Mines (5-5, 4-0) vs Fort Lewis (3-8, 1-3) (DH) – Sunday, 12 p.m. (DH) – Bloomfield, N.M. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (5-5, 4-0) vs Fort Lewis (3-8, 1-3) (DH) – Monday, 3 p.m. (DH) – Bloomfield, N.M. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Following a 4-0 start to Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play at home last weekend with a series sweep of Black Hills State, the Colorado School of Mines softball team will return to the road this week as they take on Fort Lewis in the second conference series of the season, but will have to travel further afield as both teams will be heading to the Land of Enchantment due to field conditions and will now be playing Sunday-Monday instead of Saturday-Sunday.
 
PLEASE BE ADVISED
As a result of winter weather affecting the area surrounding Durango for the second week in a row, this weekend's softball series between Colorado School of Mines and Fort Lewis will change venues. The series will now be played at Bloomfield High School in Bloomfield, New Mexico, located at 520 N 1^st, Bloomfield, NM 87413.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
All games this weekend will be available free of charge on the RMAC Network and have live stats available on Sidearm.
 
AT THE HELM
Mike Coutts begins his second season at the helm of the Orediggers softball program and looks to improve off a 16-30 mark from 2022. Before arriving at Mines, Coutts was the head coach of the softball program at Maine for six seasons, where he posted a 94-129 record with two 20-win seasons in 2016 and 2018.
 
IN THE POLLS
The Orediggers were picked to finish in the exact middle of the RMAC this year in the preseason poll, checking in at #7. Defending tournament champions Colorado Christian were tabbed to win the league followed by the reigning regular season champs Colorado Mesa. On the national stage, one of the Orediggers' opening weekend foes, Nova Southeastern, received votes in the NFCA Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll.
 
WEEK 2 RECAP
After weather forced a schedule change to the home-opening series against Black Hills State, Mines posted their first four-game sweep at home since 2018 as they downed the Yellow Jackets by scores of 8-0, 12-6, 4-3 and 6-4, winning the final three games of the weekend in come-from-behind fashion highlighted by a walk-off safety squeeze in game one Monday by Grace Gonzales. Kayleigh Krueger and Sidney Wilson led the way at the plate, as the former went 9-16 with three doubles, seven RBI and two runs scored while the latter went 10-15 with two doubles, six runs, five RBI and two stolen bases. Sadriena Rodriguez shined in her two starts in the circle, striking out a career-high 10 and retiring the last 15 batters she faced in a five-inning complete game in the opener before battling her way to a complete game win on Monday, striking out nine over seven innings before Mines walked it off. Lauren Decker also shined in relief, picking up a save in the series finale and finishing the weekend with three strikeouts one run allowed on five hits over 5.1 innings of work. Other standouts from the weekend included Aubree Karraker who went 6-11 with two doubles, three RBI and two runs scored, Trystin Oshiro-Sano who went 5-8 with a double and three RBI and Sophie Furniss, who went 3-3 in pinch hit spots with two doubles and two RBI.
 
WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
As mentioned previously, Sidney Wilson and Sadriena Rodriguez turned in some pretty stellar weekends as Mines swept Black Hills state to get off to their first 4-0 start in league play since 2017, and on Wednesday were named the RMAC Player and Pitcher of the Week respectively. The last weekly award for Mines prior to this week came in 2021 when Kylie Redding was named Player of the Week and the last time an Oredigger arm was named Pitcher of the Week was back in the shortened 2020 season, when Sydney Marchando did so.
 
VETERAN CORE
Eight seniors can be found on this year's roster, including fifth-year seniors Aubree Karraker and Kailey Robb. The rest of the group is made up of 2022 Honorable Mention All-RMAC selections Renata Boyd and Lauren Decker, Grace Gonzales, Ellaena Rodriguez, Sadriena Rodriguez and Emilee Sloan.
 
Boyd started all 46 games in the outfield in 2022 and hit .321 with a team-leading 26 runs scored while driving in 15 with three triples, two doubles and going 19-23 in stolen bases. Decker started 42 times in 46 games and split time between the circle and the outfield. At the dish, she batted .341 and scored 24 times while driving in seven and going 16-20 on stolen bases. In the circle, she posted a 3-7 mark with 26 strikeouts in 56.1 innings of work over 21 appearances.
 
Gonzales started 22 times in 32 games and saw most of her action behind the dish. She batted .303 and slugged .438 with a home run, four doubles 12 RBI and four runs scored while striking out just three times in 66 at-bats. The former Rodriguez started 26 times in 29 games at first base and hit .222 a season ago with eight walks, seven RBI, four runs scored and a home run, while the latter Rodriguez anchored the pitching staff last season, starting 12 times in 28 appearances and finishing with a 5-6 record while also recording a save and leading the way with a 3.38 ERA in 80.2 innings of work, striking out a team-leading 79 and holding opponents to a .258 average. Sloan appeared in 35 games with 23 starts across all three outfield spots and hit .226 while slugging .358 with two doubles, a triple and a home run as she drove in six and scored 10 times herself, while Karraker will look to reestablish herself in 2023, missing last season following a 2021 campaign that saw her start 25 times in 31 games behind the dish and in the outfield while batting .203 with 13 runs scored, eight RBI and six doubles.
 
HELLO THERE
Four freshmen and one transfer make up this year's group of newcomers to Golden. Pitcher and first base Allison Westbrook joins the program from Colby CC, where she earned All-KJCCC honors at pitcher, posting a 4.47 ERA in the circle while also batting .374 and slugging .496. Joining her are outfielder Kendall Aragon, pitcher/utility Kat Miller, outfielder/first base Sophie Furniss and catcher Kat Bauer. Aragon was a two-time All-State selection at Legacy High School and was a three-sport standout at the prep level. She slashed .671/.689/1.024 as a senior and stole 31 bases while driving in 32 more. Miller shined at Coppell (TX) High School where she was named District 6-6A Pitcher of the Year in 2022 in addition to earning All-District honors for the second time in her career. As a senior she went 18-6 in the circle and a 2.43 ERA and 125 strikeouts and at the dish, batted .405 with 19 RBI. Furniss, an Illinois native, played on the infield and in the outfield at Warren Township High School and batted .408 as a senior. A two-time Academic All-Conference honoree, she also shined on the club circuit on teams that were national finalists and among the top eight in the Midwest region. Bauer was a standout at Monte Vista High School in California where she batted .413 with a .416 OBP in her senior season and was named a Second Team All-Conference honoree after an Honorable Mention campaign as a junior.
 
BIG THREE
Sidney Wilson, Sara Larson and Kayleigh Krueger were a force to be reckoned with last season. That trio combined to slash .341/.394/.500 and drove in 83 runs last season while collecting 47 extra base hits, including 34 doubles. Wilson led the team with a .385 average and scored 23 times while driving in another 23 with 10 two-baggers and reached base a team-high 19 times via the free pass to post on OBP of .458. Larson hit .323 a season ago and was tied for the team lead with three home runs and drove in a team-best 32 while scoring 24 times and collecting 13 doubles and three triples to lead Mines with a .534 slugging percentage as 19 of her 43 hits went for extra bases. Krueger hit .313 and led Mines with 14 doubles and drove in 28 to trail only Larson in that department while leaving the yard twice and scoring 21 runs. Look for this trio to lead the way at the plate this season for the Orediggers.
 
PLAYING BOTH WAYS
Each member of the Orediggers pitching staff last season worked at least 53 innings in the circle in 2022 while also spending at least some time with a bat in their hand as well. Lauren Decker hit .341 with 47 hits and 24 runs scored and struck out 26 in 56.1 innings and winning three games in the circle, while Cassidy Chvatal batted .280 with three extra bases hits in 25 at-bats, including two home runs while being one of two five-game winners in the circle and striking out 71 batters in a team-high 98 innings. Sadriena Rodriguez also hit .200 while striking out 79 in 80.2 innings with a staff-best 3.38 ERA while Taylor Wayne hit a home run and drove in three while registering three wins and a save as a pitcher, striking out 24 in 53.1 innings of work mostly out of the bullpen.
 
KEEP AN EYE OUT
Three other Orediggers all turned in solid seasons at the plate in 2022. Hannah Roberts, Grace Gonzales and Trystin Oshiro-Sano all hit over .300 in 2022 and are eager to continue that success in 2023. In her debut season as a freshman, Roberts slashed .338/.424/.450 in 34 games with 27 starts mostly at second base. She drove in 12 and collected six doubles along with a home run and scored 15 times while being one of two players to work 10 or more walks. Gonzales hit .303 with six extra-base hits and drove in 12 while being an anchor of the pitching staff behind the plate. Oshiro-Sano had a breakout sophomore campaign, batting .301 and slugging .493 with eight doubles, two home runs and nine RBI as 10 of her 22 hits went for extra bases.
 
GOOD AS GOLD
Solid defense will go a long way in determining the outcome of a game and the outcome of the season. Last year, Cassidy Chvatal was one of the best in the RMAC at doing that, being named to the league's Gold Glove Team at pitcher with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, recording seven putout and nine assists in 16 chances defensively. Last season as a team, the Orediggers fielded .954, good for sixth in the RMAC, and will look to improve upon that mark this season.

SCOUTING FORT LEWIS
Fort Lewis got their season started a week before Mines did and went 2-2 at the South Central Region Crossover before going 0-3 at a weather-marred weekend at West Texas A&M and dropping three out of four last weekend to Colorado Mesa to begin RMAC play. The Skyhawks did snap a seven-game losing streak in game four on Monday against the Mavericks in Grand Junction but were outscored 25-9 over the first three games of the weekend. Three regulars are batting over .300 for FLC entering this weekend led by shortstop Alex Tenorio, who has started all 11 games and is currently batting .455, good for eighth in the RMAC, and leads the team with 15 hits, six runs and two stolen bases. Catcher Sloan Shotton is batting .370 out of the leadoff spot with four RBI and five runs scored and is one of four players for FLC with two home runs already this season. Second base Alyssa Gutierrez rounds out the group hitting .308 with two doubles and three runs scored. Catheryn Rodman is batting just .200 in the early going but two of her six hits this season have left the yard and she leads the team with eight RBI, while Kayla Stone and Caydee Farnworth have two home apiece despite posting a .167 average between them. As a team, FLC has 10 home runs already to rank among the top five in the league, but their .235 team batting average is 11th out of 12 teams. In the circle, Farnworth has five starts under her belt but is 0-4 with a 5.68 ERA and has 16 strikeouts against 18 walks in 24.2 innings of work while opponents are hitting .333 against her. Aimee Shanks has been the workhorse of the staff so far, making 10 appearances which have included a pair of starts, both of which have been complete game wins against Western New Mexico and CMU, and is currently 2-1 with a save and a 4.72 ERA over a team-high 26.2 innings with 16 strikeouts against 12 free passes. Freshman Labraida Tenoria has made four starts and is currently 1-3 with a 7.88 ERA un 13.1 innings with 11 strikeouts and 12 walks.
 
SERIES HISTORY
All time, the Orediggers lead the series with FLC 74-61 after taking three out of four games from the Skyhawks in Golden last season, winning the series in the first three games of the weekend but failing to complete the sweep as they were down in game four. The last neutral site meeting between the teams came in the 2021 RMAC Tournament in Grand Junction which saw the Skyhawks end Mines' season with a 9-8 win. However, the last time the teams played each other in the state of New Mexico in 2019, the Orediggers picked up a 5-0 win, and are 4-1 all-time when it comes to playing Fort Lewis in the state.
 
ON DECK
Following this weekend's trip to New Mexico, Mines will return to Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field to take on Regis in a four-game series beginning March 4.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines softball on Twitter at @MinesSoftball and Instagram at @mines_sb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.