CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State softball will take to the home diamond for the final time this season when they host Colorado Mesa for a four-game series this Friday and Saturday in Chadron.
Game times are set for 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday. Senior Day will now be Saturday and will take place between games.
The Eagles (5-40, 5-31 RMAC) are fresh off snapping a lengthy losing streak by earning a 2-1 win over Fort Lewis in the series finale in Durango last Sunday while the Mavericks (21-23, 20-16 RMAC) are fighting for playoff position after suffering a sweep to Colorado Christian last week. The Mavericks have lost nine of their last 12.
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).
Promotional Notes
This weekend will feature free admission for both contests.
Saturday's doubleheader is being started at the irregular time of 2 p.m. to help ease parking and staffing difficulties caused by the University of Nebraska volleyball program's spring game at the Chicoine Center in Chadron, a match which tips off at noon.
Chadron State softball will have five seniors – Elizabeth Thorngren, Katelynn Czerpak, Aliyah Rothstein, Madison Sebbo and Brogan Allen – honored at the 2026 Senior Day ceremony between games on Saturday.
Looking Back
In a low-scoring series, Chadron State dropped the first three games to Fort Lewis by scores of 3-1, 1-0, and 3-1, but rallied to win the finale 2-1.
RECAPS: Saturday | Sunday
Tiffani Mein (6-for-8) and Brianna Cordray (5-for-11) had strong offensive series for the Eagles. Sydney Lowery provided the biggest moment of her young career when the freshman lined a two-out, two-run single to right field to score the eventual game-winning runs for CSC in the fourth inning of game four.
Shutting Them Down
Chadron State had one of its best-pitched weekends of the season, and used an ensemble cast to do it.
The Eagles pitched to a team ERA of 1.12 in the four games against the Skyhawks and had three pitchers (Belle Akins, McKenna Sides and Brynn Trujillo) throw over six innings across the four-game set.
Akins threw two complete games, allowing just two earned runs across 13 innings for a 1.08 ERA across last week's action. The sophomore struck out 12, including seven in the series opener, to improve her season total to 87 punchouts, which ranks third in the RMAC.
Akins continues to lead the staff with a 4.86 ERA and 116.2 innings pitched, which is the sixth-most in the RMAC.
Sides, a freshman who has seen her innings pick up in recent weeks, threw a complete game for the third consecutive weekend when she scattered eight hits and one run across six innings.
Trujillo also pitched well in her lone appearance in the circle last weekend. Trujillo allowed seven hits and beat that total by striking out eight – setting a new single-game career high for strikeouts as the true freshman now ranks eighth in the RMAC with 64 on the year. Both Trujillo and Sides recorded an ERA of 1.17 in their outings last weekend.
Chadron State's team ERA has dropped to 5.82 on the season, which ranks eighth in the RMAC. The Eagles' pitching staff does rank seventh with 168 strikeouts this year.
Hit Machine
Fort Lewis could not keep Tiffani Mein off base last weekend, as the CSC catcher recorded a hit in all four games and went 6-for-8 overall in the series.
The six hits included Mein's third home run of the season, a solo shot that provided the scoring in a 3-1 loss in game three. Mein's three home runs rank second on the team while her 11 RBI rank fourth.
The junior from Longmont, Colorado is now batting .330 on the season and leads the team in average, on-base percentage (.398), slugging percentage (.489), OPS (.887) and hit by pitches (4). She also ranks second on the team in total bases (43) and sacrifice bunts (six).
Quick Hits
- Chadron State softball has 17 RMAC losses by two runs or fewer in 2026 (nine one-run losses, eight two-run losses).
- Four of the Eagles' five wins have been in one-run games, giving CSC a 4-9 record in games decided by a single tally.
- Overall, Eagle pitching has done a good job with their control. Chadron State pitching ranks third in the RMAC in fewest hit batters (15) and fewest wild pitches (18) and has the third-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.53).
- The Eagles have shown a tendency to move runners over. They rank third in the RMAC in total sacrifice bunts (35). Elizabeth Thorngren leads the team individually with seven while Tiffani Mein and Macie Selfors have five.
- Primary leadoff hitter Charley Pitrat ranks tied for fourth in the RMAC in walks drawn with 27.
- CSC is 12th in the RMAC in team batting average (.215), on-base percentage (.299) and slugging percentage (.290).
- The Eagles are 10th in home runs (13) but rank 12th in singles, doubles and triples.
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. 5.
The Eagles are 0-6 against nationally ranked teams, losing four to No. 5-ranked CCU, one to No. 13 Angelo State and one to No. 23 UT Tyler, who were No. 1 in the country at the time of the game against CSC.
Scouting the Mavericks
Picked second in the RMAC before the season, Colorado Mesa finds itself fighting for a playoff spot, tied for fourth at 20-16 in conference play and just one game ahead of the seventh-place team.
The Mavericks started the conference schedule 16-4 through the first five weekends of the RMAC play, but lost three of four to UCCS and were swept by CSU Pueblo and Colorado Christian while taking three of four from Fort Lewis.
CMU has four regular starters batting over .300 – Cailynn Parsons (.369 AVG, .879 OPS), Makayla Westmoreland (.345 AVG, 4 HR, 20 RBI), Brynn Escobar (.341 AVG, 10 2B, 4 HR) and Molli Magana (.325 AVG, 8 HR, 30 RBI). Khloe Kubitschek has also chipped in seven home runs and 27 runs batted in.
In the circle, the Mavericks have two primary arms in Sophia Tassinari (3.75 ERA, 145.2 IP, 56 K) and Marisa Nehm (6.27 ERA, 102.2 IP). Jessalyn Gallegos, the reigning RMAC Freshman of the Year, has only pitched one game this season and has been out since the first week of February.
CMU Head Coach Mercedes Bohte is in her sixth season as the head coach but has been with the program for 14 seasons. Under Bohte, CMU has won over 30 games in each of the past five seasons. Bohte has won three regular season RMAC Championships, one RMAC Tournament championship and two RMAC Coach of the Year awards (2021, 2024) during her tenure.
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.
