CHADRON, Neb. – With a 4-4 record, Chadron State softball will take to their home diamond for the first time in the 2025 season with a four-game series against New Mexico Highlands, with the series pushed back a day due to weather. 

Instead of the normal Saturday/Sunday schedule, the four-game series will take place this Sunday and Monday to allow the temperatures to warm up in the Chadron area, similar to CSC's road series against CSU Pueblo, which was played on Sunday and Monday of last week. 

The game times are currently scheduled for 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Monday. Live streams will be available on the RMAC Network. 

Looking Back
After a 3-1 nonconference opening weekend, Chadron State began RMAC play by dropping three out of four games in a series with CSU Pueblo.  

RECAPS: Games 1-2 | Games 3-4

Two of CSC's three losses came in run-rule games decided in five innings. The two teams then split a pair of one-run games, with Chadron State winning 3-2 in game two of the series before CSU Pueblo won the series finale 2-1. 

Season Tickets
Season-ticket and single-game packages are available now at chadroneagles.com/tickets. Season tickets are $50 per seat for adults and $25 for children, seniors and military members and will provide access to all 10 home softball competition dates. 

Purchasing at the season-ticket price gives fans a 50 percent discount compared to purchasing a single-game ticket for every home game. Chadron State's home softball dates are Feburary 23-24 (vs. NMHU), March 15-16 (vs. MSU Denver), March 29-30 (vs. Regis), April 12-13 (vs. Fort Lewis) and April 25-26 (vs. Adams State).

Garner Games
Broomfield, Colorado senior Kenzi Garner pitched two impressive games in the circle last weekend for the Eagles, finishing with a 1-1 record despite a 1.61 ERA. 

Garner pitched the second game of each day against the ThunderWolves and went the distance both times. On Sunday in game two, Garner earned the win and gave up just two runs, one earned, on three hits with no walks. 

During the final game of the series, Garner pitched six innings and allowed just two runs on four hits. Garner didn't allow a baserunner through the first two innings and didn't allow a hit through the first 4 2/3, but allowed two runs in the sixth inning and the CSC offense only managed one run, leading Garner to be stuck with the loss. 

On the season, Garner has a 3.21 ERA and 1.17 WHIP (walks/hits per inning). Garner has started four of CSC's eight games so far this season and has thrown complete games in three of her four outings. Garner's innings pitched (24.0) and batting average against (.247) both lead the team.

.400 Club
After the first two weekends of the season, Chadron State has three hitters batting above .400 that have settled into the 2-3-4 of interim coach Robert Stack's lineup. 

J'lyssa Martinez, who has been batting second, leads the team with seven runs scored and has a .435 batting average with a .500 on-base percentage. Martinez has two doubles among her 10 hits and has driven home two runs. 

Lauren Zimmerman, who plays third base and hits third in the order, is batting .400 (10-25). Zimmerman and Martinez are tied for the team lead in hits while Zimmerman ranks second on the team with five RBIs. The senior hit a three-run home run in her first at-bat of the season to stake CSC an early 3-0 lead over Adams State on Opening Day. 

Chadron State's best hitter in the early going has been cleanup batter Ashland Baca. The grad student righty leads Chadron State in batting average (.438), on-base percentage (.522), slugging percentage (.625) and RBI (seven) and is one of three Eagles to homer this season. Baca also has two sacrifice flies on the year.

New Faces
While Martinez, Zimmerman and Baca are all returners to Chadron State's roster, the lineup has been augmented by multiple newcomers to the team. 

Katelynn Czerpak, a junior transfer outfielder who hails from Aurora, Colorado but played at Western Nebraska CC, has been the lead-off hitter and played center field. Czerpak is batting .273 with a .360 on-base percentage, and her two stolen bases are tied for the team lead with Aliyah Rothstein and Devyn Thornton.

Infielder Sydney Loyet, a transfer from Eastern New Mexico University, has taken hold of CSC's starting second-base job. Loyet is batting .273 this season (5-18) but has also been used to move runners up, with three sacrifice bunts so far this year. 

Elizabeth Thorngren, a transfer from Trinidad State CC, has been another option in the outfield for the Eagles with J'lyssa Martinez splitting her time between left field and catcher. Thorngren is still searching for her first hit through 11 at-bats at the plate, but she has also been used defensively and as a pinch-runner.

RMAC Polls
Chadron State was picked to finish 10^th in the 12-team RMAC in a preseason poll of the league's head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own team. The Eagles also finished 10^th in the RMAC last season with a 12-28 record in conference play. 

Defending league champion Colorado Mesa was picked to win the RMAC again this season, receiving eight of 12 first-place votes. Colorado Christian received two first-place votes and finished second in the poll while MSU Denver and Regis each got one first-place vote and came third and fourth, respectively. 

The final two RMAC Tournament positions according to the preseason poll went to CSU Pueblo in fifth and UCCS in sixth. The remainder of the poll featured Colorado School of Mines, Fort Lewis and Black Hills State ahead of the Eagles, while Chadron State finished above New Mexico Highlands and Adams State in preseason voting.

Scouting New Mexico Highlands 
New Mexico Highlands will bring a 6-8 overall record and an 0-4 RMAC mark into the series with Chadron. The Cowgirls were swept by perennial RMAC frontrunners Colorado Christian during the first week of RMAC play, falling 10-0 (5), 16-2 (6), 13-0 (5) and 10-0 (5). 

Prior to conference play, the Cowgirls went 2-4 on a road trip through Texas, which included going 1-1 in two games against a Sul Ross State team that Chadron State has beaten this season. NMHU then had its own four-game sweep of NAIA opponent University of the Southwest prior to the CCU series.

New Mexico Highlands ranks 11^th out of 12 RMAC teams in both batting average (.221) and ERA (10.75). The team's leading hitter is senior catcher Heaven Medina, who is batting .429 with a .571 OBP and four doubles this season. Senior infielder Dioni Lincoln is a power threat, with four of her six hits going for extra bases (three doubles and a home run). Four pitchers have made multiple appearances in the circle, with Jazmyn Griego's 18.1 innings leading the way.

New Mexico Highlands has already made a softball coaching change this season. Their new interim head coach is Scott Petersen, who previously coached at UCCS for 15 seasons and won 374 games over that stretch with the Mountain Lions.

Coach's Corner
After previously serving as Chadron State's head softball coach from 2008-2017 and helping out the program as a coaching assistant for the past two seasons, Dr. Robert Stack will serve as CSC's Interim Softball Coach for the 2025 season. 

Stack has been a math professor at CSC for the past 26 years and was previously RMAC Coach of the Year in 2014. During Stack's head coaching career, he led an Eagles program that had not qualified for the RMAC Tournament prior to his tenure to four conference tournament appearances. Stack's teams set a new school record for wins in three of his last four seasons as coach (2014, 2016 and 2017), with the 32 wins by the 2017 team still standing as the program season high. 

Stack has also mentored two RMAC Pitchers of the Year (Casey Williams in 2010 and Tayler Hall in 2016) as well as two RMAC All-Academic Players of the Year (Williams in 2009 and Cassie Humphrey in 2010) and a two-time RMAC Summit Award winner (Breeze Phillips in 2014 and 2016).