GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University senior Brooke Hodgson hit a pair of second game home runs and broke the Maverick and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference record for career RBIs as the nation's top-ranked Mavericks returned home for the first time in nearly a month to sweep a Saturday afternoon doubleheader from the visiting Colorado School of Mines Orediggers in walk-off fashion at the CMU Softball Stadium.
 
Hodgson had a game-tying RBI in the bottom half of the sixth in game one as the still perfect Mavericks came from 5-4 down to survive a scare in a 6-5 first game win.  The Rio Rancho, N.M. native then hit a 3-run homer to put the Mavericks up 3-0 in the first inning of game two before blasting a record-breaking 2-run shot to left in the sixth inning of the Mavericks' 12-3, 6-inning run-rule victory.  Abby Toller also hit home runs in the game, the second of which clinched the victory, CMU's 14^th mercy-rule win of the campaign.
 
Hodgson now has 245 career RBI, the most of any active player in all of NCAA Division II, one more than former teammate Makayla Kovac had in her 2013-2016 career.  She had six on Saturday alone, including the five during her 2-for-4 second game effort, and has 59 this season, an impressive average of 2.11 per game, and just two fewer than RMAC member Black Hills State has as an entire team in 24 games this season.
 
With Saturday's wins, the Mavericks improved to 28-0 overall and to 18-0 in RMAC play.  Mines slipped to .500 at 15-15 (9-9 RMAC) heading into a Sunday doubleheader, which will begin at 11 a.m.
 
The Mavericks have also won 30 consecutive home games over the last two seasons and could match and surpass the school-record for consecutive wins in any sport if they are able to sweep another doubleheader on Sunday.
 
The 2016 Maverick softball squad, which featured Kovac and Hodgson, won 29 straight games from Feb. 27-Apr. 17 of that season.
 
Game 1
 
As the Mavericks have done all season, they jumped out to an early lead. 
 
CMU took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first as AnnMarie Torres hit an RBI double to plate Alexandria Dufour before a Kaila Jacobi single scored Torres.  The Mavericks also added a second inning run thanks to one of the Orediggers' four errors to build a 3-0 lead.
 
However, Mines pulled two back on a Megan Dickson homer in the top of the fourth before Bailey Kleespies answered back with a home run of her own, her second of the campaign to double the Maverick's advantage to 4-2.
 
Valiantly, the Orediggers then scored three runs in the top of the sixth as a 2-run Lauren Dempsey double put the visitors on top, 5-4.
 
Facing their first deficit of any kind since Feb. 10, a stretch of 17 games, and their first late-inning (5^th inning on) deficit since Feb. 8, the Mavericks responded in the bottom of the sixth as lead-off hitter Maggie Manwarren reached on an Oredigger error before Dufour was hit by a pitch to move the Maverick speedster to second.  Hodgson then delivered the game-tying run on a single up the middle as Manwarren beat the throw home to tie the game at 5.  Dufour and Hodgson also alertly moved up bases on the play setting up Torres for a go-ahead sacrifice fly.
 
Maverick pitcher McKenzie Surface then closed the door on the Orediggers despite a 1-out single and 2-out walk gave the visitors a chance.  She improved to 15-0 with the victory as she struck out six Mines hitters.
 
The Orediggers out-hit the Mavericks 10-8 in the game as a solid performance from Claire Stringfellow was wasted. Stringfellow, now 6-4, allowed eight hits and six runs, only three of which were earned.
 
Game 2
 
The Mavericks would take an early 5-0 lead with five first-inning runs as Manwarren and Dufour both beat out bunt singles before Hodgson's no-doubt bomb moved her within one of Kovac's records.
 
Torres then followed that up with a double before moving to third on a Jacobi sacrifice bunt and scoring on a passed ball.
 
Toller then made the score 5-0 with her first home run of the day.
 
Neither team would score for the next 3 ½ innings.   
 
However, Hodgson reached on a throwing error to begin the bottom of the fifth before scoring on a Kaila Jacobi RBI double.  Jacobi then scored CMU's second run of the inning and seventh overall on yet another Oredigger error.

Trailing 7-0, Mines did make it a game in the top of the sixth as Dickson hit her second homer of the day, a 2-run blast, before Dempsey hit a solo shot to close the gap to 7-3.
 
The Mavericks got out of the inning and then went to work in the bottom of the sixth as Manwarren beat out another infield bunt single before stealing second and moving to third on a Dufour sacrifice, which set up Hodgson for her record-breaking homer (VIDEO), which is her team and RMAC co-leading 11^th of the campaign.
 
Leading 9-3 at that point, the Mavericks were not done as Torres walked before Jacobi, who was 4-for-6 with a walk and a sacrifice throughout the twin-bill, hit a single to key Toller for the 3-run walk-off blast down the left field line.
 
Kimbri Herrring was solid in the circle for the Mavs as she struck out nine Orediggers while spreading out five hits.  In the process, she improved to 10-0 although her streak of three consecutive games and 22 straight innings without allowing an earned run was snapped in the top of the sixth.
 
Meanwhile, eight different Mavericks combined for 14 hits as Toller went 3-for-4 with four RBI.
 
Mines starter Hallie Smith suffered the loss for the Orediggers as all four Mavericks she faced recorded hits and scored.  After a 3-out Maddie Rodgers relief appearance, Sydney Marchando went the rest of the way for Mines in the circle giving up nine hits and seven runs, five of which were earned, in her 4 1/3 innings of work.