The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference softball series, between Chadron State College (5-12, 3-4 RMAC) and Regis University (12-8, 7-1 RMAC), originally scheduled for Saturday, March 10, and Sunday, March 11, has been postponed by one day, due to an unfavorable weather forecast.
A projection of escalating winds on Saturday and temperatures near freezing would result in a wind chill lower than the minimum allowed by conference rules.
The games will be played, instead, starting at noon on Sunday and 11 a.m. on Monday, in the usual doubleheader format.
Like the Eagles, the Rangers struggled early against non-conference opponents, but are riding a three-game streak into this series.
Regis’s success this season has relied largely on their pitching performances. The 2017 RMAC Co-Pitcher of the Year, Logan Losh, returns for her senior campaign, after striking out 165 batters last year and recording the second-lowest ERA among starters, with a 1.88 in her junior season.
Losh has not been quite as dominant so far this season, sporting an ERA of 3.38, but has been receiving better run support of late. The Rangers have improved on offense from batting .227 as a team through the first eight games, to .386 in the past three weeks, which included a non-conference series with Adams State.
The Eagle pitchers will have their work cut out for them, but so far, they have shown to be among the best in the league. Three CSC pitchers are among the top six in the RMAC for opponent batting average, and two rank among the top six in total strikeouts. In fact, Chadron State starting pitchers Jessica Jarecki and Megan Horn are both in the NCAA’s top 40 players for strikeouts per seven inning, with Jarecki 15th, and Horn 33rd.
The play of both teams’ infields will be another major factor in the series. The Rangers have committed 16 errors this season in the middle infield alone, while the Eagles have 20. Playing a clean game will be key, and will likely determine the outcome of more than one game.
Regis is one game out of a three-way tie for first place, with No. 1 Colorado Mesa and Colorado Christian tied at 8-0. Chadron State is one game below .500, with one cancelled game against Highlands potentially separating it from fourth place.