GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University junior pitchers McKenzie Surface and Kimbri Herring each threw 2-hit, 11-strikeout shutouts while the nation's best hitting squad banged out 21 hits en-route to 8-0 and 10-0 run-rule victories over visiting Fort Lewis College on Friday afternoon at the CMU Softball Stadium.
 
The nation's top-ranked Mavericks remained undefeated with the wins and are now 32-0 overall and 22-0 in RMAC play.  The Skyhawks, who were guilty of six errors in the doubleheader, fell to 10-26 overall and to 4-18 in the RMAC.  Those errors were costly as 10 of the Mavericks' 18 total runs throughout the day ended up being unearned.
 
Seventeen of the Mavericks' 32 victories have been claimed via the mercy-rule.
 
Alexandria Dufour led the Mavericks at the plate going 5-for-6 with four RBIs throughout the twin-bill.
 
AnnMarie Torres also hit a 2-run homer in the first game, her 11^th of the campaign, while Brooke Hodgson went 3-for-5 with three more RBI to add to her RMAC career record.  Abby Toller, who did play in the first game, then went 3-for-3 with three doubles in the second.
 
Game 1
 
The Mavericks scored three runs in the first inning as Torres hit a 2-run bomb of the scoreboard in left center after lead-off hitter Maggie Manwarren walked, stole second and scored on the Skyhawks' first error.
 
Meanwhile, Surface struck out seven of the first 10 hitters she faced allowing just an infield single in the third and a lead-off single in the fifth, which was quickly erased with a lineout double play to Dufour.
 
Surface needed just 92 pitches to record her 16^th win and fifth shutout of the season as only three Skyhawks reached base safely, the last via an error in the top of the sixth.
 
Earlier, the Mavericks would plate four runs in the fourth to take a 7-0 lead.  Zoe Pakes triggered that run as battled through a 17-pitch bat to hit a 1-out single before Hailey Hinson singled.  After another Skyhawk error that loaded the bases, Dufour hit a 3-run double to clear them.
 
Hodgson then recorded her 250^th career RBI with a single up the middle to score Dufour.
 
Later in the game, the Mavericks would manufacture a sixth-inning run to claim the run-rule victory in walk-off fashion as Hodgson hit a game-ending sacrifice fly to score Manwarren, who had hit a bunt single before stealing second and moving up to third on a Dufour single.
 
Manwarren went 3-for-6 and scored five runs in the doubleheader while swiping four bases, two in each game.
 
Game 2
 
The Mavericks, who made four changes to their Game 1 starting lineup, would again score multiple runs in the first inning as all three of CMU's first three hitters singled.  Hodgson had the last of those base hits to score Manwarren before Dufour scored on a Torres RBI fielder's choice giving the Mavericks a 2-0 lead after one inning.
 
The Mavericks then scored six runs in the bottom of the third, five of which were unearned thanks to a pair of Skyhawk errors contributed to the extended rally.  Hodgson started it with her national-leading 17^th double of the season and later scored on an error.  Toller then hit the second of her two doubles to plate two more runs while Kellie Mrofcza, and Dufour added RBI singles before Manwarren stole home in a perfectly executed double steal with Dufour.
 
CMU then added two insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth as Toller hit her third double to score Sarah Staudle moments before reserve third baseman Bailey Kleespies plated Toller with an RBI single.
 
Meanwhile, Herring was dominate from inside the circle retiring the first eight hitters she faced, five by strikeout.
 
She allowed just two 2-out singles and struck out the side in the top of the fifth to cap the 5-inning victory.  She needed just 86 total pitches and struck out 11 of the 17 hitters she faced, just two above the minimum.
 
In the process, Herring improved to 12-0 with her fourth shutout of the season while lowering her RMAC-leading ERA to 1.69.
 
Both Maverick pitchers have now had four double-digit strikeout efforts this season.
 
The two teams will square off in another doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m. as the Mavericks will look to extend what is now a 34-game home-field winning streak that dates back to the start of 2017.