CHADRON, Neb. – After battling with the RMAC's second-place team on the road last weekend, Chadron State softball will now face the league leaders when the Eagles welcome Colorado Christian to Chadron on Friday and Saturday.

The Eagles (4-25, 4-16 RMAC) will host the No. 14-ranked Cougars (30-2, 20-0 RMAC), starting with a Friday doubleheader at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. The teams will also play Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the CSC Softball Field.

A livestream of each game will be available on the RMAC Network with live stats available at chadroneagles.com. Any potential schedule changes will be communicated online and on social media (@ChadronState_SB on X/Twitter, @chadronstatesoftball on Instagram). 
 
Looking Back
Chadron State won the opening game of the series against MSU Denver last week before dropping the next three games by only a combined six runs (5-3, 6-5 and 3-0). 

RECAPS: Saturday | Sunday

The Roadrunners narrowly outscored the Eagles 14-11 over the four-game series. Chadron State used the big inning to its advantage, scoring three runs in the eighth inning of a 3-0 win and scoring all five runs in its 6-5 loss in the sixth inning of that game.

The opening-game victory was CSC's fourth RMAC win of the season and their first by more than one run. 

Big-Time Brynn
Brynn Trujillo, a true freshman out of Commerce City, Colorado, had the best game of her career to open the series on Saturday against MSU Denver. 

Trujillo threw an eight-inning, three-hit shutout, holding the Roadrunners scoreless for all seven innings of regulation and then slamming the door after CSC scored three runs in extra innings. 

The right-hander struck out seven and walked only one. She retired seven straight between the second and fourth innings and set down 10 of the last 11 batters she faced to end the game, with only a two-out hit-by-pitch in the eighth inning breaking that streak. 

Later in the series, Trujillo pitched four innings against the same Roadrunner lineup and allowed six runs. 

On the season, Trujillo is 2-8 with a 6.13 ERA. She has thrown 64 innings (which ranks 14^th in the RMAC) and three complete games. Her 42 strikeouts rank ninth in the RMAC.

Down to the Wire
Chadron State enters this weekend's series with a 4-16 RMAC record, but the winning percentage doesn't accurately reflect how many games CSC has been competitive in. 

Out of the Eagles' conference losses, Chadron State has lost three games by one run and four games by two runs. The Eagles also have three one-run wins, meaning that exactly half (10) of CSC's 20 RMAC games have been decided by two runs or less. 

Streak Snappers?
Chadron State ended a lengthy winning streak last weekend, as MSU Denver entered play against the Eagles riding a 10-game win streak before Chadron State won the first game of the series and ended that run. 

Colorado Christian will enter the weekend with an even more impressive 26-game win streak in 2026 as well as a 26-game win streak in the all-time series with Chadron State. The Cougars have won every game against the Eagles dating back to the 2017 season, when CSC took three out of four during the regular season and later beat the Cougars in the RMAC Tournament.

Scoring and Producing
Left fielder Elizabeth Thorngren has been a fixture in the middle of the CSC order, playing and starting 27 of CSC's 29 games. The senior from Broomfield, Colorado leads the Eagles in both at-bats (79) and hits (19). 

Thorngren has found herself in the middle of many of Chadron State's offensive rallies, including this past Saturday when she smacked a go-ahead two-run double in the eighth to give CSC the lead in the opening game against MSU Denver. Thorngren has scored 10 runs and has 10 RBI – in both categories, she is the only Eagle in double digits.

Quick Hits

• Freshman Brianna Cordray was CSC's top offensive performer last week against MSU Denver, hitting .400 (4-for-10) in the four-game series. Other standout hitters against the Roadrunners included Charley Pitrat (.308, 2 RBI), Payton Sullivan (.375) and Katelynn Czerpak (.300, 2 R, RBI). 
• Pitcher Belle Akins leads the team with 70 innings pitched (8^th in RMAC). She is among the RMAC's strikeout leaders, ranking fifth in the league with 49 total K's and tied for second in the league with 16 batters struck out looking.
• Overall, Eagle pitching has done a good job with their control. Chadron State ranks fifth in the RMAC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.28) and fifth in fewest hit batters (12).
• The Eagles have shown a tendency to move runners over. They rank third in the RMAC in total sacrifice bunts (21). Elizabeth Thorngren leads the team individually with five while Tiffani Mein and Brianna Cordray each have four.
• Primary leadoff hitter Charley Pitrat ranks eighth in the RMAC in walks, drawing 17.
• The Eagles have six players with over 15 hits on the season – Elizabeth Thorngren (19), Tiffani Mein (18), Brianna Cordray (17) and Charley Pitrat (16).
• Mein has a team-high six extra-base hits (four 2B, 2 HR). Just behind her are Thorngren and Pitrat with five (four 2B, 1 HR each).
• Mein, CSC's primary catcher, ranks tied for third in the RMAC with six baserunners caught stealing. 
• CSC is 12^th in the RMAC in team batting average (.214) and slugging percentage (.279) and 11^thin on-base percentage (.299).
• The Eagles' team ERA of 6.71 ranks ninth in the RMAC.

In the Polls
The Eagles were picked 11^th in the RMAC Preseason Poll, one year after finishing ninth.

Colorado Christian, the reigning RMAC regular season and tournament champs, were picked to win the league again, receiving 7 of 12 first-place votes. Colorado Mesa placed second in the poll, receiving three first-place votes, while MSU Denver came third and garnered the other two first-place votes. 

The rest of the poll features UCCS, CSU Pueblo, Colorado School of Mines, Black Hills State and Regis rounding out the top eight. Chadron State is scheduled to host six of the top seven teams in the preseason poll at home this season.
New Mexico Highlands, Fort Lewis, the Eagles and Adams State rounded out the poll.

In the national polls, the RMAC has one nationally-ranked program – Colorado Christian at No. 14.

The Eagles are 0-1 against nationally ranked teams, losing to No. 10-ranked Angelo State. Chadron State has also faced two-time defending national champions UT Tyler, who were No. 1 in the country at the time of the game against CSC, but the Patriots have since fallen out of the rankings.

Scouting the Cougars
Colorado Christian are both the defending RMAC champions and the preseason favorites to take home the 2026 title. With a record of 30-2 and an unbeaten 20-0 mark in the RMAC, the Cougars are ranked No. 14 in the country entering this weekend. 

So far, Colorado Christian has swept New Mexico Highlands, UCCS, Fort Lewis, Regis and Colorado School of Mines in conference play. CCU's only two losses are to Hawaii Pacific and then-No. 3 Western Washington. 

Like traditional CCU teams, the Cougars have a formidable pitching staff with a team ERA of 2.89 despite playing at elevation in Denver. Lisa Liddell (3.26 ERA, 68.2 IP, 36 K) and Felesha LePenske (2.79 ERA, 62.2 IP, 47 K) handle most of the starts while two-way player Elyse McMullin (1.50 ERA, 42 IP) and Hanna Espinosa (2.14 ERA, 36 IP) excel in relief roles. The Cougars have five shuotuts this season.

Offensively, sophomore shortstop Kat Hanson is the reigning RMAC Player of the Week after going 9-for-14 (.643) with two homers and seven RBI last week. On the season, Hanson is batting .487 and is tied with teammate Arriana Wright (.450 AVG) and MSU Denver's Brooklyn Enny for the RMAC lead with nine home runs.

Cougars head coach Larry Hays has had a decorated career. He coached baseball at Texas Tech University for 22 years, winning over 1,500 games, then won an NAIA national championship with Lubbock Christian softball. He has been at CCU since 2019 and has two RMAC regular season titles (2023, 2025) and three tournament titles (2022, 2023, 2025). 

Coach's Corner
Skye Koehl (pronounced "kale") is in his first season in charge of the Chadron State program.

Koehl joins CSC after two seasons as the head coach at Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colorado. Her teams placed second and third in NJCAA Region 9 during her two seasons in charge. 

As a player, Koehl won a junior college national championship with Temple College (Tex.) before transferring to Division I Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for her final three seasons.