     The season came to an end Friday morning for the Chadron State softball team as they were eliminated from the RMAC Tournament by Colorado Mesa 2-0.Â
As in Thursday’s opening 9-4 loss to Regis, when the Eagles gave up 8 unearned runs, both of today’s runs were unearned.
The Eagles committed an error in both the 2nd and 4th innings leading to single runs both times to spoil 1 a solid performance by pitcher Tori Haug, who gave up just 5 hits and a pair of walks.
     The Eagles had only 4 hits themselves. Lauren Zimmerman and Ashland Baca both had 2 out singles in the 4th, J’Lyssa Martinez singled in the 5th, and Zimmerman singled again in the 6th.Â
Chadron State had runners on 1st and 2nd in both the 4th and 5th innings but were unable to bring them home.
It looked like the Eagles did score in the 4th when Bailey Steinke, a senior from tournament host Lakewood, CO, singled between shortstop and 2nd to bring Jessi Henchenski home.
Mesa challenged the play, arguing Steinke was out of the batter’s box. The home plate umpire agreed and the at-bat was redone.
This time, the Maverick shortstop made a spectacular play and threw out Steinke at 1st to keep the Eagles scoreless.
Those were also the only baserunners for CSC as Mesa played errorless ball and pitcher Hannah Sattler gave up no walks while also not striking out anyone.
Chadron State finishes the year 27-26 with 16 more wins and 11 fewer losses than a year ago. It’s their first winning season since 2017 and first RMAC tourney appearance since 2018.