41.

CAN'T SOLVE SYD
Sophomore pitcher Sydney Marchando is having a breakout year with a 2.66 ERA, 11-3 record, and 85 strikeouts. More importantly, when she's in the circle, Mines just finds a way to win – the Orediggers have been victorious in 14 straight Marchando appearances, whether she's earned a decision or not. Mines has not lost a game Marchando has pitched in since all the way back on Feb. 9 at St. Mary's.

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 .967. The Orediggers have committed just 31 errors in 951 chances.

LAST YEAR
Mines and CCU split their regular-season finale series a year ago as Mines shut down the potent Cougar lineup in three of the four games. CCU won the opener 2-0 as Kenzie Mattey pitched a shutout; Sydney Marchando allowed only three hits and retired her last 10 batters faced for Mines. The Orediggers' run-ruled CCU 8-0 in the second game as Kara Jones had RBI in three different at-bats and Claire Stringfellow tossed a shutout. CCU's bats erupted in the third game in a 13-1, five-inning win as they generated 18 hits, but Mines bounced back for an 8-2 win in the finale as Clara Larson went 3-for-3 with two RBI and three runs.

MINES NOTABLES
Six of Mines' 13 losses this year have come to teams either ranked at the time or ranked currently in the NFCA Top 25 … Mines has assured itself of the 15th 20+ win season in program history … Mines has four active players with 100+ hits: Clara Larson (172), Katie Leiker (171), Kara Jones (153), and Boston Ludlow (120) … Jones notched two milestones last weekend, collecting both her 150th career hit and 100th RBI … Larson now has 30 career home runs, nearing Kaleigh Starr's record of 34 hit between 2007 and 2010 … Larson is also third on the Mines career RBI list with 146, and cracked the Mines all-time top 10 in runs last week with 118 … Both Jones (44, T4th) and Larson (43, 6th) rank in the Mines top-10 in career doubles … Claire Stringfellow is now fourth all-time in career wins (35) at Mines … Stringfellow's shutout of Fort Lewis was the sixth of the her career, and she is now tied for sixth all-time at Mines in shutouts … Mines pitchers own the RMAC's #3 team ERA (2.68) … Mines' 13 home runs allowed are the fewest in the RMAC … Kylie Redding is coming off one of the best appearances of her career as she pitched four scoreless relief innings in the finale against Regis, striking out three; it was her second career appearance of four or more scoreless innings.