CHADRON, Neb. – After taking three of four in their home-opening series, Chadron State will head back on the road to continue RMAC play against UCCS this Saturday and Sunday.

The Eagles (7-5, 4-4 RMAC) will face the Mountain Lions (7-9, 2-6 RMAC), with game times starting at 12 and 2 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Sunday. 

Games will be live streamed on the RMAC Network, with live stats also available online.
 
Looking Back
Chadron State opened up its home schedule with a 3-1 series win over New Mexico Highlands. The Eagles won both games on day one before earning a series split on Monday.

RECAPS: Games 1-2 | Games 3-4

On both days of the series, the first games were fairly straightforward before a thrilling second game. CSC earned a 4-1 win in game one before game two saw the lead change in four consecutive half-innings as the Eagles won a wild one by an 11-9 margin. 

Then, on Monday as the series concluded, New Mexico Highlands got on the board in the series with a 3-1 victory before freshman pitcher Belle Akins made Eagles history in game four as Chadron State cruised to a 12-0, five-inning win. 

Belle of the Ball
True freshman and Elkhorn, Nebraska native Belle Akins emerged as a potential star for the Eagles, throwing the first CSC no-hitter in nearly 15 years and winning the RMAC Pitcher of the Week award. 

STORY: Akins Named RMAC Pitcher of the Week After No-No

Akins pitched in three of the four games over the course of the series, taking the mound in all three games that the Eagles won. She came on in relief twice on day one, recording a one-inning save by retiring the side in order on nine pitches and then pitching 2.1 innings of relief and earning the win during CSC's comeback victory in game two. 

On Monday, in her first career RMAC start, Akins threw a five-inning no-hitter, which is only the second in recorded history for the Eagles and the first since Christina Lewis threw one in the 2011 season. During her no-hitter, Akins allowed just two walks for the only baserunners of the day and struck out six Cowgirls, including the first and last hitters of the game. 

On the season, Akins has a team-best 1.87 ERA through 18.2 innings pitched, which ranks fourth in the RMAC. She becomes the second Eagle to win the RMAC Pitcher of the Week award this season, after Tori Haug took home the award on February 10 during CSC's season-opening week. 

Tough To Hit
Early on, Chadron State has had statistically one of the top pitching staffs in the RMAC. 

The Eagles have the second-lowest ERA in the league with a 3.42 mark as a team. They have pitched to contact effectively, allowing the fewest hits, tied for the fewest walks and second-fewest runs in the league despite having the third-fewest strikeouts. 

In addition, the Eagles have taken home the RMAC Pitcher of the Week award in two of the three weeks they have competed, with Akins winning this past week and Tori Haug taking home the award on February 10 during CSC's season-opening week. 

Hot Bat
Third baseman Lauren Zimmerman was the offensive leader against New Mexico Highlands, finishing the four-game series with seven hits, three multi-hit games, three home runs and eight RBI. 

Zimmerman did most of her damage on day two of the series. She drove in half of CSC's runs during Akins' no-hitter, hitting a three-run homer, two-run homer and sacrifice fly to finish with six RBI in CSC's 12-0 win. Earlier in the day, Zimmerman had another two-hit game with a solo home run. 

Zimmerman batted 7-12 for the week and is hitting .459 this season with a team-high four home runs and 13 RBI. In the RMAC, Zimmerman is tied for fifth in home runs and ninth in batting average. 

Hit Machine
Outfielder J'lyssa Martinez is hitting .500 through the first three weeks of the season, with 18 hits in 36 at-bats. Martinez had eight hits during the NMHU series and already has seven multi-hit games among CSC's 12 games this season. 

The Denver native ranks third in the RMAC with her .500 batting average and is seventh in the league with a .550 on-base percentage. Martinez has also been a Swiss army knife defensively for the Eagles, splitting time between left field and catcher depending on CSC's lineup configuration.

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).

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 UCCS
UCCS is 7-9 overall and 2-6 in RMAC play. The Mountain Lions split a conference-opening series with Colorado School of Mines before being swept last week by first-place Colorado Christian. 

The matchup with Mines featured some down-to-the-wire games, including a 14-13 walk-off victory and a 14-8 loss that went to extra innings. Against the Cougars, UCCS fell by scores of 5-3, 13-0 (5), 9-1 (5) and 10-2 (5). 

UCCS has four hitters batting above .400, including freshman shortstop Halley Redd (.490) and sophomore Laynee Case (.400), who won the RMAC Player of the Week award on February 10 alongside CSC's Tori Haug, who was the Pitcher of the Week that week. 

Among RMAC teams, UCCS leads the league with a .359 batting average but has the second-highest ERA at 8.70. The Mountain Lions are led by second-year head coach Dwight Sanders, who went 19-32 in his debut season in Colorado Springs after serving as the head coach at Fort Lewis for two seasons. 

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).