RIO RANCHO, N.M.— Hometown Hero was an applicable term for Colorado Mesa University senior Brooke Hodgson as she drove in the winning run in the first extra-inning game of the entire tournament, lifting the nation's eighth-ranked Mavericks to a 4-3, 8-inning thriller over No. 22 St. Mary's (Texas) University in both team's final game of the CMU Invitational which wrapped up Sunday here at V. Sue Cleveland High School.
 
Hodgson, a graduate of the school and a 2017 All-American, went 2-for-4 with two RBI on the day and finished the 5-game tournament with 14 hits, a .667 batting average and ten RBI as the Mavericks went a perfect 5-0 with wins over two nationally-ranked teams to begin the season.
 
St Mary's (3-2), which had rallied from 3-0 down, nearly pulled out the victory in the bottom of the seventh and loaded the bases with just one out before McKenzie Surface got a called third strike against Abigale Carney before the Rattlers' third baseman Alex McLennan grounded out to Maverick counterpart Kaila Jacobi as CMU survived what was by far their most gut-check situation of the young season.
 
Lead-off speedster Maggie Manwarren was then placed on second base to begin the top of the eighth per the tournament's international tie-breaking rule.  Alexandria Dufour then put down a nice sacrifice bunt to move Manwarren to third before Hodgson hit a 0-2 pitch back up the middle to plate Manwarren with the go-ahead run.
 
The Rattlers would get out of the inning without further damage and then moved McLennan to third with a lead-off sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the eighth.  However, Surface got a ground and ended the game with her third strikeout as Rattler pinch-hitter Marcela Vasquez could not connect.
 
Surface (3-0) picked up her third win of the weekend spreading out eight hits in what was her second complete game of the weekend.
 
Hope Russell, who threw a no-hitter against Adams State on Saturday, took the loss for Rattlers and fell to 2-1 after allowing 10 hits in her complete game effort.
 
St. Mary's left 10 runners on base throughout the day while CMU left just four on.
 
Earlier in the contest, the Mavericks had jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead as Manwarren laid down a bunt for lead-off single before stealing second and moving to third on the first of Dufour's three sacrifice bunts.  Like she would do in the eighth, Hodgson then brought home Manwarren with a single up the middle before scoring herself on a Zoe Pakes double.
 
The Mavericks then added a run in the fourth as AnnMarie Torres blasted her second home run of the weekend to deep center field while Surface allowed just one hit through three innings.
 
However, the Rattlers would turn the tide in the bottom of the fourth as a 2-out, 2-run single by Taylor Germain made the score 3-2 after four.
 
The Rattlers then tied the score in the fifth on a Raynelle Nash single.

CMU had a mini-opportunity to re-gain the lead in the sixth but wasted a Torres lead-off single before the Rattlers wasted a 1-out single of their own in the bottom half of the inning.
 
The Mavericks went down 1-2-3 in the seventh before St. Mary's used a Kristal Salinas single, a Maverick error, the only one of the well-played game, and a Brenda Iparraguirre walk to load the bases before Surface's clutch strikeout turned the momentum back in the Mavericks' favor.
 
CMU will travel again next weekend heading to St. George, Utah to compete in the Dixie State Easton Classic.  They begin their 5-game slate on Thursday at 12:30 against Hawai'i-Hilo.  The Vulcans are off to a 3-0 start but play five more games before facing the Mavericks on their extended 8-day trip to the mainland.