Mines (24-23, 23-15) vs. Colorado Mesa (27-20, 25-14) – Friday, 12 p.m. (DH) – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (24-23, 23-15) vs. Colorado Mesa (27-20, 25-14) – Saturday, 11 a.m. (DH) – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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CLOSING OUT THE REGULAR SEASON
For the final time in 2023, the Colorado School of Mines softball team will be in action at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field as they'll close out the regular season and look to secure a postseason berth against one of the best offensive teams in the nation this season when they play host to Colorado Mesa.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
All games this weekend will be available free of charge on the RMAC Network and have live stats available on Sidearm.
 
THIS WEEKEND AT THE JOE
With this weekend being the final home games of the 2023 season, the Orediggers will be hosting a pair of recognition days during this weekend's series. Following game two of Friday's doubleheader, Mines will recognize the eight seniors on this year's club, Lauren Decker, Sadriena Rodriguez, Renata Boyd, Aubree Karraker, Ellaena Rodriguez, Kailey Robb, Grace Gonzales and Emilee Sloan in a Senior Day Ceremony. Saturday is Alumni Day as the program welcomes back past players in a celebration of Oredigger softball.
 
AT THE HELM
Mike Coutts is in his second season at the helm of the Orediggers softball program and has already improved off a 16-30 mark from 2022, posting his first 20-win season at Mines and is already +8 in overall wins and +7 in RMAC wins from a season ago. 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 #9 this week while week one opponent Nova Southeastern continues to receive votes. The first numerical regional rankings also came out Wednesday and saw CCU positioned third behind UT Tyler and West Texas A&M while MSU Denver was 10th behind Oklahoma Christian, Lubbock Christian, St. Mary's (TX), St. Edward's, Cameron and Angelo State.
 
A TALE OF TWO DAYS
It couldn't have been two more polar opposite days at the plate for the Orediggers over the weekend as they closed out their road slate in 2023 at New Mexico Highlands. Saturday saw Mines fall twice, losing the opener in 11 innings 1-0 before dropping a 5-2 decision in game two as the offense was held to just two runs on 12 hits. Sunday was a complete 180 degree turnaround, as the offense pounded out 14 runs on 27 hits, including a season-high 17 in only six innings of a run-run shortened 8-0 win the opener before picking up a 6-3 win in come-from-behind fashion in the series finale.
 
Kayleigh Krueger went 5-8 at the plate Sunday with four RBI and a run scored to pace the offense, while Sadriena Rodriguez and Taylor Wayne took care of things in the circle. Rodriguez was two outs away from the first no-hitter by a Mines pitcher since 2011 but a bloop single to right ended those aspirations as the senior still worked a complete-game shutout with eight strikeouts. Taylor Wayne took over in relief in the third inning of game two with Mines trailing and proceeded to work five innings of three-hit shutout relief with a trio of strikeouts to earn her third win of the season.
 
RACE TO THE POSTSEASON
As the regular season wraps up this weekend, the race to get in the field for the 2023 RMAC Softball Tournament will go down to the wire. 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. Colorado Christian officially clinched the regular season title last weekend and stands at 38-2 in RMAC play. MSU Denver picked up a big sweep on the road against Regis to move back into second at 26-12 while Colorado Mesa is coming off a 1-3 weekend against CCU and stands at 25-14 in third. Regis dropped to fourth in the standings and is 25-15 heading into a series with Adams State while Mines is 23-15 following last weekend's split on the road against New Mexico Highlands. Fort Lewis currently holds the sixth and final spot in the field but stares down a tall task as they end with CCU this weekend in Lakewood. Chadron State, currently the first team out, took three of four from Adams State last time out and is 22-18 going into their final series with CSU Pueblo.
 
NMHU, CSUP, UCCS, ASU and Black Hills will all conclude their 2023 campaigns this weekend as they will not make the postseason.
 
MILESTONE MOMENTS
Last time Mines was at home on April 9, 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 eclipsed 100 career strikeouts at Mines with three in the finale against Adams State two weeks ago and has now also logged 150 innings of work as an Oredigger. Rodriguez is also fast approaching an innings milestone, as she could very well hit 250 in her career before the season is out as she currently has worked 242. Taylor Wayne also hit a milestone recently as she recorded her 50th career strikeout as an Oredigger Sunday against NMHU as part of her five innings of shutout relief to earn the win in the series finale.
 
Krueger is 16 doubles away from 50 in her career while standing on the cusp of breaking into the top 10 all-time, and needs 10 more RBI to get to 100, while Wilson is five doubles shy of 30, one run shy of 70 and 34 RBI away from 100. Sara Larson is approaching 100 career hits and currently has 81, and now up to 50 RBI in her career and has also scored 45 runs in her career.

AWARDS SEASON
The first postseason awards of 2023 for softball rolled out Thursday as the RMAC rolled out their Academic All-Conference awards Thursday. Lauren Decker was recognized for her efforts on the field and in the classroom as she was named First Team RMAC All-Academic for the first time in her career after being named to the Academic Honor Roll each of the previous two seasons. Read more about the Decker and the rest of the Orediggers recognized for their academic excellence here.
 
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. Following a five-hit weekend against NMHU the Thornton native has now hit safely in each of the last 10 games and for the season, has recorded a hit in 35 of 46 games and reached base in 38 games. She remains the clubhouse leader in hits (58), runs (300), walks (19) and average (.379) and has 13 runs batted in to go along with 10 stolen bases. Defensively, she's fielded .975 in 79 chances in the outfield with 75 putouts and two assists. All across the board, Aragon is definitely one to watch as her career continues.
 
RECORD-BREAKING RUNNERS
The 2023 edition of Mines softball will be in the all-time record books following this season as the new single-season leaders when it comes to stolen bases. Over the weekend, the Orediggers raised their season steal total to 82 with three in Sunday's doubleheader sweep to break the record of 81 set back in 2011. That year, Mines went 36-24 and had a trio of players with double-digit stolen bases, led by Brinley Benson with 24, the program's all-time individual single-season leader.
 
This year's team broke that record in 13 fewer games and has four players in double figure steals this season, led by Lauren Decker with 23 while Renata Boyd has 17, Sara Larson has 16 and Kendall Aragon has 10. In all, 10 different Orediggers have contributed to the record-breaking total that ranks second in the RMAC this season.
 
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 before the season concludes, as she's now three shy of 20 on the year and two shy of 60 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 and has nearly matched that this season with 23, as she's the first Oredigger since 2015 to steal at least 20 and could very well become the third player ever for Mines with 50 swipes in a career. She's also now tied with Paige Noehring's 2015 season for the second-most steals in a season and is one shy of Brinley Benson's all-time record of 24 set in 2011.
 
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 nearly two full runs lower than last season, entering the weekend with a mark of 3.59 compared to a 5.41 last season. Already Mines pitchers have recorded six 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 .257 batting average, the second-lowest mark in the conference to date and 68 points lower than the .325 opponents hit last season and have now thrown five shutouts this season, the most since they spun six back in 2019. On defense, Mines is second in the conference in fielding at .967, 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 47.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Kendall Aragon has continued her red-hot hitting of late and remains the team leader with a .379 average while scoring 30 times and driving in 13 while stealing 10 bases in 12 attempts. Sidney Wilson enters the weekend at .353 with 11 doubles, 27 runs scored and 25 RBI while Kayleigh Krueger continues to be on the rise as she's now batting .327 with 13 doubles and 35 RBI on the season and is looking to be the first Oredigger to post a 40 RBI season since Clara Larson in 2019.
 
Renata Boyd has also seen her average climb in recent weeks to .313 and is 17-21 on stolen bases while scoring 19 times. Lauren Decker is the final regular batting .300 with 23 stolen bases in 26 attempts and has scored 16 times. Sara Larson (.257 AVG, 18 R, 18 RBI) is up to 16 steals on the season while Aubree Karraker (.257 AVG, 11 XBH, 12 RBI) is up to eight doubles on the season after recording two on Sunday afternoon.
 
Trystin Oshiro-Sano and Sophie Furniss have teamed up to become quite the combination at the designated player spot, with the former batting .352 with seven doubles and 21 RBI and the latter batting .341 with four doubles, 10 runs scored and 10 RBI. Hannah Roberts saw a seven-game hitting streak end in the finale against NMHU last weekend, but has still been swinging it well of late with nine of her 14 RBI this season coming in the last eight games as she's raised her average to .274.
 
Looking at the pitching staff, Sadriena Rodriguez's remarkable season continues after she worked 14 innings of shutout softball over two starts last weekend and improved to 13-2 with a 2.00 ERA with 130 strikeouts in 129.1 innings of work while holding the opposition to just a .202 average. Allison Westbrook dropped to 5-2 over the weekend but has still pitched well in recent weeks as she owns a 2.96 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 47.1 innings of work.
 
Taylor Wayne improved to 3-6 after picking up the win Sunday with five innings of shutout relief and now has a 5.70 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 54 innings. Cassidy Chvatal remains tied atop the RMAC leaderboard with her three saves and has a 5.72 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 52.2 innings. One of those tied with Chvatal for the league lead in saves is Decker, who dropped to 1-3 on the season after NMHU walked off a winner in the series opener Saturday, but still has a 4.10 ERA in 11 appearances for 27.1 innings while holding opponents to just .276 at the plate.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO MESA
Despite being just seven games over .500 on the season, Colorado Mesa boasts one of the more prolific offenses in all of NCAA Division II this season. The Mavericks rank third in home runs nationally with 84 and in slugging percentage at .625 while also ranking inside the top 10 in doubles with 88, hits with 443 and home runs per game at 1.79.
 
CMU has seven regulars in their lineup batting better than .340 and an eighth off the bench batting close to .400. Ashley Bradford leads the everyday players with a .388/.480/.748 line and leads the team with 16 steals while also being tied for the team lead with 42 runs scored and tied for second in RBI with 38 in addition to collecting double-digit values in doubles (11) and home runs (12). Rylee Crouch checks in slashing .382/.424/.849 with 42 runs scored, 30 extra base hits including 19 home runs (ranked second in Division II), eight doubles and an eye-popping 58 runs batted in (ranked 11th in Division II).
 
Sarah Jorrisen and Aislyn sharp are each batting .351 with 11 doubles on the season and home combined for 60 runs scored, 46 RBI and 11 home runs between them, while Iliana Mendoza bats .350 with six doubles and 14 RBI. Brandi Haller (.346 AVG, 14 HR, 38 RBI, 28 R) and Ava Fugate (.345 AVG, 8 HR, 26 RBI, 6-6 SB) round out the group as Myah Arrieta, who does not meet the statistical minimum of two plate appearances per game, is batting .392 (38-97) as 17 of her hits have gone for extra bases including seven doubles and seven home runs while driving in 21.
 
In the circle, Hannah Sattler has been the #1 this season, posting a 13-10 record and a 3.37 ERA over 31 appearances, making 25 starts and working 149.2 innings while striking out 80 and holding opponents to .277 at the plate. Marisa Nehm has worked mostly in relief, starting just nine times in 27 games and is 6-1 with three saves and a 3.71 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 85 innings with a .293 opponent batting average. Kennedy Vis is 6-5 in 18 appearances with a 5.65 ERA over 52 innings and while opponents are hitting just .259 against her, she has walked or hit 43 batters in that span. Jorrisen makes up the remaining balance of the innings worked this season for CMU and is 2-4 with a 4.67 ERA in eight games for 15 innings.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Orediggers and Mavericks have met 149 times previously and to say that the series has been one-sided may be a bit of an understatement. CMU leads all-time 131-18 has won nine in a row going back to 2020 and 34 of the last 38 going back to 2014. Mines' last wins in the series came in 2020 in Grand Junction, but hasn't won at home against the Mavericks since March, 22 2013 (that's 3,685 days for those of you counting at home), something they'll look to change this weekend.
 
ON DECK
Following this weekend's series at home, Mines will hope to extend their season with a berth in the 2023 RMAC Softball Tournament hosted by Colorado Christian at All-Star Park in Lakewood, Colorado beginning May 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.