Mines (6-20, 5-10) vs. Colorado Christian (19-7, 15-1) – Sunday, 12 p.m. (DH) – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (6-20, 5-10) vs. Colorado Christian (19-7, 15-1) – Monday, 11 a.m. (DH) – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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COMFORTS OF HOME  
After two weeks away from home, the Colorado School of Mines softball team returns to Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field their second home series of the season, welcoming Colorado Christian for four game in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action on Sunday and Monday.
 
YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE
The Colorado School of Mines softball team has adjusted their schedule fort this weekend's four-game home series with Colorado Christian. The Orediggers and Cougars will now open their series Sunday March 16 afternoon with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. followed by another doubleheader Monday March 17 starting at 11 a.m. The series was originally set to be contested March 15-16.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
This week's games will be streamed free of charge on the RMAC Network. Free live stats will also be available. Links for video and stats can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP
On December 2, 2024, Tobin Echo-Hawk was named the 13th head coach of Mines softball. A Colorado native from nearby Louisville and most recently the head softball coach of Erie High School, Echo-Hawk brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Golden.
 
An All-American infielder at Nebraska during the Huskers' ascendance to a national powerhouse, Echo-Hawk holds numerous single-season and career records from a highly decorated career. After her time in Lincoln, Echo-Hawk got her coaching start at Portland State University as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator before being elevated to the head position after two seasons. She led the Vikings for five years before moving onto the University of Texas El Paso for six seasons as head coach. Her most recent stop at the collegiate level was at New Mexico State where she spent two seasons as an assistant coach.
 
Read more on the new leader of the Orediggers here.
 
WEEK 6 RECAP
The Orediggers closed their first eight-game road trip of the month with a win in the series finale at MSU Denver Sunday, getting back in the win column and snapping a seven-game skid in the process. Kat Miller turned in another gem in the circle, scattering four hits and allowing just one run following the first game of the day in which MSUD put up 16. Lexie Semeyn backed up her battery mate, belting a go-ahead two-run home run on the first pitch she saw in the sixth inning to take the win.
 
Meanwhile the first three games of the weekend saw Mines come up short in 8-5, 1-0 and 16-13 losses. Allison Westbrook battled her way through six innings in the opener as Semeyn doubled and tripled in the game while driving in three runs, but a rally was not meant to be to begin the weekend. Game two Saturday saw the first stellar performance of the weekend from Miller as she was one out away from sending the game to extras before a walk-off double lifted the Roadrunners to a 1-0 win. Sunday's opener was a shootout from the first inning as MSUD belted four home runs and four doubles in the game while the Orediggers managed to match them with just two extra-base hits, a double from Cassidy Chvatal and a triple from Mia Lopez. That duo, along with Kellan Ton and Kendall Aragon, each drove in two runs in the game as Ton went 4-6 with two runs and a stolen bases as well. Lauren Romero turned in her second two-hit game of the series and scored three times as she also drew two walks while Lindy French went 2-5 with two runs scored. Semeyn also went 2-2 with an RBI, a run and two walks in a wild start to the action.
 
IN THE POLLS
The Orediggers were picked to finish seventh in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll as announced back on January 16. Colorado Mesa was voted as the favorite to win the league in 2025 followed by Colorado Christian, MSU Denver, Regis and CSU Pueblo. UCCS was one spot ahead of Mines in sixth while behind the Orediggers, Fort Lewis, Black Hills State, Chadron State, New Mexico Highlands and Adams State round out the 12 teams.
 
MEET THE CAPTAINS
A new group of captains will lead the Orediggers into the 2025 season as seniors Cassidy Chvatal, Kailey Morales and Hannah Roberts will be joined by redshirt junior Taylor Wayne and junior Kendall Aragon.
 
Chvatal transitioned into a new role as the everyday right fielder for Mines in 2024 and had an outstanding season, starting all 50 games she played and batting .285 and leading the team with eight home runs and 10 doubles while driving in 27 runs and scoring 30.
 
Morales, a veteran catcher with 47 games behind the dish, belted her first career home run last season and added a pair of doubles while scoring seven times and driving in seven while helping guide the pitching staff to a 3.73 ERA in 2024.
 
Roberts emerged as the full-time starter at second base last spring after platooning there her first two seasons. She started 45 times in 47 games and batted .283 with six doubles, 10 RBI and 19 runs scored and hit .411 over the final three weeks of the season, as well as posting a career-best .956 fielding percentage.
 
Wayne missed the entirety of 2024 recovering from a hand injury and will look to contribute in multiple positions in 2025. In 2023, she won three games in the circle and struck out 30 in 62 innings of work with her best performance coming at Chadron State on March 20, when she spun a one-hit shutout.
 
Aragon, a two-time All-RMAC performer in her first two seasons, has been a fixture in the outfield since the day she stepped on campus. A starter in all 101 games she has played, Aragon is a career .390 hitter and has scored 59 runs while driving in 46 and turning in back-to-back 60-hit seasons.
 
OFFSEASON UPGRADES
Fans coming to Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field in 2025 will notice the venue got a facelift over the offseason. The latest in a long series of facility improvements saw the complete resurfacing of the field with artificial turf thanks in large part to the vision and generosity of numerous individuals, headed up by a trio of softball alumni in Kerry Siggins '01, Kari Gonzales '02 and Kim Alanis '04. Take a look at the completed project here.
 
NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK
The Orediggers have completed a full update of their uniforms ahead of the 2025 season with the addition of a new navy uniform. Last spring, two new uniforms took to the field with the addition of new white and gray kits reflective of the recent branding updates across the athletic department. Take a look at the new threads Mines will be rocking this spring here.
 
BOMBS AWAY
The Orediggers haven't been known in recent seasons as a "power hitting" ball club, but this season they may be looking to change that misnomer. Cassidy Chvatal and Lexie Semeyn are two of five players tied for the league lead in home runs this season so far with seven and account for 14 of the team's 17 home runs. That mark currently ranks sixth in the RMAC from a team perspective and is just two back of last year's season total of 19, which ranked ninth among the 12 teams that participate in softball. That total is also more than double the seven Mines hit in the 2023 season and one shy of the 18 in the 2022 campaign (the Orediggers ranked 12th and 11th in those season in home runs respectively). Perhaps something to watch under the new regime of Tobin Echo-Hawk is the rise of the long ball over the course of the season.
 
CHECKING THE STAT SHEET
Four regulars for the Orediggers are on the batting on the north side of .300 through 26 games led by Lindy French's mark of .362. Kellan Ton is now 9-9 on stolen bases this season and is batting .344 with a .404 on-base percentage, scoring 15 times while driving in six. Lexie Semeyn now has 13 extra-base hits this season with seven home runs, five doubles and a triple on her way to a .338 average and a .769 slugging percentage, which ranks among the RMAC leaders, while driving in 21 and scoring 16. Kendall Aragon is the final member of the quartet, batting .325 with a career-high six doubles and 10 RBI while also scoring 16 times.
 
Emiaj Self isn't far behind that group, batting. 298 in her debut season with eight RBI and eight runs scored while Cassidy Chvatal has been Semeyn's running mate in the middle of the order, batting .288 and slugging .613 with three doubles, a triple and seven home runs while driving in a team-leading 22.
 
Kailey Morales struggled this weekend but is still enjoying a career year at the dish, batting .234 with three doubles and eight RBI. Emily Rogers checks in this week batting .227 with a home run, eight RBI and three steals while Mia Lopez shined last weekend and is batting .212 with six RBI and nine runs scored. Lauren Romero is also one to watch as she had a strong weekend downtown, going 5-12 with a pair of multi-hit games to raise her average to .253.
 
Kat Miller picked up the win Sunday to improve to 2-7 with a save on the season and now has a 4.61 ERA in 54.2 innings of work across 14 appearances with seven starts, striking out 16 and posting a .321 BAA. Taylor Wayne didn't see action last weekend and remains 3-5 with a 6.16 ERA in 10 appearances with eight starts for 55.2 innings and leads the team with 29 strikeouts. Ellen Shull is still seeking her first career win and is 0-5 with an ERA of 7.00 in 35 innings so far this season while Allison Westbrook is 1-3 in nine outings including three starts for 17 innings pitched.
 
As a team, the Orediggers are batting .283 with a .371 on-base percentage and a .399 slugging percentage and are -61 in run differential. In the circle, they carry a 6.55 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 162.1 innings pitched while defensively are fielding .944 with 41 errors.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO CHRISTIAN
The Cougars may be the only other team in the RMAC who played as tough of a non-conference schedule as the Orediggers, spending the first two weeks of their season in California and Texas before steamrolling their way to 14 straight wins to begin RMAC play, suffering a 3-1 loss to Regis in extra innings last weekend but still winning the series by taking the finale.
 
A club that has seven run-rule wins in league action so far this season, the Cougars have eight of nine starters batting .310 or better led by Mia Stankewicz's mark of .395 with three doubles, 15 runs and 10 RBI. Leah Garcia is batting .363 and slugging .582 with a team-leading four home runs and is one of four players with six doubles this season and has driven in 26 while scoring 24 and going 5-5 on stolen bases. Elyse McMullin follows close behind at .361 with nine extra-base hits including six doubles of her own and leads CCU with 28 RBI and is 7-8 on steal attempts.
 
Regis transfer Rachel Williams is batting .329 with four doubles, two home runs and team-leading three triples with 17 RBI and 21 runs scored while going 4-4 on stolen bases. Danae Lopez is also batting .329 with four doubles and two home runs as she has driven in 14 while Cheynne Stark is hitting .324 and slugging .559 with three home runs, three doubles and two triples.
 
Lauren Garcia checks in hitting .317 with five RBI as Peyton Marvel rounds out the group of regulars with a .312 mark and 20 RBI behind eight extra-base hits including six doubles while going 8-9 on steals. Camryn Quilling is also one to watch, hitting .296 with four doubles, two home runs and is tied with Marvel when it comes to stolen bases with eight. Kaila Eastburn is also hitting .362 in limited at bats when she pitches and has six doubles, three home runs and 16 RBI while Kat Hanson is hitting .314 with two doubles, 10 runs scored and eight RBI.
 
In the circle, Emma Duncan leads the staff with a 7-2 record and a 2.05 ERA in 10 starts with 38 strikeouts against 25 walks in 57 innings of work with a BAA of .214. McMullin is 6-3 in nine starts with a 3.33 ERA over 54 innings of work and has struck out 26 against 19 walks with a .242 BAA. Eastburn has been the number three starter this season with a mark of 3-1 in seven appearances, making six starts and carrying a 4.80 ERA with 22 strikeouts to just eight walks in 30 innings while holding teams to a .279 batting average.
 
Carson Griggs is 1-0 with a save in seven relief appearances and has yet to allow a run in 12.1 innings this season, striking out 11 and walking just three with just four hits allowed for a .098 batting average. Hanna Espinoza is 1-1 in 11 games, spending most of her time coming on in relief, and has a 2.30 ERA with two saves and five strikeouts over 15.2 innings of work, while Alexis Guzman has appeared in three games for 3.2 innings with a 4.91 ERA.
 
As a team, Colorado Christian is batting .333 with a .401 on-base percentage and is slugging .503 while posting a +106 run differential. In the circle, they carry a 2.87 ERA over 172.2 innings with 103 strikeouts and 70 free passes while holding teams to .234 at the plate. Defensively, they lead the RMAC in fielding at .975 with just 19 errors in 27 games.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines split the then ninth-ranked Cougars at All-Star Park last season to improve to 16-24 all-time in the series. When playing at home team, the Orediggers are 7-11 in 18 matchups as they look to snap a five-game losing streak in Golden going back to the 2021 season. The last meeting of the teams at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field came in 2023 when CCU swept the four-game series by scores of 4-1, 5-2, 3-0 and 8-0 in six innings.

ON DECK
Another eight-game road trip awaits Mines as they'll head to Regis next weekend March 22-23 for the first leg of the trip and their 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th road games of the season.
 
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.