Mines at Colorado Mesa, Saturday 12/2 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]
Mines at Colorado Mesa, Sunday 11 a.m./1 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]
 

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OREDIGGERS HEAD WEST TO FACE COLORADO MESA
Coming off a 3-1 start to the RMAC schedule, Colorado School of Mines (4-4) travels across the Rockies to face perennial conference contenders Colorado Mesa (4-0) in a four-game series this weekend. Saturday's doubleheader will start at noon and Sunday's at 11 a.m., both streamed live on the RMAC Network.

SPECTATORS POLICY FOR THIS WEEKEND
Colorado Mesa has a limited fan attendance policy, outlined on their web site. Masks and social distancing are required at all time, and tickets are required. Tickets are available at https://coloradomesa.universitytickets.com/

GROUND RULES
The biggest change to this season for NCAA Division II softball is a truncated schedule as teams can only play a maximum of 44 regular-season contests this season. The RMAC schedule and postseason will operate normally, with the RMAC Tournament determining the conference's qualifier to the NCAA Championships. Until further notice, no spectators will be admitted to Mines home games due to university policy; road contests may have different policies and those will be posted on the Mines Softball schedule at minesathletics.com and on social media as they're determined.

IN THE PRESEASON POLL
Mines was chosen fourth in the RMAC preseason coaches' poll last week in a crowded pack that included top choice MSU Denver, second-place Colorado Christian, and third-place Colorado Mesa. Sunday's opponent, UCCS, was fifth behind the Orediggers. Mines also had three student-athletes named Preseason Players to Watch: Clara Larson, Stefanie Brunello, and Sydney Marchando.

LAST WEEKEND
Mines took three of four games from CSU Pueblo in their home opener, splitting on Sunday before walking off with a doubleheader sweep on Monday. Stefanie Brunello led Mines at the plate hitting .500 and slugging .900, adding five walks and scoring a team-high five runs, while Clara Larson put together huge power numbers slashing .462/1.231/.533 with five RBI and two home runs as well as the walk-off double in the bottom of the eighth of the fourth game. Brunello and Kylie Redding also homered in the series.  

CSU PUEBLO SERIES STANDOUTS
The CSU Pueblo series was a breakout for transfer Aubree Karraker, now in her first season as an Oredigger. Karraker hit .455 across the four games including three doubles and a team-high six RBI, scoring four runs out of the ninth spot in the lineup. Two young pitchers also impressed picking up their first career wins as sophomore Sadriena Rodriguez pitched five strong relief innings in game three, and freshman Kayleigh Krueger worked out of two jams in game four to throw 1.2 scoreless innings.

MAKING HISTORY
Returning for a fifth year, Clara Larson already has her name all over the Mines record book, and she'll look to further cement her place in history in 2021. On opening weekend, she became Mines' all-time leader in runs batted in and now has 189. She is already the career record holder in home runs (41), and she now ranks fifth all-time at Mines in hits (228), fourth in runs (152), second in doubles (56), and tied for third in triples (13). If her career ended today, Larson would be fourth all-time in career batting average (.381) and the record holder in slugging (.723).

MAKING THE GRADE
Mines picked up a bevy of academic honors after the 2020 season, recognizing their classroom work in a challenging spring semester. Clara Larson was named a First-Team Academic All-American, while Sydney Marchando was an Academic All-District pick. Those two were also named to the RMAC All-Academic First Team, and Kylie Redding was named to the RMAC Academic Honor Roll.

SCOUTING COLORADO MESA
The Mavs are 4-0, sweeping RMAC preseason favorite MSU Denver last weekend decisively. Lauren Wedman hit .571 and drove in seven RBI with two homers in the series, while Ellie Smith and Paige Adair combined for all four wins and ERAs hovering around 1.00.

LAST YEAR VS. COLORADO MESA
In the final games of the 2020 season before it was shut down, Mines and Colorado Mesa split their series 2-2 in Grand Junction. Mines swept Saturday's doubleheader, 2-1 and 5-2, thanks to Clara Larson's five-RBI day and Sydney Marchando's one-run complete-game in the opener. CMU brought out its bats on Sunday winning 11-0 and 8-0 including four home runs.

RMAC TOURNAMENT MOVED
In late February, the RMAC voted to move back the RMAC Tournament by one week, to May 13-15. This change happened because the NCAA Tournament is also starting a week later than normal this season; with the regular season ending the weekend of May 1-2, the move will give teams scheduling flexibility to use the weekend of May 8-9 for make-up games, if necessary.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines returns home to play New Mexico Highlands March 13-14.