Mines vs. Black Hills State, Friday, 12 p.m. (DH) [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]
Mines vs. Black Hills State, Saturday, 11 a.m. (DH) [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]

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OREDIGGERS HOST BHSU HOPING TO EXTEND SEASON
Colorado School of Mines enters the final weekend of the softball regular season needing wins and some help to qualify for the RMAC Tournament as the Orediggers welcome Black Hills State to Golden on Friday and Saturday. The two teams will play a noon doubleheader on Friday before an 11 a.m. twinbill on Saturday. Mines trails in the race to qualify for the postseason but have the chance to make up ground with four games remaining. 

SENIOR DAY
Saturday will be Senior Day at Joe Coors Jr. Field as the Orediggers honor Claire Smith and Sam Wade before the games. The pair have led Mines as four-year program members and guided a young and developing roster this season; Wade has appeared in 80 career games primarily at catcher, while Smith has played in 35 games with appearances at first base, DP, and as one of the team's top pinch runners. 

GAME COVERAGE
Every conference and home game this season will stream live and for free on the RMAC Network, which has relaunched for  the 2021-22 school year. Fans used to watching on their smart TV or other device must download the new app by searching "RMAC" in your device's app store. The new watch portal is available at minesathletics.com/tv or rmacnetwork.com. 

THE FORECAST
Friday will be dry but windy with afternoon winds topping out around 25 mph and highs near 60. Saturday will be much nicer as the winds die down and the temperature is forecast to hit 65 under sunny skies.

IN THE HUNT
Heading into the final weekend, there is a lot to play for in the RMAC Tournament race with the top six teams after Saturday's games earning postseason spots. Mines is currently 15-17 (.469) and in seventh place, trailing sixth-place Fort Lewis (19-17, .528). Fort Lewis hosts third-place Regis this weekend. There are multiple scenarios where Mines can leapfrog FLC, but essentially the Orediggers have to win at least three games and then get some help: if Mines wins four games, and Fort Lewis wins two or fewer; or if Mines wins three games, and Fort Lewis wins one or fewer, the Orediggers would qualify for the RMAC Tournament. Mines does have the head-to-head tiebreak over Fort Lewis if they should tie at .500, but CSU Pueblo (16-20, .444) could potentially jump into the picture if they sweep UCCS to get to .500 themselves, forging a three-way tie for sixth. 

Meanwhile at the top of the conference, both Colorado Christian and Colorado Mesa are tied at 31-3 after splitting their series last weekend. Should both win out they would share the conference title and the #1 seed would be determined by RPI, which will be announced Saturday night by the RMAC. 

LAST TIME OUT
The weather caused Mines to only get two games in at Chadron State on Monday, with the Orediggers splitting the pair. A pair of Eagle home runs scored five of their six runs in game one to give them a 6-1 win, but Mines bounced back with an 8-0 run-rule victory in game two behind Sadriena Rodriguez's one-hit shutout. Grace Gonzales drove in three runs in that game with Renata Boyd and Sara Larson each recording a pair of RBI. 

BOYD, WILSON HIGHLIGHT RMAC ACADEMIC TEAM
Renata Boyd and Sidney Wilson were named RMAC First-Team All-Academic to lead the Orediggers in the awards announced last week. Also earning RMAC Academic Honor Rolls status were Lauren Decker, Sara Larson, Sadriena Rodriguez, Grace Gonzales, Kayleigh Krueger, and Kailey Robb. All honorees are sophomores and above with a 3.3 or higher GPA. 

LIVING ON THE BASES
Mines' hottest bat over the last month has been Sidney Wilson's as the sophomore shortstop has upped her average to a team-leading .395 and her on-base percentage to .465. Wilson is riding a 19-game on-base streak and a seven-game hitting streak, and she's been one of the RMAC's toughest outs this season, striking out only five times against 17 walks in 124 at-bats, and she has not struck out since March 20 at UCCS. Only one other RMAC player - CSU Pueblo's Raelynn Rogers (5 K in 134 AB) - has struck out five or fewer times in 100+ at-bats.

ON A ROLL
Wilson's 19-game on-base streak is impressive, but she doesn't own the Orediggers' longest active hitting streak - that honor goes to Lauren Decker's eight-gamer. Decker is now batting .350 this season out of the second spot in the lineup, and her ability to get on base and steal bases (14 in 2022) have led to 23 runs scores.

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
The Yellow Jackets are 10-28 overall and 8-28 in the RMAC having lost a dozen straight heading into this weekend. They are led at the plate by Crystal Amaral with a team-best .382 average and 1.072 OPS driving in 36 RBI with nine home runs. Lizzy Johnson has scored 30 runs hitting .361 and Shayla Tuschen has 27 RBI. The pitching staff has a 5.87 team ERA with two hurlers - Amaral (5-14, 4.96) and Tuschen (5-10, 6.19) throwing the bulk of the innings. 

THE SERIES
Mines and Black Hills State have met 30 times previously with the Orediggers holding a 24-5-1 record all-time. No, the "1" is not a typo - their last meeting, on May 2, 2021, ended in a 4-4 nine-inning tie as rain halted the game, only the second tie game in program history. Mines won the other two games of that series, 6-2, and 4-2, and overall have won four of six from BHSU since 2019. 

LOOKING AHEAD
Should the Orediggers make the RMAC Tournament, they would begin play on May 5 at the highest seed.