CHADRON, Neb. – Thanks to weather, Chadron State will hit the road for the second straight weekend when it travels to Denver to face the Regis Rangers this Friday and Saturday.

The Eagles (9-21, 5-19 RMAC) will take on Regis (12-21, 11-13 RMAC), with game times scheduled for 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday. 

Schedule Switches
Chadron State softball's scheduled home series this weekend against Regis will change dates and locations due to impending weather forecasts in the Chadron area. 

The series, originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Chadron, will now take place on Friday and Saturday in Denver, Colorado at Regis's softball field. 

An RMAC Network livestream and live stats of the game will still be available. 

Looking Back
Chadron State suffered a four-game sweep at the hands of first-place Colorado Christian last Friday and Saturday.

RECAPS: Games 1-2 | Games 3-4

Day one of the series featured a pair of pitcher's duels, with both game one and game two staying scoreless through four innings. CCU emerged in the later innings to win 5-1 and 1-0, scoring an unearned run in the fifth to take game two. The Cougars broke out during games three and four Saturday, winning 9-1 and 13-0 in five innings each. 

Line Up-Dates
Chadron State's offense had a tough assignment this past week, facing off against a Colorado Christian pitching staff that leads the RMAC with a 1.98 team ERA. 

The Eagles only managed 14 hits across the four-game series, with third baseman Lauren Zimmerman tallying five of those 14 on her own. Zimmerman logged at least one hit during all four games of the series with a multi-hit game in game two. 

Zimmerman has been CSC's most consistent hitter throughout the season, leading the Eagles in batting average (.391) and home runs (eight) while ranking second on the club in RBI (22) and third in on-base percentage (.406). 

Zimmerman is one of three CSC players batting over .350 this season, joining fellow senior J'lyssa Martinez (.375) and graduate student Ashland Baca (.355). The same three hitters are also the only Eagles with on-base percentages over .400 and with double-digit runs batted in (Baca 24, Martinez 13).

As a team offensively, Chadron State ranks ninth in the league in batting average (.262) and slugging percentage (.390) and ranks 10^th in on-base percentage (.335). The Eagles' 103 runs scored is the second fewest in the league despite CSC hitting the fifth-most home runs in the RMAC (24). 

Rotation Roundup
The Eagles have used three primary arms in the circle this season, all of whom have made 14 appearances or more. 

Kenzi Garner is the team's leader in starts (14) and innings pitched (67.2). The senior has a 4.76 ERA and a team-high six complete games. Garner had one of her best starts of the year last weekend against Colorado Christian, when the Broomfield, Colorado native pitched six innings without allowing an earned run against Colorado Christian, striking out two.

Fellow senior Tori Haug leads the team in wins (four) and strikeouts (58), ranking fifth in the RMAC in that category. Haug has 63 innings pitched and five complete games in 14 appearances, 12 of which are starts. Haug has a season-high seven strikeouts on three occasions, most recently on March 9 against Black Hills State. 

Freshman Belle Akins has made a team-high 16 appearances, including three starts, and has the team's lowest ERA at 4.59. Akins tossed a five-inning no-hitter on February 24 against New Mexico Highlands in her first career RMAC start, which is CSC's only shutout of the year. Akins also has the club's only save of the season so far. 

Schedule Gauntlet
Chadron State has faced a strong schedule in the front half of the conference season. The Eagles have played six conference series so far entering this weekend, including five of the top six teams in the RMAC standings. 

CSC is currently in ninth place in the league standings with a 5-19 RMAC record. The Eagles play the seventh and eighth-place teams (Regis and Colorado School of Mines) over the next two weeks. Of the three teams currently behind the Eagles in the standings, Chadron State will host two of them (Fort Lewis and Adams State) over the final three weeks of the season.

The top six teams in the RMAC qualify for the league's postseason tournament. Here is a look at the current standings:
Team                                     RMAC            Overall
Colorado Christian               22-2                26-8
MSU Denver                         20-3                25-7
Colorado Mesa                     20-4                22-8
CSU Pueblo                          18-6                19-12
Black Hills State                   16-8                18-14
UCCS                                     14-9                20-14
Regis                                      11-13              12-21
Colo. Sch. Of Mines            7-16                8-26
Chadron State                     5-19                9-21
Fort Lewis                              5-19                6-23
New Mex. Highlands           2-22                8-26
Adams State                         2-22                4-32

No-Hitter
On February 24, in her first career RMAC start, freshman pitcher Belle Akins threw a five-inning no-hitter against the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls. 

The no-no 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. 

The following day, Akins was honored as the RMAC's Pitcher of the Week.

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 Regis
Regis is 12-21 overall with an 11-13 record in RMAC play after being picked fourth in the league's preseason poll. Last season, the Rangers won the RMAC Tournament as the league's No. 5 seed and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where they went 1-2 with a win over then-No. 1 West Texas A&M. 

The Rangers challenged themselves in nonconference play, facing No. 7 Angelo State and No. 1 UT Tyler in the first two games of the season. Last week, the Rangers won three of four from Colorado School of Mines, CSC's opponent next weekend. 

Regis has three players hitting over .300, led by junior outfielder Mya Chacon, who ranks 10^th in the league with a .416 batting average. Senior Ariana Ybarra is hitting .330 and junior Olivia Wick bats .321. Senior Morgan Norris leads the team with five home runs and 22 runs batted in.

Regis has mixed and matched in the circle this season, with six different pitchers throwing 25 innings or more and eight different arms appearing in four or more contests. Junior Hallie Crappell leads with a 4-3 record, five complete games and a 5.06 ERA. In the RMAC, Regis ranks seventh with a .297 batting average and eighth with a 5.40 ERA. 

Head Coach Candi Letts is in her first season as head coach at Regis, but has an extensive and decorated resume. Letts has been a Division I head softball coach for 22 seasons, including five at Colorado State University, seven at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and other head coaching stints at Utah State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Idaho State and Stony Brook. 

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).