CHADRON, Neb. – After losing five games by three runs or fewer in two weekends against the preseason top two RMAC teams, Chadron State softball will try its luck against the Regis Rangers on the road this Thursday and Friday.
The Eagles (4-29, 4-20 RMAC) will battle against Regis (8-22, 7-17 RMAC) starting at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Thursday before the series concludes at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Friday. The games are moved up league-wide from the normal Saturday/Sunday schedule due to the Easter holiday weekend.
Chadron State will be hoping for a repeat of last year, when the Eagles entered a four-game series against Regis with a similar 5-19 conference record but took three of four from the Rangers, including a 16-3 win in game one. Those games, originally scheduled to be in Chadron, were also played in Denver due to weather last season.
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 suffered a four-game sweep at the hands of No. 14-ranked Colorado Christian but mounted seventh-inning rallies that saw the tying or go-ahead run come to the plate in two of the four games.
RECAPS: Friday | Saturday
Colorado Christian won 15-3 and 10-9 on Friday before taking wins by scores of 6-3 and 7-0 on Saturday. In game two on Friday, the Eagles scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull within a run, while CSC also loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh to bring the go-ahead run up to the plate in their 6-3 loss.
Brogan Bombs
First baseman Brogan Allen hit a home run in both games of Friday's doubleheader to take the team lead with three home runs on the season. On the weekend, Allen batted .417 (5-for-12) with the two home runs and four RBI. She also drew two walks to record a .500 on-base percentage for the week.
After leaving the yard twice on Friday, Colorado Christian gave Allen a substantial sign of respect by intentionally walking her as the tying run in the seventh inning of game three of the series, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs.
This season, Allen is batting .271. She ranks second on the team in batting average, OPS (.789) and on-base percentage (.346) and is tied for second in hits (19).
The Right Sides
True freshman McKenna Sides strung together three solid relief appearances during the series against the Cougars.
While the Seward, Nebraska native has been credited with 12 starts, many have been substitution quirks involving the flex and designated player positions. Sides has primarily come out of the bullpen in relief of primary starters Belle Akins and Brynn Trujillo, similar to the role that Akins played last season during her true freshman season.
This past weekend, Sides tallied three appearances (of 3.0, 2.2 and 2.1 innings) and only allowed two earned runs in eight innings for a 1.75 ERA. In her final outing of the season, Sides also allowed just two hits in 2.1 scoreless innings.
The strong week lowered Sides's ERA to 9.05 as the freshman crossed 50 innings pitched in her debut season.
Schedule Turning
There are no easy games in the RMAC, but Chadron State has played a challenging slate so far. The six conference opponents CSC has faced so far this season include five of the top six teams in the RMAC standings.
In the second half of the season, the Eagles still need to face four of the five programs that are in the bottom half of the league alongside CSC (Colorado School of Mines, Regis, Adams State and Fort Lewis).
Chadron State is narrowly in 12th and last place in the RMAC standings at 4-20, but the Eagles could mathematically rise to as high as eighth with the right results this weekend as four programs have either five, six or seven league wins.
Quick Hits
- Despite CSC's 4-20 RMAC record, the Eagles have lost four games by one run, four games by two runs and two games by three runs, meaning that half their RMAC losses have been by three runs or less.
- All four of CSC's wins also fall within that category, meaning 14 of the Eagles' 24 conference games have been decided by fewer than three runs.
- Pitcher Belle Akins leads the team with 78.1 innings pitched (9th in RMAC). She is among the RMAC's strikeout leaders, ranking tied for third in the league with 56 total K's and tied for first in the league with 18 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 (1.27) and fifth in fewest hit batters (14).
- The Eagles have shown a tendency to move runners over. They rank fourth in the RMAC in total sacrifice bunts (23). Elizabeth Thorngren leads the team individually with five while Tiffani Mein, Brianna Cordray and Macie Selfors each have four.
- Primary leadoff hitter Charley Pitrat ranks eighth in the RMAC in walks, drawing 19.
- Elizabeth Thorngren leads the Eagles in hits (24), RBI (35), extra-base hits (seven) and total bases (35).
- Tiffani Mein, CSC's primary catcher, ranks tied for fourth in the RMAC with six baserunners caught stealing.
- CSC is 12th in the RMAC in team batting average (.218) and slugging percentage (.292) and 11thin on-base percentage (.301).
- The Eagles' team ERA of 6.85 ranks ninth in the RMAC.
In the Polls
The Eagles were picked 11th 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. 10.
The Eagles are 0-5 against nationally ranked teams, losing four to No. 10-ranked CCU and one to No. 12 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
Regis will enter this weekend's series at 8-22 overall and 7-17 in the RMAC. They are coming off a positive weekend, having split a four-game series with Colorado School of Mines after losing 11 of 12 games prior to that.
Regis's offensive leader is Olivia Wick, who ranks ninth in the RMAC with a .421 average and 1.139 OPS. Wick has seven doubles, an RMAC-leading six triples and one home run this season. As a team, Regis has only five home runs, tied for the fewest in the RMAC, but they do have five regulars batting over .300 – Wick, Jane Quinn (.388), Kiauna Smith (.370), Kristin Ingram (.329) and Bella Bordine (.300).
Regis shares the wealth in the circle. Three pitchers have made seven starts or more and thrown between 36 and 42 innings – Eliza Legge (5.21 ERA), Hallie Crappell (5.91 ERA) and Vanessa Candito (6.61 ERA). The Rangers have depth in their bullpen with three relievers having thrown between 15 and 20 innings.
Head coach Candi Letts has made Regis the latest stop in a long career. Letts is in her second season with the Rangers, but previously spent 22 seasons as a Division I head coach at Colorado State, Ole Miss, Utah State, Farleigh Dickinson, Idaho State and Stony Brook. In her first season at Regis, Letts led the team to a 21-30 record.
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.
