GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After out-scoring Chadron State 39-2 to sweep their first home and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference series of the season, the nation's third-ranked Colorado Mesa University Softball Team will begin a 3-week, 12-game stretch away from home, starting Friday at Adams State University.
 
The Mavericks are now 14-0 overall and 4-0 in RMAC play.
 
The 4-game series will now feature a Friday doubleheader, starting at 1 p.m., and a Saturday twin-bill, starting at noon.  The series had originally been scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
 
Adams State (3-11, 0-0 RMAC) will have live statistics on their website.  Live streaming of all four games will also be available on the RMAC Network.
 
Best Start
 
The Mavericks' 14-0 start to this season is believed to the best in the program's history, and is certainly the best in available records that date back to 1994.
 
The 2007 squad was the last Maverick team to reach double-figures without a loss as they went 12-0 to begin the season before going on to finish 27-16 overall and 25-10 in RMAC play that year.
 
As a point of reference, the 2000 Maverick squad which reached the Division II World Series started 11-3 while going 44-12 overall.
 
Still at No. 3
 
For the second straight week, the Mavericks are ranked third in the NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll.  The Mavericks are once again receiving 360 points in the polling of 16 coaches from around the country.  Only defending National Champion Minnesota State, off to a 9-0 start, and North Georgia (21-0) are ranked ahead of the Mavericks.
 
Dixie State (15-0), which joins the RMAC next year remained fourth after claiming a pair of wins over then No. 16 Concordia-Irvine on Saturday while Angelo State (17-1) rounds out the top 5.  The Mavericks handed Angelo State their only loss on the opening day of the season (Feb. 2).  West Texas A&M (11-2), also a part of the South Central Region, moved up a spot to No. 9 while Texas A&M-Commerce (13-1) jumped up four spots to No. 21.  The Lions' only loss was to the Mavericks on Feb. 4. 
 
The Mavericks also hold a win over Concordia-Irvine, now ranked 20th, and Cal Baptist, once again in the receiving votes category.
 
The No. 3 ranking is the highest in Ben Garcia's tenure with the program.  CMU was ranked eighth in the preseason poll.
 
The Mavericks were included in all but two of last year's 15 Top 25 polls.
 
Home-Field dominance
 
After sweeping the series with Chadron State, the Mavericks now have a 28-game home-field winning streak dating back to the start of the 2017 season.  The Mavericks, who went a perfect 24-0 at home in 2017, have also won 41 straight regular season home games dating back to 2016.  CMU's only two losses in the last 43 home games came in the 2016 RMAC Tournament, which the Mavericks hosted.  CMU also hosted and won the 2017 RMAC Tournament with four straight victories.
 
Speed Kills
 
The Mavericks exploited their speed in the series sweep of Chadron State as they stole 19 bases in the series.  Nine different Maverick players stole at least one base throughout the series, a group led by lead-off hitter Maggie Manwarren, who swiped six, to give her 13 on the year.
 
As a team, the Mavericks stole eight bases in the series opener and swiped six more in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader.  Manwarren had three in the opening and five in Sunday's doubleheader.
 
Nine of the stolen bases were in 1^st-and-3^rd situations, while the Mavericks successfully executed a pair of double steals plays with Kaila Jacobi and Brooke Hodgson stealing home separate games on Sunday.
 
Alexandria Dufour also scored a run on another 1^st-and-3^rd situation in the second inning of Sunday's second game, the only time the Mavericks have been statistically caught stealing in 36 total attempts this season.  Brooke Hodgson was caught in a 2-4-3 run-down on that play but successfully delayed the putout long enough for Dufour to score from third.
 
Sixth-inning Walk-off bombs
 
Kaila Jacobi hit a 3-run walk-off homer, her first of the season, in Sunday's second game against Chadron State as the Mavericks won that game via the run-rule, 11-1.   Not to be outdone, AnnMarie Torres would go on to hit a walk-off grand slam to lift the Mavericks to an 8-0 win in the third game off the series on Monday.
 
The grand slam was the second of Torres' career and the first for CMU this season.
 
Six of the Maverick's 14 wins in 2018 have come via the mercy rule.
 
And then there were nine
 
Through Tuesday, there are now just nine undefeated teams (who have played games) left in all of NCAA Division II, according to the NCAA Division II statistical report.  Only three of the other eight undefeated teams have double-figure wins. 
 
RMAC Tri-Leaders
 
The Mavericks are one of three RMAC squads that went 4-0 on the opening weekend of play.  Colorado Christian, which is 11-1 overall, swept a 4-game "home" series against New Mexico Highlands played at Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colo.  Regis also swept UCCS in Colorado Springs on Sunday and Monday.  Mines in fourth in the early conference standings at 3-1 after their series against Fort Lewis played in Aztec, N.M.  The Orediggers are at Regis for a 4-game set this weekend.  Colorado Christian is at Fort Lewis.
 
Second in 2-baggers
 
The Mavericks have already hit 37 doubles this year and are ranked second in all of NCAA Division II for doubles per game (2.64), according to statistics through Tuesday's games.  Only Minot State (N.D.), which has 44 doubles in 16 games (2.75) has hit more.
 
The Mavericks also sit sixth in the nation for fielding percentage (.981) having committed just seven errors, and are seventh in both scoring (8.86 runs/game) and slugging percentage (.580).
 
Individual standouts
 
The Mavericks also have multiple players ranked amongst the top 20 in the NCAA individual statistics.  Brooke Hodgson has hit 10 doubles, second most in the country, and is ranked fourth in doubles per game (0.71).  She is also 23rd for hits with 23.  AnnMarie Torres is fifth in the country for home runs with seven and sits 10t^h with her 0.50 per game average.  She also stands 10^th with 21 RBI and 21^st for RBI per game (1.50).  Lead-off hitter Maggie Manwarren is 11^th in the country for runs per game (1.57) and 19^th for stolen bases per game (0.93).
 
Meanwhile, pitcher McKenzie Surface is now ranked fifth in the country for wins (8) and 10th for strikeouts (58).  Fellow pitcher Kimbri Herring is 12^th in the country for strikeouts per seven innings (9.2) while Surface is 57­^th in that category at (7.3).
 
Surface nabs Pitcher of the Week plaudits
 
After throwing CMU's first no-hitter since 2014, CMU junior hurler McKenzie Surface was named as the RMAC Pitcher of the Week.  She was also recognized nationally by FPN (Fastpitch News) as the NCAA Division II Pitcher of the Week.  Surface struck out a career-high 14 batters in her no-hit effort on Chadron State and then followed that up with an 8-striekout, 1-hitter against the Eagles on Monday.  For the series, Surface recorded 22 strikeouts and two complete game shutouts, the 17th and 18th of her career, in 13 innings pitched.  She held the Eagles to a combined .025 batting average with just one hit in 40 official at-bats.
 
The RMAC honor is the second of the season for Surface, who also received the honor on Feb. 13 after going 3-0 at the Dixie State Easton Classic.
 
She is the third different Maverick to be honored by the FPN this season joining senior catcher Zoe Pakes and sophomore first baseman AnnMarie Torres, who were recognized as the NCAA Division II Players of the Week on Feb. 6 and 13, respectively.
 
Brooke Hodgson was chosen as the Louisville Slugger/NFCA NCAA Division II National Player of the Week on Feb. 7 as well.
 
Over-shadowed but stellar
 
Although Surface's no-hitter deservedly took the limelight, CMU's other two pitchers also had solid efforts against Chadron State.  Junior Kimbri Herring had a career-high nine strikeouts and allowed just three hits and a single run in Game 2 of the series on Chadron State.  She then came back to record five strikeouts while allowing just two hits in two innings of relief in the final game of the series.
 
Brooke Hodgson threw the first five innings of that game and allowed just four hits and one unearned run.
 
In total, the Maverick pitching staff gave up just 10 hits and two runs, only one of which was earned, while holding Eagle hitters to a combined .115 batting average throughout the weekend sweep.  The team's ERA was 0.27 for the weekend and now stands at a RMAC-leading 2.33.
 
RMAC dominance under Garcia

Ben Garcia is in his fourth season as the Mavericks' Head Coach.  Named as the RMAC Coach of the Year in 2016, he has guided the Mavericks to 135 wins and a .754 winning percentage in his first 179 games (135-44) at CMU.  The Mavericks, who have advanced to the last two South Central Regional Championship games, are also a combined 102-18 (.850) in RMAC games and 113-22 (.837) against RMAC foes –-counting non-conference and RMAC Tournament games— under Garcia.
 
CMU has won the last two RMAC Championships under Garcia with 35-4 (2017) and 35-3 (2016) conference records.  The Mavericks also finished second in the 2015 standings in Garcia's first season claiming 28 wins, equal to MSU Denver's total from that year.
 
The back-to-back 35 RMAC win seasons are two of the third best in RMAC history behind only MSU Denver's 2010 37-RMAC win campaign.
 
The Mavericks have won 19 more RMAC games than any other team in the past two years (MSU Denver, 51) and have also won 21 more than the Roadrunners (81) since Garcia joined the Mavericks.

Prior to coming to CMU in July of 2014, Garcia served as the head coach at Otero Junior College for three seasons.  He posted a 143-42 mark at Otero including a pair of Region IX Championships in 2013 and 2014.

Garcia was also highly successful at the high school rankings winning over 400 games in 21 years as head coach at Pueblo East. He led the Eagles to 19 state tournament appearances, including the state title in 2012 and four runner-up appearances.
 
Scouting the Grizzlies 

Adams State will enter the weekend series with a 3-11 overall record.  Their scheduled RMAC series at Black Hills State last weekend was cancelled due to weather although the Grizzlies did play four non-conference games at Regis the previous weekend (Feb. 17-18).  They lost all four of those and have dropped six straight since defeating Texas A&M International on Feb. 9 at a tournament in San Angelo, Texas.
 
The Grizzlies also participated in the Feb. 2-4 CMU Invitational that the Mavericks hosted in Rio Rancho, N.M.  They went 1-4 that weekend.
 
Veteran coach Dervin Taylor's squad finished 20-31 in 2017 and qualified for the RMAC Tournament as the No. 7 seed with an 18-20 RMAC record.  They were tied for seventh in this year's RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll and had one Preseason All-RMAC selection in junior shortstop Tyler Hays, who hails from Grand Junction.
 
Hays is hitting .282 with five extra-base hits, including two home runs, and is second on the team in slugging percentage at .538 while driving in six runs.  She has made 10 defensive errors.
 
Shelby Haskins is the Grizzlies' leading hitter with a .417 batting average and .563 on-base percentage.  She has drawn eight walks and has 10 hits in 24 at bats.  Stephanie Huff leads the team with 11 RBI.
 
The Grizzlies have used four different pitchers, including Kacee Schroeder who leads the team with a 6.11 ERA in 10 appearances spanning 18 1/3 innings.  She has only started one game and is 0-2 with a save.
 
Whitney Fields has started eight games, two of which she has completed.  She has a 3-5 record and has thrown a team-high 26 1/3 innings.  She leads the team with 20 strikeouts but also has a 12.49 ERA.
 
The Mavericks are 10-1 against the Grizzlies under Garcia, sweeping last year's series in Grand Junction.  The Mavericks also won both games of a weather-shortened 2016 series in Alamosa and won an RMAC Tournament game against them later that season as well.  CMU also claimed victory in three of the four games of a 2016 home series.
 
Up Next 

After this weekend's series, the Mavericks will continue their stretch of 12 straight away from home at New Mexico Highlands on Mar. 10-11.  They are then at UCCS on Mar. 17-18 before returning home to play 16 of their next 20, starting Mar. 24 and 25 against the Colorado School of Mines.