Mines (8-26, 7-16) at Black Hills State (18-14, 16-8) – Friday, 12 p.m. (DH) – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (8-26, 7-16) at Black Hills State (18-14, 16-8) – Saturday, 11 a.m. (DH) – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

---

 
REVERSE, REVERSE      
In an unusual set of circumstances, the Colorado School of Mines softball team will be back at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field this weekend, but not as the home team when they take on Black Hills State Friday and Saturday following a site reversal for the series due to inclement weather forecasted in Spearfish.
 
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.
 
FAN INFORMATION
For those planning on attending this weekend's games, please bear in mind the following. Friday fans will need to make sure to pay for parking if they park in a campus lot. Street parking is not permitted in the neighborhood around the CCAC and City of Golden parking requires either a permit or payment as well. With Friday being a school day and with Mines baseball also playing at home, parking options may be limited. Fans are suggested to use either Lot K behind Stermole Soccer Stadium or the parking garage off Maple Street. Weekend parking for Saturday's games will be free.
 
BLASTER'S BASKET
Admissions to this weekend's series against BHSU will be free, but fans are encouraged to bring a donation item or consider a cash donation to Blaster's Basket. Blaster's Basket is the food pantry on campus that provides non-perishable food, toiletries and basic school supplies to Orediggers in need.
 
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 8 RECAP
Mines made the short trip to Regis last weekend and despite scoring a combined 38 runs over the four games, dropped the series to the Rangers 3-1. The lone win of the weekend came on Sunday in a 14-7 contest in which Taylor Wayne pitched 4.1 innings of scoreless one-hit relief to earn the win while Lexie Semeyn and Cassidy Chvatal both homered to pace the offense. Regis took games one, three and four by tallies of 14-11, 16-10 and 11-3 as at least one team scored double digit runs in one of the highest-scoring series this season in the RMAC.
 
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.
 
SO ABOUT THIS WEEKEND
While the forecast in Spearfish Thursday and Friday features temperatures above 60 degrees and sunshine, the weekend doesn't look so good with highs Saturday and Sunday in the mid-30s and snow showers to go with it. As such, this weekend's series with Mines and Black Hills State was flipped to be played in Golden where the weekend forecast is more favorable. However, just because the games will be played on the Orediggers' home field doesn't make them the home team this weekend. As stated in section 11.6.4 of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference manual, BHSU will remain the home team on the scoreboard despite the venue change, putting Mines in the rare situation of being the visiting team on their own field. This weekend will be the second time this season BHSU has had to flip sites for an originally scheduled home series, as their weekend with CSU Pueblo in late February was moved to Pueblo.
 
SURVEYING THE STANDINGS
The top three teams in the standings remain unchanged this week at Colorado Christian remains atop the leaderboard at 22-2 followed by MSU Denver at 20-3 and Colorado Mesa at 20-4. CSU Pueblo moved up to fourth at 18-6 and has the second-longest winning streak in the league currently at 10 games. Black Hills State ceded some ground following a four-game sweep by MSUD and is fifth at 16-8 followed by UCCS in sixth at 14-9. Regis is seventh at 11-13 followed by Mines at 7-16 while Chadron State and Fort Lewis are tied for ninth at 5-19 with New Mexico Highlands and Adams State bringing up the rear at 2-22.
 
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 both in the top five in the league lead in home runs this season with the former now leading the league with 14 big flies this season and the latter tied for fifth with eight alongside Lauren Zimme from Chadron State. Combined, the duo have 22 of Mines' 25 homers this season, the fourth-most in the conference this season. The Orediggers have long since blown past last season's total of 19 and now have almost four times as many big flies in 2025 as they did in 2023. 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.
 
YARD WORK
Since taking a step away from the circle last spring to become an everyday field player for the Orediggers, Cassidy Chvatal has made quite a name for herself as one of the top power hitters in the RMAC over the past two seasons. After taking over duties in right field in 2024 and transitioning to first base this season, the senior from Broomfield has been a staple in the middle of the Mines lineup and a run-producing machine. After homering three times the last time at home against Colorado Christian, Chvatal kept it going last weekend at Regis, homering four times in the series including three home runs during Sunday's doubleheader in three consecutive at bats to end game one and start game two. She now has 14 home runs this season, one shy of the single-season record set in 2018 by Clara Larson with 20 games to go. She's also the first Oredigger since Larson in 2021 to hit 10 or more bombs in one season. Looking at career numbers, while she won't catch Larson's record of 49, her current tally of 24 is good for fifth all time and one behind Katie Kocman (2006-09) and Sarah Van Lingen (2008-11) who are tied for third with 25. Kaleigh Starr (2007-10) is in second with 34, but it would be no surprise if Chvatal gives it a run over the final month of the regular season.
 
CHECKING THE STAT SHEET
Despite seeing a 12-game hitting streak end in the finale at Regis, Kendall Aragon remains the team leader in batting average at .364 with 10 doubles and three triples to go with 15 RBI. Freshman Lindy French had a big weekend to get her average back up to .353 and now has two doubles and eight RBI this season. Cassidy Chvatal has homered in six of the last eight games for Mines and is now batting .308 while slugging .760 thanks to an RMAC-leading 14 home runs along with three doubles and a triple to go with 37 RBI.
 
Kellan Ton is batting .299 with two doubles and a triple and was caught stealing for the first time this season last weekend but is still 10-10 on steal attempts. Lexie Semeyn follows batting .395 with eight doubles, eight home runs and a triple while driving in 22 and scoring 22. Mia Lopez has a double and a triple along with 12 RBI and a .271 average in her debut season while Emiaj Self is batting .262 with four extra-base hits and 11 RBI. Kailey Morales is having a career year with a .241 average, four doubles and eight RBI while Hannah Roberts is batting .276 with two doubles, two home runs and a triple along with 16 RBI.
 
In the circle, Kat Miller leads the team with a 6.52 ERA and is 3-10 with a save in 19 appearances with 11 starts for 77.1 innings with 28 strikeouts. Taylor Wayne improved to 4-8 Sunday and has a 7.46 ERA in 11 starts across 14 games and leads the team with 38 strikeouts and 79.2 innings pitched. Ellen Shull has seen time in 13 games, making nine starts and striking out 10 over 40 innings of work while Allison Westbrook recently recorded her 50th career strikeout and is 1-3 in 12 games with three starts for 20 innings.
 
As a team, Mines is batting .284 with a .365 on-base percentage and is slugging .421 while being -89 in run differential. The pitching staff has an 8.13 ERA and has issued 160 free passes against 82 strikeouts this season while the defense is fielding .937 with 62 errors.
 
SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE
Perhaps the breakout team in the RMAC this season, BHSU is in the midst of the best season in program history and certainly in their Division II era as they are firmly in contention for an RMAC Tournament spot heading into the final five weeks of the season. Under the direction of second-year head coach Ashlyn Englehorn, the Yellow Jackets are making history with every win from here on out after breaking the single-season record of 17 two weeks back against Regis.
 
Two regulars are batting over .400 while another four are on the north side of .300. Ashlynn Pauwels leads the way with a .421 average and is slugging .757 with seven doubles, a triple and a team-leading nine home runs while driving in 37 and scoring 21. Desi Hernandez is next batting .404 with seven doubles of her own and 31 batted in.
 
Tyler Whitlock headlines the next group at .375 and leads the team in doubles (11) and triples (4) and is a perfect 14-14 on stolen bases while driving in 16 and scoring 31. Carli Maley is batting .369 with five doubles and has 14 RBI while Alyssa Wong checks in at .315 with seven doubles, a home run and 15 RBI. Audrey Fouras rounds out the group batting .313 with eight doubles and two home runs to go with 10 RBI.
 
Taylor Dowden is also one to watch, batting .288 but slugging .500 thanks to three doubles, a triple and four homers along with 18 RBI and four steals while Lily Simmons is batting .253 with three doubles and a triple with 13 RBI and four steals of her own. Carly Reyes Mims is also another to keep an eye on, starting only 23 games but batting .288 with seven doubles.
 
One of the best pitchers in Division II this season heads up the Yellow Jackets' staff as Laci Peskey leads the way with a record of 14-4 along with a save in 21 games with 16 starts, posting a 2.76 ERA and striking out 136 against 29 walks in 117.1 innings of work and holding teams to a .227 average. Peskey can also hold her own at the plate, batting .333 in 21 at bats with three doubles, a home run and seven RBI. Behind Peskey, the other four pitchers for BHSU have experienced mixed success and none have an ERA under 7.00. Freshman Caitlyn Hoff has been the number two this season, going 3-5 in 10 appearances and making eight starts for 41.2 innings with a 7.34 ERA and 27 walks against 22 strikeouts while not pitching since March 10. Another freshman Paige Goodell is 1-1 in five games with three starts for 16 innings and sports a 9.56 ERA with 12 walks against eight strikeouts while teams have hit .347 against her. Malaya Coleman is 0-4 in 14 appearances with nine coming in relief while working 23.3 innings and posting an ERA close to 16.00 as the has allowed 42 earned runs this season with teams batting .420 against her. Skylar Bedlan rounds out the staff, making three appearances for 3.2 innings and allowing seven runs.
 
As a team, BHSU is batting .331 with a .413 on-base percentage and is slugging .480 while finding themselves +34 in run differential. They have an ERA of 5.96 as a pitching staff and have held teams to a .285 average while striking out 171 and issuing 104 free passes. Defensively, they are fielding .959 and have committed 34 errors.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Orediggers are 31-10-1 all-time against the Yellow Jackets and sport a record 18-6 when playing at home. Last season, the teams split the weekend in Spearfish with Mines taking games one and four 16-4 and 13-6 while Black Hills State took games two and three 11-2 and 2-1. The last time the teams played in Golden was the 2023 season which saw Mines sweep the series by scores of 8-0, 12-6, 4-3 and 6-4. Prior to that, BHSU took three of four in Golden during the 2022 season.

ON DECK
Mines turns the calendar to April when they'll play three of their final four weekends at home starting April 5-6 against Chadron State.
 
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.