GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Thirty games. Thirty wins.
Colorado Mesa University softball fans like the sound of that song. The rest of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference thinks the sound is a broken-record or an over-played Pop song on the radio.
Despite the difference of perspectives, no opponents have been able to stop the cycle as the nation's top-ranked Colorado Mesa University softball team, once again rallied from a late-inning deficit to claim 13-8 first game win before claiming the second, 10-2 in walk-off fashion to break the school-record for consecutive wins while taking another doubleheader from visiting Colorado School of Mines on Sunday at the CMU Softball Field.
The Mavericks had won Saturday's doubleheader in similar fashion and are now 30-0 overall and 20-0 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play to sit alone atop the conference standings as former co-leader Colorado Christian was beaten for the first time in conference play by UCCS.
In the process, the Mavericks bettered the previous school record of 29 straight mid-season wins, set by the 2016 edition of the squad.
Half (15) of the Mavericks' wins in 2018, including Sunday's second game, have been ended early via the mercy rule.
Game One
Like they did in Saturday's series opener, the visiting Orediggers (15-17, 9-11 RMAC) fought back from a decent size deficit. Trailing 5-1, the Orediggers hit four home runs and scored seven runs in the top of the fifth to take an 8-6 lead.
However, the Mavericks pulled one run back in the bottom of the fifth and then put six more runs on the board in the sixth en-route to the come-from-behind win.
Brooke Hodgson, who became the CMU and RMAC career RBI record holder on Saturday, went 4-for-5 with four more RBIs to lead the way.
Kimbri Herring earned the win in relief and moved to 11-0 on the campaign.
Hallie Smith suffered the loss for Mines, falling to 6-7 after giving up 14 hits and 13 runs, eight of which were earned, in 5 2/3 innings.
The game featured four lead changes and dramatic momentum shifts.
Mines took the early lead on a Clara Larson solo homer in the top of the first before Hodgson delivered an RBI single to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. The Mavericks also added two more runs in the frame as
Kellie Mrofcza was hit by a pitch before
Zoe Pakes hit a sacrifice fly.
CMU also added a run in the second on another Hodgson RBI single and scored two in the third on singles by Pakes and Aby Toller to extend the lead to 5-1 through three innings.
Neither team scored in the fourth before the Orediggers exploded to hit four home runs, including a 3-run shot from Larson, who gave the visitors the lead with her second round-tripper of the game.
Trailing 8-6 through 4 ½, CMU manufactured an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth on a RBI groundout by pinch-hitter
Bailey Kleespies before going to work in the sixth. Hodgson led the inning off with a double, her NCAA Division II-leading 16th of the year, and then scored two plays later on a double by
Kaila Jacobi, who went 4-for-6 at the plate throughout the day and 8-for-12 during the 4-game series.
Mrofcza then drove in the eventual game-winning run while reaching on an Oredigger error which helped extend what turned into a game-sealing 6-run rally.
Meanwhile, Herring shook off a rough start that saw her surrender two of Mines' four fifth-inning homers by retiring the final seven hitters she faced, three by strikeout.
Game Two
The Mavericks once again had a good first inning as Jacobi hit a 2-run single to plate
Maggie Manwarren and
Alexandria Dufour.
CMU then batted around in the second inning scoring four runs on four hits to extend the lead to 6-0.
Mines would rally with two fourth-inning runs before the Mavericks closed out the win with 2-run fifth and sixth innings. All four of those runs were unearned as Mines committed four errors in those innings alone and five overall in the game.
Manwarren was 3-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in the game from the lead-off spot while Jacobi went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Pakes also added a 2-for-4, 2-RBI effort while Hodgson went 1-for-4 to extend her hitting streak to 17 consecutive games.
Hodgson also picked up the complete game victory in the circle as she spread seven hits over the six innings in what was her first start in a month. She also struck out four Orediggers without walking any and is now 4-0 on the year with a 1.08 ERA.
Claire Stringfellow (6-5) took the loss after giving up 11 hits and six earned runs in her complete game effort.
The Mavericks, who have also won 32 consecutive home games since the start of the 2017 campaign, will remain at home to face Fort Lewis next Friday and Saturday. The Skyhawks split a pair of RMAC doubleheaders against Adams State in Aztec, N.M. over the weekend and will enter the series with 10-24 and 4-16 RMAC records.
