Mines (18-21, 17-13) at Adams State (9-30, 6-22) – Saturday, 12 p.m. (DH) – Alamosa, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (18-21, 17-13) at Adams State (9-30, 6-22) – Sunday, 11 a.m. (DH) – Alamosa, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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ROADTRIPPING
After taking three out of four at home over the weekend against MSU Denver, the Colorado School of Mines softball team will hit the road for the next two weekends, beginning with a trip to Alamosa as they'll face Adams State in a four-game series as they look to maintain their position in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings with three weeks remaining in the regular season.
 
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, Colorado Christian remained at #12 this week while week one opponent Nova Southeastern continues to receive votes.
 
LOOKING BACK
Mines was back at home over the Easter weekend and took on one of the frontrunners in the RMAC this season in MSU Denver and was able to collect a 3-1 series win over the Roadrunners, sweeping Friday's doubleheader by twin scores of 7-2 before picking up a 4-3 win in extra innings in the opener Saturday, but couldn't quite complete the sweep dropping the finale 6-3.
 
Sadriena Rodriguez shined once again in the circle, starting games one and three and going the distance each to pick up her ninth and 10th wins of the season, striking out 13 in 16 innings of work allowing just 10 hits to one of the best offenses in the conference. Allison Westbrook, Cassidy Chvatal and Lauren Decker teamed up to slow down the roadrunners in game two Friday, as the JUCO transfer started her first home game of the season and pitched into the fifth, striking out three and allowing just two runs before Chvatal worked two scoreless innings of work while Decker needed just eight pitches in the seventh to close things out.
 
Kayleigh Krueger had a big weekend at the plate, going 7-15 with three doubles and four RBI with a trio of multi-hit games and had the walk-off winner in the bottom of the ninth in the series clincher Saturday. Kendall Aragon also continued to hit the ball well, going 8-15 with three multi-hit games of her own, including a 4-5 showing in game one Saturday, while scoring three times and driving in three.
 
RACE TO THE POSTSEASON
With just three weekends left in the regular season, the race to get in the field for the 2023 RMAC Softball Tournament is heating up. Six teams will make the field for this year's edition of the event, and if the season were to end today, Mines would be in the show. Currently, the standings see Colorado Christian leading the league with a 31-1 mark following a four-game sweep of Black Hills State, while Colorado Mesa traded places with MSU Denver as those two teams are 23-8 and 22-8 respectively. Regis currently sits fourth at 22-10 in league play, while Mines and Fort Lewis are currently tied for fifth at 17-13 in RMAC play and occupy the final two spots in the postseason field. Chadron State remains in the mix and is just two games back at 15-17 following a sweep of Adams State, while New Mexico Highlands may very well be out of contention at 10-21 with games against FLC, Mines and MSUD still to go.
 
MILESTONE MOMENTS
Over the weekend, Sadriena Rodriguez hit a trio of milestones in the circle by reaching 10 wins and 100 strikeouts in a season and 200 strikeouts in a career, becoming the first Oredigger since Sydney Marchando to achieve all three in 2019. Lauren Decker recorded her 100th career hit on March 11 against Colorado Christian while Kayleigh Krueger did so on March 5 against Regis while on February 27, Sidney Wilson also hit the century mark for hits against Fort Lewis.
 
Cassidy Chvatal is on the cusp of 100 career strikeouts entering this weekend's series and also closing in on 150 career innings pitched. Krueger needs 18 more doubles for 50 in her career while standing on the cusp of breaking into the top 10 all-time, and needs 18 more RBI to get to 100. Wilson is six doubles shy of 30, four runs shy of 70 and 39 RBI away from 100. Sara Larson is approaching 100 careers hits and current has 71, and is four RBI shy of 50 and is also one run away from 40 in her career.
 
SEEING IT WELL
Sidney Wilson has been a hot streak the last two weeks and now owns an eight-game hitting streak, the longest such streak by any player this season. Since the start of the month, she's batting 10-26 (.385) with six runs scored, four runs batted in and a pair of doubles. The junior from Broomfield also has a six-game hitting streak to her ledger this season from February 12-20 and has hit safely in 26 of 37 games this season.
 
MAKING A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION
Freshman right fielder Kendall Aragon has been a staple in the leadoff spot for Mines in 2023 in her first season at the collegiate level. Coming off her first career four-hit game over the weekend, she turned in an 8-15 weekend at the plate against MSUD with three multi-hit games. She's hit safely in 27 of 38 games, reached base in 30 and is now second on the team in both runs (23) and batting average (.339) while being tied for the team lead in hits with 46. Defensively, she's fielded .969 in 65 chances in the outfield with 61 putouts and two assists. All across the board, Aragon's numbers are definitely worth keeping an eye on as her career continues.
 
SO WE JUST STARTED RUNNING
39 games are in the books this season and Mines remains second in the conference in steals with 68, far surpassing last season's mark of 53 with still three weeks left to play. That breaks down to an average of 1.74 swipes per game. Already nine different players have at least one steal to their ledger this season with three in double-digits, as Lauren Decker leads the team with 18 while Renata Boyd and Sara Larson each have 14.
 
SPEED QUEENS
Speaking of Renata Boyd, last month against Colorado Christian, she became the program's all-time leader in stolen bases, passing Brielle Asato (2015-18) for most all-time with the 51st of her career on the first day of the series. Now the race is on to see how many Boyd will accumulate over the final three weekends of the season as she now sits at 14 on the season and 55 in her career. Also working her way up the all-time rankings for steals is Lauren Decker, who entered the season with 25 in her first three seasons but with 18 already this year, has rocketed up the top 10 list and has now passed Sarah Van Lingen for fifth and now turns to Kaleigh Starr and Paige Noehring who are tied for third with 45. She's also passed her previous single-season career high set last season and could very well join Boyd with more than 50 swipes for her career before the year is out.
 
MAKING STRIDES
Year two of the Orediggers under Mike Coutts has already seen some improvements across the stat sheet from 2022 to this point in 2023. As a team, Mines has an earned run average more than a full run and a half lower than last season, entering the weekend with a mark of 3.93 compared to a 5.41 last season. Already Mines pitchers have recorded five saves this season, surpassing last year's mark of three and currently lead the RMAC as a staff. Expanding on pitching, the Orediggers have held opponents to a .264 batting average, the second-lowest mark in the conference to date and 61 points lower than the .325 opponents hit last season and have now tied their mark of four shutouts from last season. On defense, Mines is second in the conference in fielding at .964, trailing only Colorado Christian following a 2022 that saw them field .954, and has currently committed the second fewest errors this season in the RMAC with 40.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Entering this weekend, Sidney Wilson's .377 average still remains the clubhouse leader, as she is also tied for the team lead with 46 hits while driving in 20, scoring 24 and stealing seven bases. Kendall Aragon's .362 mark is second on the team as she also has 46 hits while also stealing seven bases in addition to driving in 10 and scoring 23. That duo has also combined for 23 walks this season, with the freshman Aragon leading the team with 12 free passes while Wilson has 11 and been hit by pitch five times this season.
 
Lauren Decker is back over the .300 mark at the plate and is up to .306 on the season after a five-hit weekend against MSUD and continues to lead the team with 18 stolen bases. Kayleigh Krueger is now threatening to move to the north side of .300 as well, batting .295 now after a big weekend and has 11 doubles and 27 RBI to lead the team in both categories. Renata Boyd (.275 AVG, 14 R) and Sara Larson (.233 AVG, 14 RBI, 12 R) each have 14 stolen bases this season while Aubree Karraker (.263 AVG, 11 RBI, 19 R) has been a mainstay behind the plate and been a guiding force for Mines pitching.
 
In the circle, Sadriena Rodriguez boasts a 10-2 record and a 2.15 ERA with 112 strikeouts against 31 in 104 innings and has held opponents to .209 at the plate. She currently ranks among the top pitchers in the RMAC in 2023 and entering the weekend is third in ERA and opponent batting average, fourth in strikeouts, sixth in runs allowed as well as wins and is tied for eighth in complete games. Cassidy Chvatal willlook to build off a solid relief outing Friday as she is a hard-luck 1-9 this season but is tied for the league lead with three saves and has 28 strikeouts in 49.2 innings and a 5.92 ERA.
 
Allison Westbrook continues to pitch it well of late and was rewarded with her first home start of the season in game two Friday and currently sits second on the team in wins with a 3-1 mark this season and a 3.10 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 29.1 innings over 11 appearances. Taylor Wayne has two wins to her credit in 2023 and has appeared in 15 games for 47.1 innings with 24 strikeouts. Decker lowered her ERA to 3.74 with a scoreless outing over the weekend and has a pair of saves and a 1-2 record in nine games for 24.1 innings, while freshman Kat Miller is 1-1 with a 3.32 ERA in seven games this season for 12.2 innings.
 
SCOUTING ADAMS STATE
Adams State was shutout four times last weekend as they were swept by Chadron State, losing by scores of 3-0, 5-0, 7-0 and 10-0 after splitting a four-game set with CSU Pueblo two weeks ago. As a team this season, ASU is batting .281 and has been outscored by their opponents 344-159 and have a team ERA of 11.42.
 
Kaia Bradford is the top hitter for ASU this season, posting a .440/.500/.516 line in just 29 games as she leads the in hits (40), runs (25) and stolen bases (8) and is third on the team with 10 walks. Breck Smith is batting .386 and has been the leading run producer for the Grizzlies, driving in 29 runs as 20 of her 39 hits have gone for extra bases (14 doubles, six home runs) while scoring 12 times. Angeline Mitchell is just under the .300 mark at .299 with six doubles, 13 RBI and four stolen bases, while Belinda Vargas checks in at .290 with 13 RBI as well in addition to 18 runs scored and 10 extra bases hits, highlighted by five doubles and three home runs.
 
Jade Garbiso (.287 AVG, 15 R, 7 RBI) and Riley Marshall (.221 AVG, 4 HR, 14 RBI) are both stolen base threats as both are 7-7 on steal attempts this season, while Sydney Muniz (.257 AVG, 23 RBI, 9 XBH) joins Smith as the only other player for ASU with more than 20 RBI this season.
 
In the circle, eight different pitchers have made at least one appearance for the Grizzlies this season, as Tayler Duncan heads up the group with a record of 2-8 and a 9.40 ERA in 18 games with 11 starts, striking out 25 batters while walking 24 in 68 innings. Jasmine Garbiso, younger sister of Jade, leads the team in wins and innings pitched, posting a 3-6 ledger with 69 innings of work in 26 appearances with 10 starts and owns an 11.61 ERA with 16 strikeouts against 31 walks. The elder Garbiso is 2-11 in 13 games with 11 starts and has an ERA of 13.11 in 46.2 innings with 22 strikeouts and 19 walks. Opponents are batting .390, .398 and .396 against the trio respectively.
 
Of the five remaining pitchers who have seen action this season, four are still currently active players as Danielle Hood has seen the most work of the four, going 2-3 in five starts over 10 games, striking out 13 against 27 walks in 27 innings to post an 11.88 ERA. Kiersten Bohler has worked 2.2 innings over four games and has walked seven batters while giving up 12 earned runs in that span, while Marley Cardenas and Alexandra Belton have made one appearance and have combined for three innings of work.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines and Adams State have played 129 times previously as the Grizzlies lead the all-time series 73-56, but going back to 2018, it has been Mines who has been enjoying success in the series, going 11-3 over that span with five run-rule wins, and winning three out of four last season in Alamosa. On the road, the Orediggers are 20-26 against ASU and will look to improve that mark this weekend.
 
ON DECK
Following this weekend's series with the Grizzlies, Mines will close out their road portion of the 2023 schedule with a trip to Las Vegas, New Mexico to face New Mexico Highlands April 22-23.
 
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.