Mines (16-22, 12-16) at Chadron State (4-33, 4-24) – Saturday, 12 p.m. – Chadron, Neb. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV]
Mines (16-22, 12-16) at Chadron State (4-33, 4-24) – Sunday, 11 a.m. – Chadron, Neb. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV]

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ENTERING THE FINAL STRETCH
The four weeks of the regular season lie in front of the Colorado School of Mines softball team as they'll play 12 of their final 16 games on the road starting this weekend with the opening leg of a two-week road trip as they take on Chadron State.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
This weekend's games will be available for purchase on the RMAC Network. 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
It should be a great weekend in Nebraska for softball between the Orediggers and Eagles. Saturday will approach the 80-degree mark with light clouds and south winds at 10-20 miles per hour. Sunday be in the mid-70s with partly cloudy skies and southwest winds again at 10-20 miles per hour.
 
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 287-387 (.426). 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 10 RECAP
Mines claimed a 3-1 series win over Black Hills State last weekend to close out the fifth of five straight weeks playing Golden. The Orediggers swept day one action 5-2 and 9-4 before splitting the second day of play with an 8-4 loss followed by an 11-3 run-rule win the finale. It was a banner weekend for several players on the offensive side of the ball as five players hit .500 of better in the series. Kellan Ton led the way batting .692 (9-13) with a double, triple and her second inside-the-park home run of the season with three walks, three RBI and nine runs scored along with a pair of stolen bases. Sam Whisenand hit .667 (6-9) with three runs and was 5-5 on stolen bases while Grave Weiler hit .545 (6-11) with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Lauren Romero hit .538 (7-13) with two doubles and a triple while scoring five times with three stolen bases as Kendall Aragon rounded things out by going 7-14 with 10 RBI, two triples, a home run and five runs scored. In the circle, Madyson Ortiz, Rylee Church and Taylor Wayne all earned wins as Ortiz appeared twice for 5.2 innings in relief and allowed just one run on four hits. Church went complete game in the opener Friday and for the weekend struck out seven in 9.2 innings. Wayne appeared twice and got back in the win column Saturday in the finale.
 
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 .397 (247-622) and after a seven-hit weekend against Black Hills State, is up to fifth all-time with 247 hits passing Paige Noehring (2014-17) and her total of 239. Next on the list with 254 is Melissa Stratton (2005-08). 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
Heading into the final month of the regular season, Colorado Christian continues to maintain their grip atop the standings with a 28-0 record in league action with a five-game lead over second place CSU Pueblo at 23-5. UCCS has surged in recent weeks up to third at 18-10, while the trio of Black Hills State, Colorado Mesa and MSU Denver are all tied for fourth at 17-11. Mines is seventh at 12-16 five games out of a playoff spot followed by Regis at 11-17. New Mexico Highlands is 9-19 in ninth while Adams State and Fort Lewis are tied for 10th at 6-22. Chadron State brings up the field at 4-24.
 
THE MOST EXCITING PLAY IN SOFTBALL (FOR THE SECOND WEEKEND IN A ROW!)
When one thinks of Kellan Ton, the first thing that probably comes to mind is her speed or defensive prowess. "Home run hitter" probably falls a little further down the list. But in each of the last two weekends, Ton has hit a pair of home runs against Regis and Black Hills State. Not over the fence mind you, but inside the park as the junior has flown around the bases on a pair of shots to field. In Saturday's opener, Ton homered in the bottom of the third as a line drive over the right fielder rolled all the way to wall as she motored all the way around the bases in less than 20 seconds before sliding in without a throw at home plate. With that, Ton now finds herself tied for the team lead in home runs on the season with Kendall Aragon, Katie Bauer and Emily Rogers as the Orediggers collectively now have four inside the park round-trippers in 2026.
 
TRACK MEET
It wasn't too long ago that the Orediggers broke the single-season record for stolen bases, as they pilfered 86 bags in 2023. This season, the ground game has been a point of emphasis once again under Tobin Echo-Hawk and after going 14-16 against Black Hills State last weekend, Mines now stands at 79-91 on stolen bases this season and ranks third in the RMAC in that category. Leading the way has been Kellan Ton as she's 25-29. Lauren Romero and Emily Rogers have gone 12-13 and 12-14 respectively this spring while Sam Whisenand is a perfect 11-11 with most of that damage coming in the last two weeks. In fact, a total of 13 Orediggers have stolen at least one base this season, while 2026 is the first time since that 2023 campaign where four or more players recorded double-digit steals.
 
FOR THREE
Last Friday against Black Hills State, Mines broke the program's single-season team record for triples as Lauren Romero's RBI three-bagger to left center was the 25th such base hit by the Orediggers this season. Mines added two more triples in the finale by Kendall Aragon in the finale, and heading into action against Chadron State this weekend the Orediggers top the RMAC with 27 triples. In fact, that mark is tops in NCAA Division II this season and leads THE ENTIRETY of NCAA softball. The closest team to them in Division II is Lewis with 25 triples. The top team in Division I, Louisville, has just 21 triples while no program in Division III has more than 19 this spring.
 
Looking back at the program record, the previous mark of 24 came in the 2013 season. Seven different players recorded a triple that season led by Molly Thibault's six. Macy Jones and Kamee Vessey each had five, Melissa Marshall had three, Courtney Derus and Sami Springer each had two while Cassie Ford had one. This season, a whopping 10 different Orediggers have recorded a three-bagger. Kellan Ton's six leads the team and the RMAC and is tied with Thiebaut and Chrissy Ryan (1996) for fourth on the single-season list and is two back of joining Jones' 2011 season and Heidi Bauer (2002) for the top spot. Emiaj Self is second with five, Kendall Aragon and Emily Rogers have four each, Katie Bauer and Sydney Pendowski each have two while Lauren Romero, Kylie Bickford, Miquela Tammaro and Mia Lopez all have one apiece.
 
WHITE-HOT WEILER
As the Orediggers look to make a second-half push and contend for a spot in the RMAC Tournament, Grace Weiler figures to factor into the mix after her performance over the last three weekends. Over the last 10 contests since March 21, Weiler has jumped in defensively and played well at first base but has been even better at dish, batting .519 (14-27) with five multi-hit outings, three doubles and five RBI. Now batting .386 on the season with four doubles and seven RBI, Weiler may have forced her name into the starting conversation more heading down the stretch.
 
SWITCHING IT UP
Keen-eyed observers of the Orediggers may have noticed something different in recent weeks when watching Sam Whisenand come to the plate. That's because earlier this season, after hitting .270 and three home runs from the right side of the plate to start her career, Whisenand changed things up and converted to a left-handed slap hitter prior to the Fort Lewis series in late February. Since March 28, Whisenand has started seven straight games in right field, not only showing off her defensive prowess but shining at the plate as well. The junior has batted .600 (9-15) over the recent stretch with an RBI, five runs scored and is a perfect 8-8 on stolen bases. In fact, single the conversion to the left side prior to the FLC series, Whisenand is batting .526 and seems right at home from the other side of the plate.
 
NEAR THE TOP
Mines ranks first in the conference with 27 triples heading into week eight of action and are third with 79 stolen bases. Their .966 fielding percentage second in the RMAC, while their 4.83 ERA is sixth in the conference.
 
Individually, Kellan Ton is fifth in the league with a .438 batting average and is third with 25 stolen bases. Ton also leads the RMAC with six triples while Emig Self is tied for third with five and Emily Rogers tied for fifth with four. Katie Bauer is top 20 in the league with 10 doubles after action. Mines also boasts three pitchers in the top 20 in ERA as Rylee Church is 10th at 3.70 followed by Madyson Ortiz in 13th at 4.15 and Taylor Wayne in 14th at 4.20. Ortiz is also fourth in fewest walks allowed this season with 14.
 
FASTEST WOMAN IN GOLDEN
Back in February 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 this week against Chadron State, Ton is up to 25 stolen bases in 38 games in 2026 and is now has 77 in 138 games for her career. And oh by the way, she's just a junior. After tying her freshman season mark over the weekend, she now owns the top three spots in the single-season record books when it comes to acts of larceny on the bases. With several favorable matchups coming up in the next month of action, Ton is sure to break her own single-season record once again, needing two more for 27, and could easily get close to 40 or more swipes in the final 16 games.
 
CHECKING THE STAT SHEET
Kellan Ton tops the charts with a .438 batting average, three doubles, six triples, two home runs, 16 RBI, 37 runs scored and 25 stolen bases. Kendall Aragon has turned it on of late and coming off a big weekend is back up to .400 and slugging .609 with nine doubles, four triples, two home runs and now leads the team with 29 RBI. Katie Bauer is still batting .348 with 10 doubles, two triples and a pair of homers with 24 RBI while Lauren Romero is coming off her best career game and raised her average to .321 as she's got seven doubles, a triple and a home run with 14 RBI and 12 stolen bases. Emily Rogers is up to .288 with five doubles, four triples and two homers as well with 13 RBI and also has 12 steals. Emiaj Self rounds out the regulars batting .245 with seven doubles, five triples and a home run with 22 RBI.
 
Sam Whisenand has emerged in recent weeks with her conversion to a left-handed hitter and is batting .458 with 10 runs scored and is a perfect 11-11 on stolen bases. Grace Weiler has also been on a heater the last two-plus weeks as she's batting .386 with four doubles and seven RBI. Sydney Pendowski is batting .333 with two doubles and two triples with seven RBI as well and four stolen bases. Kylie Bickford didn't see action last weekend but is still batting .298 in her debut season with three doubles, a triple, a home run and six RBI. Miquela Tammaro is also enjoying a strong season, as she picked up her ninth RBI of the season Saturday and is batting .278 with four extra-base hits.
 
In the circle, Rylee Church leads the way with a 3-4 record and a 3.70 ERA in 53 innings of work. In 14 appearances with three starts, she's struck out a team-leading 42 and held teams to .270 at the plate. Fellow freshman Madyson Ortiz is 4-5 with a save over 54 innings in 14 outings with six starts. She's struck out 28 in that span and walked just 14 and held teams to .295 at the dish. Veteran Taylor Wayne is 6-7 after a win Saturday and has started 16 times in 19 outings for a team-high 83.1 innings and has struck out 27. Kat Miller is 2-3 with a 6.43 ERA in 32.2 innings over 13 appearances with eight starts and has struck out 17 while Ellen Shull is 1-2 in 12 appearances with five starts and has a 7.36 ERA in 25.2 innings. Ariana Hughes has appeared in two games for two innings.
 
On the season, Mines is batting .313 with a .390 on-base percentage, a .460 slugging percentage and has been outscored this season 213-188. They have recorded 94 extra-base hits (55 2B, 27 3B, 12 HR) and are 79-91 on stolen bases. The pitching staff has a 4.83 ERA in 250.2 innings and has struck out 119 against issued 179 free passes while posting a .312 BAA. Defensively, they are fielding .966 with 39 errors in 1,148 chances.
 
SCOUTING CHADRON STATE
It has been a challenging 2026 for the Eagles under new head coach Skye Koehl as they enter this weekend looking to snap an 11-game skid and improve on a mark of 3-13 playing at home. Last weekend, CSC dropped four games decided by two runs or less to Regis by scores of 6-5, 6-4, 6-5 and 5-4.
 
Brogan Allen is the lone player batting better than .300 this season for Chadron State at .313 with six doubles, four home runs and 19 RBI. Tiffani Mein is batting .290 with four doubles, two homers and 10 RBI. Brianna Cordray checks in hitting .267 with seven doubles and 12 RBI while Elizabeth Thorngren is batting .235 with five doubles, two home runs, 14 RBI and leads with four stolen bases in four attempts. Payton Sullivan is batting .227 with two home runs, two doubles and 10 RBI while Elia DeLozier is 2-3 on stolen bases with a .222 average. Charley Pitrat is hitting .202 with seven extra-base hits including six doubles and has eight RBI while Katelynn Czerpak is hitting .174 with five RBI and thee stolen bases. Off the bench, Macie Selfors is batting .230 with two triples and three RBI while Isabella Crown is batting .375 in limited action.
 
In the circle, Bella Akins leads the pitching staff with a 5.70 ERA and a record of 2-13 in 20 appearances with 15 starts. She's struck out 67 and walked 37 in a team-leading 89.2 innings and has a .362 BAA. Brynn Trujillo is 2-11 with a 6.69 ERA in 18 appearances with eight starts for 81.2 innings and has 51 strikeouts against 45 free passes with a .340 BAA. McKennda Sides rounds out the rotation as she's 0-9 in 23 appearances with 14 starts for 57.1 innings and has an ERA of 8.30 with 12 strikeouts and 29 walks while teams have hit .449 against her.
 
Collectively, CSC is batting .219 with a .303 on-base percentage and a .301 slugging percentage. They have 49 extra-base hits (35 2B, 3 3B, 11 HR) on the season and have been outscored 283-101 while going just 18-29 on the bases. The pitching staff has an ERA of 6.61 and has issued 115 free passes in 228.2 innings of work while teams have hit .379 against them. Defensively, the Eagles are fielding .934 with 64 errors in 976 chances.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines leads the all-time series with Chadron State 38-12 and is 20-5 when playing away from Golden. Over the last 10 meetings, the Orediggers are 6-4 following a split of last season's series at home. Mines took day one 9-5 and 9-7 while the Eagles took day two 5-3 and 7-6. The Orediggers last made the trip to Chadron in 2023 and took three of four from CSC with 4-2, 7-0 and 9-0 wins in games one, three and four with a 4-0 loss in game two sandwiched between.

ON DECK
The second leg of a two-week road trip sees Mines head to Adams State next weekend April 18-19.
 
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.