Mines (10-8, 6-2) vs. Colorado Mesa (7-9, 6-2) – Sunday, 12 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV] [Tickets]
Mines (10-8, 6-2) vs. Colorado Mesa (7-9, 6-2) – Monday, 11 a.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV] [Tickets]

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SETTLING IN AT HOME
The Colorado School of Mines softball team returns to Golden this weekend for week three of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action and thanks to an odd scheduling quirk, opens up a stretch of five consecutive weekends of action from Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field starting against Colorado Mesa Sunday and Monday.
 
YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE
As a result of winter weather that impacted travel conditions between Grand Junction and Golden that also left several inches of snow on the playing surface in Golden, this weekend's series between the Orediggers and Mavericks has been pushed back a day and will now be contested Sunday and Monday. Sunday's start time is now 12 p.m. while action will get underway Monday at 11 a.m.

LIVE COVERAGE
This weekend's games will be available for purchase on the RMAC Network with Alex Becker on the call. Free live stats will be available as well. Links for video and stats can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
RMAC NETWORK CHANGES
As was announced on June 30, this year the RMAC Network is moving to a pay-per-view model for all events beginning with the 2025-26 season.
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours. For technical support questions, fans may submit a support ticket with Hudl Support or email the RMAC directly (rmac@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.
 
WEEKEND WEATHER REPORT
After a blast of winter weather Friday's that's expected to drop a few inches of snow, the weekend forecast looks much more favorable for softball. Sunday will be warmer in the low to mid-60s with clear skies and winds out of the west again at 10-20 miles per hour while Monday will approach the 70-degree mark with plenty of sunshine and winds once again out of the west at 10-20.
 
AT THE HELM
2026 will be the second season of the Tobin Echo-Hawk era in Golden as the Orediggers look to return to the postseason after missing out in 2025. In Echo-Hawk's first season, Mines went 22-32 overall and 21-22 in the RMAC. The 2026 season will be Echo-Hawk's 13th as a head coach at the NCAA level which has included stops at Portland State and UTEP as she sports a career record of 284-374 (.432). Eight times her teams have won 20 or more games in a season and twice recorded 30-win seasons as she looks to elevate the Orediggers in 2026 and beyond.
 
JOINING THE STAFF
Some new faces will be in the dugout this spring for Mines as Zoe Bacon joined the program as the top assistant in the summer of 2025. Most recently the assistant coach at St. Edward's University in Texas, Bacon will work primarily with the pitching staff this season. Get to know Coach Bacon more ahead of the 2026 season here. Also joining the program in a more prominent role this season is Jordan Ruiz, who was a part-time assistant last fall.
 
WEEK 5 RECAP
Mines picked up their first sweep of the season on the road last weekend, dispatching Fort Lewis 4-2, 5-4 in eight innings, 6-3 and 9-1 in six innings. Freshmen pitchers Rylee Church and Madyson Ortiz headlined the weekend in the circle, with Church spinning six innings of relief in game two's extra-innings comeback and allowing just one run on four hits for her first career win. Ortiz meanwhile picked up her first career save in game one before coming back in the finale and taking a shutout into the sixth inning on her way to career win #1. Katie Bauer led things at the plate batting .615 for the weekend with four extra base hits highlighted by a three-run home run in game three. Ryen Herman and Sidney Pendowski both recorded their first career hits as well over the weekend, while Emily Rogers had a pair of multi-RBI games.
 
MEET THE CAPTAINS
A new year means a new group of captains as in 2026 Kendall Aragon, Taylor Wayne, Lauren Romero, Emiaj Self, Lindy French and Kylie Bickford will be leading the way on the field this spring.
 
Aragon has been an undisputed leader for the Orediggers since her arrival in 2023 and has been of the best defensive outfielders and hitters in the RMAC during her time at Mines. Last season she led the team ranked near the top of the conference with a .409 average while slugging .454 with 16 doubles, four triples and two home runs while scoring 43, driving in 38 and stealing 12 bases as she posted career numbers across the season on her way to Second Team All-RMAC honors. Go ahead and pencil Aragon's name into the lineup in center field and somewhere in the top half of the batting order this weekend.
 
After missing all of 2024 with injury, Wayne returned to action in 2025 and made 16 starts in 27 appearances on her way to a 7-9 season with a 5.43 ERA and 57 strikeouts over 120 innings of work. She led the team in strikeouts and innings pitched and spun 10 complete game efforts while recording statistical bests across the board. She also hit .200 at the plate while seeing some late-season action in right field. The fifth-year senior will bring valuable experience to a deep pitching staff this spring as she looks to lead the Orediggers back to the postseason.
 
Romero quietly had herself a stellar sophomore season as she took over duties at third base full-time as the season went on. She started 37 times in 41 games and posted a strong second half to close the year fourth on the team with a .337 average, four doubles, a triple, 19 runs and nine RBI. Entering her junior season, Romero will remain a fixture on the Mines infield and may slide over to second base in 2026.
 
In her debut season in 2025, Self emerged as the everyday starter at shortstop for the Orediggers and finished third on the team with a .349 batting average and posted 10 doubles, five triples, 24 RBI and 31 runs scored. Her five triples were tied for the sixth-most in a single season, three of which came on the final day of the season against New Mexico Highlands.
 
French started 31 of 33 games in her debut season before having things cut short with an injury at the end of March. Despite missing the final 21 games of the year, French batted .341/.363/.364 with two double, 10 runs and eight RBI while platooning between second and third base. She led the team in batting average for the first month of the season and went 7-11 in her first weekend of action in 2025. The Festus, Missouri native returns to action this weekend and figures to see time around the infield in 2026, particularly at first base.
 
Following a strong fall, Bickford will factor into the Orediggers' plans this spring right away as a true freshman at the hot corner. A second-generation Mines student with family ties to the softball program, the Littleton native was a three-time All-Conference selection at the prep level and batted .393 with a .466 OBP while also fielding .960 defensively.
 
IN THE POLLS
Mines was voted to finish sixth in the RMAC in January's Preseason Coaches' Poll. Defending champions Colorado Christian was picked to repeat as champions ahead of Colorado Mesa. MSU Denver was voted third followed by UCCS and CSU Pueblo to round out the top five.
 
EARNING THAT SILVER
A pair of Orediggers have already earned one silver-plated diploma and are working on their second as they wrap up their careers in 2026. Fifth-year pitcher Taylor Wayne wrapped up her undergraduate work in Mechanical Engineering last May and is now working toward a graduate degree in the same field. Senior outfielder Kendall Aragon meanwhile picked up her undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering in just three years and is now working on a Master's in STEM Education.
 
ONE OF THE BEST
One of the most prolific hitters in program history, Kendall Aragon enters 2026 with her name on several lists in the program record book. Presently, the Legacy High School alum ranks third all-time in career batting average at .398 (223-561) and now tied for sixth all-time with Katie Kocman (2006-09) with 223 hits. Her 16 doubles from last season are tied for the eighth-most in a single season while she owns three career hitting streaks of 10 games or more including a 15-game streak that's the seventh-longest all-time, and is the only player in program history to have three such hitting streaks.
 
RMAC RESET
Colorado Christian remains atop the RMAC two weeks into league play at 8-0 ahead of Mines and Colorado Mesa in second at 6-2. MSU Denver and CSU Pueblo are tied for fourth at 5-3 while Regis and New Mexico Highlands are tied for sixth at 4-4. Black Hills State and Adams State follow at 3-5 ahead of UCCS and Chadron State at 2-6 while Fort Lewis is still seeking their first league win at 0-8.
 
HOME FIELD FOCUS
As mentioned in the opening this week, this weekend marks the first of five weekends in a row that the Orediggers will be in action at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field. After regularly scheduled home weekends against Colorado Mesa and MSU Denver the next two weeks, Mines will take on Colorado Christian March 21-22 as the visiting team on their own field. This is due to a scheduling conflict at CCU's shared off-campus venue, All-Star Park in Lakewood, as the Cougar baseball team is taking on Colorado Mesa that weekend. Since the venue can only be configured for one sport at a time and doesn't feature lights, the softball series with the Cougars was shifted to Golden. Following that weekend, the Orediggers return to the bottom line of the scoreboard as the home team against Regis and Black Hills State to end the month of March and open April.
 
With 20 (yes, 20) "home" games the next five weeks, Mines has a golden (pardon the pun) opportunity to make some serious gains in the RMAC standings during the middle portion of their schedule. That bodes well for Mines, who since the start of 2023 has gone 48-23 (.676) when playing at The Joe. As they look to make a return to the postseason in 2026, these next five weeks will go a long way in determining where the Orediggers stand when the dust settles.
 
NEAR THE TOP
Entering the weekend, Mines is third in the RMAC with a .323 batting average, third in runs scored with 95 tied for fourth in doubles with 30, tops in the league with 12 triples, second in stolen bases with 37 and tops the conference defensively with a .966 fielding percentage.
 
Individually, Kellan Ton and Kendall Aragon rank second and sixth in the conference in batting average at .475 and .408 while Emiaj Self and Emily Rogers are tied for the conference lead in triples with three. Ton is also second in the league with 12 stolen bases while Rogers is tied for fifth. In the circle, Taylor Wayne is tied for second in the league with five wins and is fifth in ERA at 2.59 and eighth in BAA at .260.
 
BAUER POWER
The last few weeks have been good to Katie Bauer as she enters this weekend at home riding a six-game hitting streak and coming off a monster weekend at Fort Lewis. Against the Skyhawks, the fourth-year junior batting .615 (8-13) at the plate and slugged 1.077 with three doubles, a home run, four RBI and was responsible for four runs scored on the weekend. Over her last eight games, Bauer is batting .522 (12-23) with three doubles, two home runs and six runs batted in to become a mainstay in the middle third of the Mines lineup. After not seeing much action the first three seasons of her career, Bauer is making the most of her opportunities to start off 2026.
 
FASTEST WOMAN IN GOLDEN
With her first steal of second base in game two over the two weeks ago against UCCS, Kellan Ton took a step into history as she passed Renata Boyd (2020-23) for the Mines program record for stolen bases with 59. Heading into week three of league action, Ton is up to 12 stolen bases in 18 games in 2026 and has 64 in 118 for her career. And oh by the way, she's just a junior. By the time Ton is done terrorizing teams on the bases when she hangs it up, she's got potential to set a mark that will stand for a long time.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
Senior Kendall Aragon is closing in on 100 career runs batted in as she stands at 97 following action last weekend against Fort Lewis, while fellow senior Kat Miller needs just two strikeouts to hit the century mark in her career. If traffic gets on base in front of Aragon this weekend, she might get there against the Mavericks while if the hard-throwing Miller gets on a roll in the circle, those two strikeouts could happen in a hurry.
 
CHECKING THE STAT SHEET
Kellan Ton headlines things at the plate for Mines as she enters the week batting .475 with 16 runs scored, three extra base hits and five RBI while going 12-16 on the bases. Kendall Aragon is batting .408 with four doubles, a triple and a home run with 13 RBI and 13 runs scored while Katie Bauer is right behind batting .395 with five doubles, two triples, two home runs and 13 RBI of her own to tie Aragon for the team lead in that department. Emily Rogers is batting .292 with three doubles, three triples and is tied with Bauer for the team lead in home runs with two while driving in 10 and going 8-9 on the bases. Lauren Romero is batting .277 with four doubles and seven RBI with five stolen bases while Emiaj Self is hitting .271 with four doubles, three triples and joins Aragon and Bauer with 13 RBI.
 
Miquela Tammaro has provided some pop off the bench, batting .350 with three doubles, a triple and driving in six while Mia Lopez is batting .294 splitting time in right field. Taylor Wayne is batting .625 when hitting for herself and has a home run on the year along with Kylie Bickford, who is batting .292 with four RBI splitting time at third base. Lindy French, who has seen time at both corner infield spots, is batting .269 with four RBI of her own. Ryen Herman picked up her first three career hits at Fort Lewis and is batting .250 followed by Sam Whisenand at .222 with two stolen bases.
 
Six arms have seen action in the circle for Mines this spring led by Taylor Wayne who is 5-1 with a 2.59 ERA over 46 innings of work with 19 strikeouts, 21 free passes and a .260 BAA in nine appearances with six starts. Freshman Madyson Ortiz has emerged in recent weeks and is 1-1 with a save and a 2.72 ERA over five games with two starts for 18 innings and has struck out nine against six free passes and has a .274 BAA. Kat Miller is 2-2 in seven appearances with five starts for 24.1 innings and has a 5.18 ERA with 12 strikeouts and a .303 BAA. Rylee Church is 1-1 in four appearances with one start for 10.1 innings with eight strikeouts and a .311 BAA followed by Ellen Shull at 1-2 in eight outings with four starts for 17 innings with five strikeouts. Ariana Hughes rounds out the pitching staff with an 0-1 record in two appearances for two innings.
 
On the season, Mines is batting .323 with a .401 on-base percentage and is slugging .485 while finding themselves +6 in run differential at 95-86 with 49 extra base hits (30 2B, 12 3B, 7 HR) and going 37-44 on the bases. The pitching staff has a 4.57 ERA in 118 innings of work with 53 strikeouts against 71 free passes and a .302 BAA, while the defense owns a mark of .966 with 19 errors in 552 chances.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO MESA
Following a 1-8 start to the season in California against a loaded gauntlet of teams including a trio of Top 25 opponents, Colorado Mesa has won each of their first two conferences series against Regis and MSU Denver. Last weekend the Mavericks took games one, two and four off the Roadrunners 6-2, 8-6 and 10-2 in five innings while dropping game three 1-0.
 
Four regulars are batting .300 or better for CMU led by Cailynn Parsons, who is batting .321 with three doubles, four runs scored and two RBI. Division I transfer TK Landes has fit right in for CMU and is batting .313 and slugging .563 behind two triples, a double and a home run while driving in five and scoring 10 along with three stolen bases. Brynn Escobar checks in this week batting .306 with two home runs, two doubles and six RBI while Allison Lindsay is batting an even. 300 with five doubles and five RBI.
 
Ava Stephens headlines the rest of the lineup batting .286 with two doubles, a triple and eight RBI with two stolen bases followed by Molli Magaña's mark of .265 as she's tied for the team lead with three homers while leading the way with 13 RBI. Khloe Kubitschek is batting .245 and also has three homers on the year with six RBI while Makayla Westmoreland is batting .200 with three RBI and is tied with Landes for the top mark on the team with three stolen bases. Others to watch include Tegan Medina who is batting .571 in limited action, Kamdyn Hagerty who is hitting .429 with a double and a home run and Paige Pierce who is hitting .300 with two doubles.
 
In the circle, Sophia Tassinari leads the staff with a record of 4-4 and a save with a 1.82 ERA in 14 appearances including eight starts over 57.2 innings with 26 strikeouts, 13 free passes and a .269 BAA. Marissa Nehm has been the #2 in the circle with a record of 3-2 with a 6.66 ERA over 27.1 innings and has struggled with command at times, issuing 17 free passes and posting a BAA of .342. Jessalyn Gallegos is 0-1 in her lone appearance of the season for six innings on opening day against Azusa Pacific and has five strikeouts with five walks, while Hagerty rounds out the pitching staff with a record of 0-2 with a save in six appearances including three starts for 15 innings with nine strikeouts against 13 walks and a .323 BAA.
 
On the season, Colorado Mesa is batting .262 as a team with a .336 on-base percentage and a .397 slugging percentage. They are -16 in run differential at 79-63 and have 33 extra base hits on the season (20 2B, 3 3B, 10 HR) and are just 15-18 on the bases. The pitching staff has a 3.83 ERA over 106 innings of work with 45 strikeouts and 49 free passes with a .292 BAA. Defensively, CMU is fielding .933 with 35 errors in 525 chances.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Colorado Mesa holds a commanding lead in the all-time series against mines at 141-19 and enters this weekend on a 10-game winning streak. When playing at home, Mines is 13-53 against the Mavericks. Last season, CMU swept a four-game set in Grand Junction 7-1, 5-4, 5-1 and 10-2 in five innings. The teams last played in Golden in the 2023 season when the teams played just twice due to field conditions and split a doubleheader, with Mines winning 3-0 in the opener before CMU took game two 6-5. The last time Mines won multiple games in a series with Colorado Mesa was the 2020 season in Grand Junction when the teams played to a split with the Orediggers sweeping day one 2-1 and 5-2 before the Mavericks posted a pair of run-rule wins on day two by scores of 11-0 and 8-0.

ON DECK
Mines is home again next weekend when they welcome MSU Denver to Golden March 14-15.
 
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.