Mines (5-9, 2-6) vs. New Mexico Highlands (5-8, 1-7) – Saturday, 12 p.m. (DH) – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (5-9, 2-6) vs. New Mexico Highlands (5-8, 1-7) – Sunday, 11 a.m. (DH) – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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HOMEWARD BOUND
After playing 14 games away from Golden to begin the 2024 season, the Colorado School of Mines softball team will look to take to the field at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field this weekend for their third Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference series of the season when they take on New Mexico Highlands Saturday and Sunday.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live coverage of this weekend's games will include live stats and streaming on the RMAC Network. All links can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
AT THE HELM
Mike Coutts enters his third season at the helm of the Orediggers and owns an overall record of 46-65 with a mark of 42-42 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play and is coming off his first 20-win season in Golden in 2023. He oversaw a nine-win improvement overall and an eight-win improvement from year one to year two and guided the Orediggers to an appearance in last season's RMAC Tournament. 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
Mines was tabbed to finish fifth the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll this season, up two places from their projected result last season of seventh. Defending RMAC champions Colorado Christian were picked to repeat this season with eight first-place votes followed by MSU Denver and Colorado Mesa, who each earned a pair of first-place ballots and were separated by just one point in the poll. Regis checked in just ahead of Mines in fourth with UCCS in sixth with CSU Pueblo and Chadron State in seventh and eighth. Fort Lewis and New Mexico Highlands each earned 37 points to finish tied for ninth in the standings while Adams State and Black Hills State each earned 18 points to finish tied for 11th.
 
FRESH FACES
Carrying one of the biggest rosters in recent history, the Orediggers welcomed 10 freshmen to the club for the 2024 season.
 
Kellan Ton, Kenzie Sale and Sam Whisenand will be competing for time in the outfield this season while Emily Rogers, Lauren Romero and E Self will look to break through for some action this season and learn from an experienced infield group. Ryen Herman joins the catching corps as one of four players behind the dish for Mines, Kiki Matamoros brings flexibility to the roster as a utility player and two-way player Ellen Shull will be in the running to compete for innings this spring and perhaps some time in the lineup.
 
Read more about the newcomers in this year's class by reviewing the 2023 Signing Day release.
 
WEEK 3 RECAP
It was tough sledding for the Orediggers over the weekend in Grand Junction against Colorado Mesa as they were swept by the Mavs 3-1 and 5-4 Saturday before being dealt a pair of run-rule losses in five innings Sunday 13-4 and 10-1. Sara Larson hit safely in all four games during the weekend and had an RBI double in the opener while Kayleigh Krueger homered for the first time this season in game two Saturday. Sidney Wilson drove home a pair in game two before also homering in game three of the series alongside Cassidy Chvatal, who drove in the lone run for Mines in the finale Sunday.
 
ONE FINAL RUN
As the era of COVID-extended eligibility begins to wind down, one player from the 2019 signing class is back for a fifth season of college softball. Sadriena Rodriguez earned Second Team All-RMAC honors following a breakout 14-win season in 2023 and was twice named RMAC Pitcher of the Week during the season. She spun five shutouts and struck out 147 in 144.1 innings over work across 24 starts in 25 appearances and held opponents to a mere .200 average. Her 2.18 ERA was the fourth-best in a season all-time while her five shutouts tied for fourth-most in a season, and she enters 2024 with eight career shutouts, good for fifth in program history. She also cleared the 200-strikeout mark in her career, becoming the first Mines pitcher since Sydney Marchando to reach that milestone and will undoubtedly clear 300 before season's end.
 
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
After having their originally scheduled home opening series against Chadron State two weeks ago moved down to Lakewood due to field conditions, Mines will finally look to take their field as their home team at their own facility this weekend against New Mexico Highlands. Last season, the Orediggers went 11-9 at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field as they look to defend post another strong season at home playing in one of the larger ballparks in the RMAC and playing to their strengths as a team as they look to rebound and move up the conference standings.
 
ZOOM ZOOM
An area of emphasis under the Coutts regime has been putting pressure on the defense by creating action on the basepaths. Last season, the Orediggers set a new single-season program record for steals in a season, finishing 2023 with 86 swipes in 103 tries. Sara Larson and Kendall Aragon were two of four players with double-digit steals last year, with Larson going 18-20 and Aragon going 10-12 and both will look to continue leading that effort this season. All in all, 10 different players committed larceny on the bases last year, half of which are back this season and looking for more.
 
CHECKING THE STAT SHEET
Kendall Aragon continues to lead the team in batting at a .370 clip with 17 hits six runs scored and five RBI while Sara Larson has seen her average climb the past few weeks to .308 as she's got two doubles, a home run and four RBI this season. Sidney Wilson is just under the .300 mark at .293 and hit her first home run of the season Sunday at CMU and now has five runs and five RBI to her credit.
 
Lexie Semeyn is batting .267 with four extra-base hits and leads the teal with seven RBI and has scored six times while Trystin Oshiro-Sano (.244 AG, 11 H) and Cassidy Chvatal (.206 AVG, 2 2B, HR) each have six RBI this season. Kellan Ton has been splitting time in left field this season and is batting an even .300 with six runs scored and a double while accounting for three of the team's four stolen bases.
 
It was a challenging weekend in the circle for Mines pitching but they will look to rebound at home this weekend at Kat Miller's 3.55 ERA currently leads the staff as she is 1-0 in nine games with four starts for 25.2 innings with 11 strikeouts and a .298 BAA. Sadriena Rodriguez will look to get back on the other side of .500 as she enters the weekend 3-4 with a 3.93 ERA in six starts across seven games, having worked 35.2 innings and struck out 24 against eight walks while holding opponents to a .244 average. Chvatal has been faced some hard luck in the circle this season and is 0-3 with a 6.18 ERA in four games with three starts and has worked 17 innings, striking out five. Allison Westbrook is 1-2 in six games, mostly in relief and has worked 11.2 innings with three strikeouts.

SCOUTING NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
The Cowgirls are looking to find their footing as well this season coming off weekend that saw them swept at home by MSU Denver by scores of 17-7 in five innings, 5-4, 8-2 and 5-1 after dropping three of four to UCCS in a series that was shifted to Pueblo, Colorado due to weather conditions on the opening weekend of RMAC play. After winning just eight games a season ago, NMHU is three wins this season away from tying that mark.
 
At the dish, New Mexico Highlands is led by Karla Banegas with a .435 average and six RBI and leads the team with five doubles. Dioni Lincoln follows with a .371 average and has three doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI along with two stolen bases and has scored a team-high nine runs. Arianna Ramirez is batting .289 with a team-best 12 RBI and has four doubles and two home runs with seven runs to her ledger. Between them, that trio is slugging .652, .629 and .553 respectively.
 
Alessandra De La Trinidad (.259 AVG, 5 R) and Heaven Medina (.219 AVG, 5 R) have each doubled this season and combined for five RBI while Gabrielle Varela (.206 AVG, 5 RBI) leads the team with three stolen bases. Off the bench, Carlee Gonzalez is batting .500 (6-12) in five games with a double, a home run and four runs scored while Jazmyn Griego owns a .381 average with two doubles, four RBI and a stolen base.
 
In the circle, Maya Milano has been the #1 and is 4-2 with a 4.45 ERA in six starts across nine games and worked 39.1 innings, striking out 22 against 16 walks while all 25 of her runs this season have been earned as opponents have hit .331 against her. Banegas has been a contributor in the circle as well, going 1-1 in four games with two starts and posting a 5.37 ERA in 14.1 innings with four strikeouts while opponents have hit .377 against her. Ramirez has also been a two-way player this season but struggled in her five starts, going 0-5 with a 6.79 ERA with 12 strikeouts against 10 walks in 22.2 innings and allowed 11 extra base hits as opponents have hit .323 against her. Griego has made two appearances for six innings and has a 10.50 ERA, walking five and allowing 11 runs (nine earned) on 13 hits.

SERIES HISTORY
Last season's series in Las Vegas saw the Cowgirls sweep day one while Mines swept game day two as NMHU still leads the all-time series 75-58. The Orediggers are 36-67 when playing at home all-time, but haven't done so since the 2014 season when they swept the series. Over the last 20 games, all played away from Golden, Mines is 15-5.

ON DECK
The Orediggers open an 11-game road trip next weekend when they head back to Lakewood and All Star Park to take on Colorado Christian in a four-game set March 9-10.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines softball on X at @MinesSoftball and on Instagram at @mines_sb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, X and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.