Mines (20-22, 16-16) at Adams State (9-33, 8-24) – Saturday, 12 p.m. – Alamosa, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV]
Mines (20-22, 16-16) at Adams State (9-33, 8-24) – Sunday, 11 a.m. – Alamosa, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV]

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MAKING GAINS
The second of back-to-back weekends on the road awaits the Colorado School of Mines softball team as they look to put together another strong weekend and remain in contention for a postseason spot when they head to south to Alamosa for a matchup with Adams State Saturday and Sunday.
 
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 good weekend for softball in Alamosa. Saturday will be cool but sunny with a high of 55 and northwest winds at 10-15 miles per hour. Sunday's high is projected to be in the high 60s with scattered clouds and winds out of the south 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 11 RECAP
Mines kicked off their two-week road excursion with a four-game sweep of Chadron State last weekend 3-2, 4-2, 10-0 and 8-1. The star of the weekend was undoubtedly the Mines pitching staff, who posted a 0.25 ERA as they allowed just one earned run in 28 innings while holding CSC to 17-100 (.170) at the plate. Rylee Church was one out away from a no-hitter to begin the series as she struck out six in a complete game effort. Taylor Wayne followed up with a five-hitter in game two in which she did not allow a walk while in game three, Madyson Ortiz worked six shutout frames and also hit a three-run home run. Kat Miller started in game four and worked two innings while Ellen Shull shined in relief Sunday, making two appearances and working six scoreless innings across the day while picking up the win in the finale. Offensively Kendall Aragon led the way batting .500 with two doubles, four RBI and three runs scored. Katie Bauer hit .455 with a home run, three RBI and three runs scored while Lindy French had one of her best weekends of the season, batting .417 with two RBI. Sam Whisenand continued to shine from the left side of the dish, batting .364 with four runs scored and going 2-2 on steal attempts. Lauren Romero also had a solid weekand as she hit .357 with four RBI and went 3-3 on the bases.
 
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 entered 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 .399 (254-636) and is now tied with Melissa Stratton (2005-08) for fourth on the all-time hits list. 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. As the season wraps up over the next three weeks, Aragon will have a shot to become just the third player all-time to bat .400 or better in a career and is knocking on the door of a top 10 spot on the all-time doubles list with 34. She's also broken into the top 10 on the career RBI list as her 117 are tied for eighth with Sami Springer (2011-14) and former teammate Kayleigh Krueger (2021-24) while Sonoma Toot (2015-18) is just two at ahead in seventh at 119. In addition, Aragon's 11 career triples are tied for fifth on that list as well with Kyndra Bradley (1995-98), Beth Skidmore (2004-07) and Kaleigh Starr (2007-10) while her 132 runs scored are seventh with Macy Jones (2010-13) as she could easily pass Paige Noehring (2014-17, 132) and Springer (137) for a spot in the top five and become the fifth player with 140 runs scored in a career. Aragon also finds herself eighth on the career walks list with 63 and needs four more to enter into a four-way tie for fifth. And to wrap it up, with 37 stolen bases she would stand eighth on that list in her career and needs just three to become the eighth player with 40 or more steals during their time in a Mines uniform.
 
RMAC RESET
Colorado Christian shows no signs of slowing down as they chase a perfect season in RMAC play as they stand at 32-0 and winners of 38 straight as they hold a five-game lead over CSU Pueblo at 27-5. MSU Denver is now along in third at 21-11 one game ahead of Colorado Mesa at 20-12. UCCS is fifth at 18-14 one game up on Black Hills State who holds the final playoff spot at 17-15. Mines is one game out of the field right now at 16-16 and is five games to the good over Regis and New Mexico Highlands at 11-21. Fort Lewis and Chadron State bring up the rear at 7-25 and 4-28 as they look to finish strong the final three weeks before looking to 2027.
 
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. Now after swiping another 12 bags over the weekend against Chadron State that record is no more as Mines has now committed 91 acts of larceny on the basepaths in 2026. 13 different players have at least one steal while four have 12 or more and a fifth isn't far off from making it five players in double digits. Kellan Ton leads the way with 29 in 33 attempts followed by Lauren Romero who has emerged as a speed threat this season with 15 swipes in 16 tries. Sam Whisenand's changes at the dish have led her to a 13-13 season so far while Emily Rogers is 12-14. Kendall Aragon is 8-10 as she could easily get to 10 with 12 games to go.
 
FOR THREE
On April 3 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, and heading into action against Adams 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. Mines now share the top spot in Division II with Lewis and Claflin. The top team in Division I, Southeastern, has 23 triples while Messiah and Cedar Crest became the first teams in Division III to hit 20 this season over the weekend.
 
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 14 contests since March 21, Weiler has jumped and played a strong first base but has been even better at dish, batting .439 (18-41) with six multi-hit outings, four doubles and seven RBI. Now batting .362 on the season with five doubles and nine RBI, Weiler seems to have solidified her spot in the starting lineup for the final weeks of the season.
 
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 11 straight games in right field, not only showing off her defensive prowess but shining at the plate as well. The junior cooled off some over the weekend in Nebraska, but is still batting .467 (14-30) since switching sides at the dish and is 10-10 on stole bases and seven runs scored. Safe to say, the move is paying off with extended playing time and increased production as she continues to get more comfortable with a different perspective offensively.
 
NEAR THE TOP
Mines ranks first in the conference with 27 triples heading into week nine of action and are third with 91 stolen bases. Their .963 fielding percentage is fourth in the RMAC, while their 4.37 ERA is also fourth in the conference.
 
Individually, Kellan Ton is sixth in the league with a .421 batting average and is third with 29 stolen bases. Ton also leads the RMAC with six triples while Emiaj Self is tied for third with five and Emily Rogers tied for sixth with four. Mines also boasts three pitchers in the top 20 in ERA as Rylee Church is ninth at 3.27 followed by Madyson Ortiz in 11th at 3.73 and Taylor Wayne in 12th at 3.87. Ortiz is also tied for third in fewest walks allowed this season with 15.
 
BREAKING HER OWN RECORD, AGAIN
After claiming the Mines career stolen bases record in February, Kellan Ton continues to stake her claim as the fastest woman in program history. Last weekend, the junior broke the single-season stolen base record for the third time in her career and reset her own record with 29 stolen bases and counting in 2026. As a freshman in 2024, Ton swiped 25 bases to break the previous record of 24 before taking 27 bags in 2025 as a sophomore. Now with 12 games left in the regular season, the first 30-steal season in program history is just 60 feet away while Ton inches ever closer to the century mark for her career as she's up to 81 stolen bases in 142 games since arriving on campus.
 
CHECKING THE STAT SHEET
Kellan Ton heads up the stat sheet once again this week as she's batting .421 with three doubles, six triples, two home runs, 16 RBI, 41 runs scored and is 29-33 on the bases. Kendall Aragon is chasing back-to-back .400 seasons as she's sporting a .411 mark entering the week with a team-high 11 doubles, four triples, two home runs and 33 RBI. Katie Bauer reclaimed the top spot in home runs with her third of the season last Sunday as she's enjoying a .360 season with 10 doubles, two triples and 27 RBI. Lauren Romero is batting .325 with seven doubles, a triple, and a home run with 18 RBI and is second to Ton with 15 stolen bases. Emily Rogers is batting knocking on the door of .300 with a .298 average, five doubles, four triples, two home runs and 15 RBI while swiping 12 bases. Emiaj Self checks in this week hitting .231 with eight doubles, five triples, a home run and is third on the club with 23 RBI.
 
Sam Whisenand is hitting a scorching .429 and has become a regular in right field since switching things up at the plate and is 13-13 on stolen bases. Grace Weiler has also been on a heater in recent weeks as she's up to .362 on the season with five doubles and nine RBI since taking over at first base. Sydney Pendowski remains a reliable option at the plate and in the running game off the bench, batting .313 with four of her five hits going for extra-bases and also scoring 10 times with four stolen bases. Kylie Bickford is batting .298 as well with three doubles, a triple, a home run and six RBI while Miquela Tammaro is hitting .282 with four extra-base knocks and nine RBI. Lindy French is coming off a solid weekend and raised her average to .234 with a double and nine RBI in 2026.
 
In the circle, the freshman duo of Rylee Church and Madyson Ortiz have emerged as two of the best arms in the RMAC while veteran Taylor Wayne has returned to form in recent weeks. Church just missed out on a no-hitter Saturday in Chadron as she improved to 4-4 in 15 appearances with four starts on the season for 60 innings pitched with a 3.27 ERA, team-leading 48 strikeouts and a .248 BAA. Ortiz got back to .500 on the season Sunday as she's now 5-5 on the year with a save in 60 innings with seven starts in 15 appearances with a 3.73 ERA, 30 strikeouts and a .286 BAA. Wayne also got back to .500 as she moved to 7-7 Saturday and in 20 games with 17 starts sports a 3.87 ERA with 27 strikeouts in a team-high 90.1 innings pitched with a .294 BAA. Ellen Shull picked up her second win of the season in relief Sunday to move to 2-2 in 14 appearances with five starts for 31.2 innings and has struck out seven while posting a 5.97 ERA. Kat Miller is 2-3 on the season with a 6.26 ERA and has 18 strikeouts in 34.2 innings as she's started nine times in 14 appearances. Ariana Hughes rounds the staff out with two innings of work in two early-season outings.
 
On the year, Mines is batting .315 with a .388 on-base percentage and a .455 slugging percentage. They are just -5 in run differential at 2018-213 and have tallied 110 extra-base hits (59 2B, 27 3B, 14 HR) while going 91-103 on stolen bases. The pitching staff owns an ERA of 4.37 in 278.2 innings of work with 130 strikeouts against 193 free passes while posting a .299 BAA. Defensively, the Orediggers are fielding .963 with 47 errors in 1,280 chances.
 
SCOUTING ADAMS STATE
Adams State snapped a six-game skid by going 2-2 over the weekend on the road at New Mexico Highlands, taking games one and four 3-2 and 7-6 while dropping games two and three 14-9 and 5-2. With three weekends left in the season, ASU finds themselves nine games out of a postseason spot with Mines, Colorado Christian and Chadron State on their remaining schedule.
 
Four regulars are batting above .300 for the Grizzlies this spring led by Denae Ojeda and her mark of .319 with a team-leading 15 stolen bases, 10 RBI, three doubles, one triple and a home run. Caylie Eiguren is batting .313 with 16 RBI and two doubles along with a triple and a home run. Kaylee Eyl checks in hitting .310 with 15 RBI, seven doubles, two triples and is one of two players along with Ojeda to score 20 or more runs. Transfer Isabel Rodriguez rounds out the quartet batting .308 with a team-high eight doubles and three triples with 16 RBI.
 
Emily Sauvageau is second on the team with 18 RBI along with a .283 average, six doubles and a triple. Jayde Garcia is batting .214 and drove in her first run of the season last weekend, while Devree Godinez is batting .206 with three doubles and 13 RBI. Ali Davis is hitting just .186 but has proven productive with 12 RBI, two doubles, a triple and a homer. Aubree Davis has played a two-way role this season and at the dish leads ASU with 20 RBI and four homers along with six doubles and a .354 average. Raegan Johnson is batting .317 in 60 at bats while Mackenzie Simon is hitting .211 with three doubles, two home runs and 13 RBI.
 
In the circle, 10 different Grizzlies have made at least one appearance this season. Aryana Muñoz leads the way with a 3-11 record and two saves in 25 appearances with 17 starts. She has a 7.07 ERA over 98 innings pitched and has struck out 58 while walking 53 and posting a .359 BAA. Celie Page is second on the team among qualifying pitchers statistically with a 2-6 record in 16 games with nine starts and an 8.37 ERA over 47.2 innings with just three strikeouts on the season against 15 walks while opponents have hit .422 against her. Davis heads up the remainder of the eight who have toed the slab this season, as she's 2-3 in 19 appearances largely in relief for 35.2 innings with an 8.05 ERA and 20 strikeouts against 33 walks. Jaklynn Harteker is third on the team in innings pitched this spring with 36.2 in 15 appearances with six starts and is 2-5 with an 11.07 ERA with 17 strikeouts and 48 walks with a .426 BAA. Rodriguez has also logged significant time as a two-way player, as she's started seven times in eight games in the circle for 20.1 innings and has struck out five against 19 walks while posting an 0-6 record with a 9.64 ERA. Payton Torres is 0-1 in eight relief appearances for 15 innings and has struck out eight with 11 walks while giving up hits at a .554 clip. The rest of the group, Brylyn Haddick, Garcia, Ryann Fredrick and Alexis Gonzales, have combined for five appearances between them for three-plus innings pitched.
 
On the season, Adams State is batting .267 with a .360 on-base percentage and a .354 slugging percentage. They have been outscored 377-175 this season and have tallied 66 extra-base hits (45 2B, 12 3B, 9 HR) and are 25-31 on stolen bases. The pitching staff has an ERA of 9.20 over 256.1 innings pitched and have struck out 113 against 194 free passes issued while teams have batted .398 against them. Defensively, they have fielded .952 with 54 errors in 1,128 chances.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines has a shot to get closer to .500 in the all-time series with Adams State as the Grizzlies lead 73-68. The Orediggers have 13 in a row in the series dating back to April 3, 2022 for their longest winning streak in the series ever. The last loss in the series came in Alamosa in game one that day when ASU won 14-3 in five innings. All-time in Alamosa, Mines has a record of 24-26.

ON DECK
Mines wraps up home action in 2026 next weekend April 24-26 against CSU Pueblo.
 
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.