Mines (15-20, 14-12) vs. MSU Denver (25-12, 21-5) – Friday, 12 p.m. (DH) – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (15-20, 14-12) vs. MSU Denver (25-12, 21-5) – Saturday, 11 a.m. (DH) – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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THE STRETCH RUN
Just two weekends of action remain at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field this season with one of those on deck this week as the Colorado School of Mines softball team will return to Golden to host MSU Denver in a four-game set ahead of the Easter holiday. Friday will be Parent's Day, as parents of each Mines player will be introduced with starting lineups while Saturdays's games will benefit Go 4 The Goal to raise funds and awareness for childhood cancer.
 
PLEASE BE ADVISED
Due to Tuesday's snow storm that deposited several inches of snow in Golden and to allow for field conditions to improve, this weekend's series will now be played Friday and Saturday April 7-8 at the original times of 12 p.m. and 11 a.m. each day. Also, a reminder to fans that Mines will also be hosting the Kit Mayer Classic track meet Friday and Saturday at the Stermole Track & Field Complex. Parking will be available in Lot K as well as the Mines parking garage.
 
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
The Orediggers made the trek down I-25 to Colorado Springs last weekend to take on UCCS and came away with a series split against the Mountain Lions. Sadriena Rodiguez pitched a pair of gems in the opening game each day, striking out a career-high 13 in a 2-1 win Saturday getting backed up with RBI singles from Sophie Furniss and Sidney Wilson while on Sunday, spun a four-hit shutout in a 3-0 win with Kayleigh Krueger providing to big blow at the plate with a two-run home run in the third inning. The Mountain Lions played long ball in each of the games they won, homering five times in a 13-5 run rule win Saturday while leaving the yard four time in their 6-2 win in the series finale. Wilson did shine at the plate over the weekend, hitting safely in all four games with a pair of two-hit games and going 6-10 on the weekend with three runs scored and three RBI.
 
THREE-PEAT
For the third time this season, senior left-handed pitcher Sadriena Rodriguez was named RMAC Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday.
 
She is one of two pitchers in the RMAC this season to earn the accolade at least three times, as Colorado Christian's Kali Crandall has done so four times and is the first Mines pitcher since Hallie Smith in 2017 to win at least three weekly awards in a single season.
 
The Imperial, California product pitched the Orediggers to a series split against UCCS over the weekend, winning both of her starts and going the distance in each. On Saturday she allowed just one run on six hits while striking out a career-high 13 in a 2-1 win while on Sunday, she struck out eight and threw a four-hit shutout in a 3-0 win.
 
For the weekend, Rodriguez compiled 21 strikeouts in 14 innings of work and held the Mountain Lions to just .200 hitting (10-50) and while facing just nine batters over the minimum combined between her two starts. She now sits at 8-2 on the season with three shutouts and sports a 2.23 ERA with 99 strikeouts in 88 innings of work while holding opponents to a .214 batting average.
 
ALL IN THE FAMILY
This weekend's matchup will see the Robb family out in full force, as sisters Kailey Robb and Shelby Robb will play head-to-head for what may be the final time in their careers. Kailey, a redshirt senior outfielder for Mines, has been used mostly as a first option pinch runner and defensive replacement this season but does own a .400 batting average this season, while Shelby, a junior at MSU Denver, already has a bevy of accolades to her name including being named a First Team All-American as a freshman. This season, she's started all 28 games and bats .387 with 20 extra base hits (10 2B, 5 3B, 5 HR) and has driven in 29 and been named RMAC Player of the Week on March 21.
 
RACE TO THE POSTSEASON
With just four 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 27-1 mark after losing a game to Regis over the weekend for their first loss since opening day, followed by MSU Denver at 21-5 and Colorado Mesa at 21-6. Regis currently sits fourth at 18-10 in league play ahead of the Orediggers, while currently Fort Lewis holds the last spot in the field with a 13-13 mark in RMAC play. Chadron State and New Mexico Highlands are the first two teams out at 11-17 and 10-17 respectively, while UCCS and CSU Pueblo will have some work to do over the next four weeks to better their marks of 8-18 and 7-19.
 
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. Despite seeing a five-game hitting streak end over the weekend, Aragon still managed a 3-3 outing on Sunday for her third three-hit game of the season. She's hit safely in 24 of 34 games, reached base in 26 and is now second on the team in both runs (20), hits (38) and batting average (.339). Defensively, she's fielded .963 in 54 chances in the outfield with 50 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
35 games are in the books this season and Mines is just one of two teams in the RMAC this season with more than 60 stolen bases, swapping places once again with MSU Denver and currently rank second in the league with 62 stolen bases. That breaks down to an average of 1.77 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 has 12 and Sara Larson has 11.
 
SPEED QUEENS
Speaking of Renata Boyd, last month against Colorado Christan, 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 four weekends of the season. 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.
 
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 quarter lower than last season, entering the weekend with a mark of 4.13 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 .268 batting average, the fourth-lowest mark in the conference to date and 57 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 .963, trailing only Colorado Christian following a 2022 that saw them field .954, and has currently committed the fewest errors this season in the RMAC with 36.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Sidney Wilson remains one of the top hitters in the RMAC this season with her .396 average ranking inside the top 10 in the RMAC while leading the team with 42 hits, nine doubles and 21 runs scored and is second on the club with 19 RBI. Kendall Aragon continues to swing it well in her freshman season, batting .339 with 38 hits and 20 runs while swiping seven bases and driving in seven and being tied for the team lead in walks with Wilson at 11. Lauren Decker is batting .287 and has scored 10 times and is the clubhouse leader on the team with 18 stolen bases.
 
Kayleigh Krueger went yard for the first time this season over the weekend and is now batting .272 with a team-leading 23 RBI and eight doubles while Aubree Karraker is batting .267 with seven extra base hits with 17 runs and 10 RBI on the season. Renata Boyd enters the week batting .263 with 12 stolen bases and 12 runs scored while Sara Larson rounds out the regulars batting .245 with 11 RBI and 11 steals. Sophie Furniss (.345 AVG, 4 2B, 6 RBI) and Trystin Oshiro-Sano (.319 AVG, 10 RBI) continue to swing it well in their roles, as the former has emerged as the designated player of late while the latter has been platooning at second base this season with Hannah Roberts.
 
Sadriena Rodriguez's stellar season in the circle continues, as she remains one of the best arms in the RMAC with an 8-2 record and a 2.23 ERA with three shutouts in 16 appearances this season while striking out 99 in 88 innings of work and holding opponents to a .214 average. Cassidy Chvatal is second on the club with 47.2 innings of work and has 28 strikeouts while leading the team with three saves while Taylor Wayne has record of 2-5 on the year with 23 strikeouts in 45.1 innings.
 
Lauren Decker has seen time in eight games in the circle and is 1-2 with a pair of saves and sports a 3.90 ERA in 23.1 innings, while newcomers Kat Miller (1-1, 3.32 ERA, 12.2 IP) and Allison Westbrook (2-1, 3.79 ERA, 20.1 IP) have appeared in seven and nine games respectively this season and combined for 16 strikeouts.
 
SCOUTING MSU DENVER
One of the top teams in the RMAC this season, MSU Denver enters play this week on a bit of a skid after dropping three of four over the weekend to Colorado Mesa. Miah Hartvigsen leads the team in hitting with a line of .390/.456/.550 with four doubles and four home runs while scoring 21 times and driving in 21. Shelby Robb follows with a .387/.442/.763 line and has 20 extra base hits with 10 doubles, five triples and five home runs and leads the Roadrunners with 29 RBI while also scoring 24 times. Kami Grammersdorf is hitting .363 and is 19-19 on stolen bases this season with five doubles, five triples and 17 RBI while leading the way with 35 runs.
 
Jaden Geist and Alexia Boring both lead the team with six home runs, as the former also has nine doubles, 27 RBI and 26 runs scored while slugging .659, with the latter also eight doubles with 21 RBI and 25 runs while slugging .675. Hannah DiFabio (.328 AVG, 27 RBI) has 14 extra base hits this season, including eight doubles and is also a stolen base threat with 13 in 17 tries this season. As a team, MSU Denver has eight regulars batting north of .300 and has 11 with double digit runs batted in, including five with 20 or more.
 
In the circle, Jenna Medhus has been one of the top pitchers in the RMAC this season, going 9-2 with a 2.36 ERA in 15 games with 12 starts, striking out 50 against 14 walks in 80 innings while holding opponents to a .250 average. Cheyenne Prieto is currently 7-2 and has split time as a starter and reliever over 15 games, posting a 3.36 ERA with a save on the season while striking out 26 against 29 free passes in 58.1 innings of work. Audrey Burt is second on the team with 70 innings of work and enters the weekend 5-7 with a 4.40 ERA in 14 starts over 19 games with a team-high 70 strikeouts, while Maddy Wilson is 4-1 with a save and a 4.97 ERA in 11 games with 15 strikeouts in 31 innings.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Roadrunners lead the all-time series 49-31 and own a 29-14 record when playing the Orediggers in Golden. Last season, the teams played just twice and met for the first time since 2019 with MSUD taking both games 4-3 and 6-2. The last time the teams met in Golden was also in 2019, which saw the teams split the series with Mines winning games one and three 10-6 and 8-3 while MSU Denver took games two and four by a pair of 4-3 decisions, with the second coming in nine innings.
 
ON DECK
Following this weekend's series with the Roadrunners, Mines will hit the road the next two weekends beginning with a trip to Alamosa to take on Adams State April 15-16.
 
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.