GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After outscoring Adams State 57-9 last weekend in their first true away series of the season, the undefeated and now No. 1 ranked Colorado Mesa University Maverick softball team will once again be on the road as they face New Mexico Highlands University in a 4-game weekend Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference series in Las Vegas, N.M.
 
The doubleheaders against the Cowgirls are slated to begin at noon on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday.
 
The Mavericks are currently 18-0 overall and tied for the RMAC lead with their 8-0 conference mark.
 
Highlands enters the weekend 4-12 overall and 0-7 in conference playing after dropping a 3-game shortened series at Chadron State last weekend before winning two non-conference games against Eastern New Mexico on Tuesday.
 
No. 1
 
The Mavericks are ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time in program history.  The Mavericks took over that spot in this week's NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll after sitting in the No. 3 spot for each of the previous two weeks.  The Mavericks received eight of the possible 18 first place votes in some tight voting and snagged the top spot with 389 points. 
 
North Georgia, now 26-1 on the season, remained in the No. 2 spot after losing their first game of the year to Coker (S.C.) on Sunday.  The Nighthawks received a poll-leading nine first place votes and have 385 points overall. 
 
Future RMAC rival Dixie State moved up a spot to No. 3 with 378 points.  Like the Mavericks, the Trailblazers are also 18-0.
 
Former No. 1 and defending national champion Minnesota State lost two games on Sunday and fell to ninth. 
 
Angelo State, which is now 21-1 after a doubleheader sweep of Central Oklahoma on Wednesday, is now ranked fourth.  The Rambelles' lone loss came to CMU on Feb. 2.
 
The Mavericks also hold wins over No. 11 Texas A&M-Commerce, No. 19 Concordia-Irvine and Cal Baptist, which is receiving votes in the poll.
 
Best Start
 
The Mavericks' 18-0 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 14-4 while going 44-12 overall.
 
And then there were three
 
Through Tuesday, the Mavericks are one of just three unbeaten squads in all of NCAA Division II.  The Mavericks and future RMAC rival Dixie State are both 18-0.  The other undefeated teams is Southern New Hampshire, which is 6-0.  Millersville (Pa.) lost its' first game on Tuesday.
 
Runs and Run-Rule wins
 
In their eight RMAC games this game, the Mavericks have already scored 89 runs, an average of 11.13 per game and have outscored Chadron State and Adams State by a combined 78 runs (89-11).  Five of the Maverick's eight conference wins have come via the run-rule and all have been in six innings.
 
Overall, the Mavericks have out-scored their opponents 181-44 and have won eight games via the mercy rule.
 
The Mavericks are currently ranked third in the national statistics with their 10.06 run per game average.
 
Other Top 10 rankings
 
In addition to their run-scoring prowess, the Mavericks are also ranked amongst the nation's top 10 in five other offensive categories and lead the RMAC in each.  They lead the country in doubles per game (2.78) after banging out 50 so far this season.  CMU is also ranked second in NCAA Division II for team batting average (.383), third for slugging percentage (.631), sixth in on-base percentage (.452) and ninth for home runs per game (1.28) after driving out 23 balls out of the yard.
 
Glove work
 
The Mavericks were guilty of just one error in the entire Adams State series and have committed just four in RMAC play and eight overall.  They currently lead the RMAC and rank seventh nationally with their .982 team fielding percentage.
 
Hit parade
 
The Mavericks tallied 62 hits in the 4-game series against Adams State and hit .466 as a team throughout the weekend.  They had a season-high 20 hits in the series opener, a 22-4 victory, recording 14 in the sixth inning alone, an inning that saw the Mavericks score 14 runs while batting around twice.
 
CMU then matched that season-best total with another 20 hits in Saturday's 19-4 run-rule win and scored nine runs in the sixth inning of that game.
 
All but one Maverick who had an at-bat over the weekend hit .400 or better throughout the series.
 
Herring nabs pitching honor
 
CMU junior Kimbri Herring was named as the RMAC's Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday after recording 25 strikeouts while giving up just six hits a single run in 14 innings of work against the Grizzlies.  After striking out two in an inning of relief in the series opener on Friday, she had a career-high 12 strikeouts in a complete-game 6-1 victory in the second game of that doubleheader.
 
Herring then came back to pitch a 2-hit, 11-strikeout gem to record her first shutout of the season on Saturday in the 10-0 series finale, which went six innings.  She held the Grizzlies to a .125 batting average.
 
Overall, Herring is now 5-0 this season and has completed three of her four starts.  In 33 innings over eight appearances she has recorded 50 strikeouts, a 1.91 ERA and has held opponents to a .190 batting average.
 
McKenzie Surface has also earned a pair of RMAC Pitcher of the Week accolades.
 
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.
 
The Mavericks are next at home on Mar. 24 and 25 against the Colorado School of Mines.
 
Long-ball streak
 
CMU senior Brooke Hodgson hit a home run in each of the four games of the Adams State series and now has hit five home runs this season.  She also drove in an impressive 13 runs throughout the series and has moved up to second in the entire nation with her 32 RBIs this season.
 
AnnMarie Torres is 11^th in the country with 25 home runs and places the team with seven home runs to rank seventh nationally.  Zoe Pakes also hit two home runs in the series against the Grizzlies and has five on the campaign.
 
Hodgson went 9-for-15 (.600) and slugged at a 1.400 clip against the Grizzlies while Pakes went 6-for-12 (.500) while slugging at a 1.250 pace over the weekend.
 
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 139 wins and a .760 winning percentage in his first 183 games (139-44) at CMU.  The Mavericks, who have advanced to the last two South Central Regional Championship games, are also a combined 106-18 (.855) in RMAC games and 117-22 (.842) 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 24 more RMAC games than any other team in the past 2 ½ seasons (MSU Denver, 54) and have also won 24 more than the Roadrunners (82) 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 Cowgirls
 
New Mexico Highlands will enter this weekend's series with a 4-12 overall record but still in search of their first RMAC wins.  The Cowgirls swept a non-conference doubleheader from Eastern New Mexico at home on Tuesday in what were their first home games of the season.  Those victories avenged two earlier losses to the Greyhounds in Portales, N.M. 
 
They had dropped each of their previous nine games as they were swept in a neutral-site 4-game series by RMAC co-leading Colorado Christian in La Junta, Colo. on Feb. 24 and 25 before losing all three games in a shortened series at Chadron State last weekend. 
 
Entering Tuesday's games, junior Hailey Rodriguez was leading the team with a .529 batting average while freshman Isabella Scarale was hitting .458 while leading the team with three home runs and nine RBI.
 
Scarale also led the team in innings pitched with 33 to go along with a 1-5 record and 12.30 ERA in 10 appearances and five starts.  Brianna Velasquez (1-1, 7.30 ERA) and Desiree Bogarin (0-6, 7.62 ERA) are the other members of the Cowgirl pitching staff.  Bogarin had made six starts and 10 appearances while Velasqez had made five appearances with three starts heading into Tuesday's games.
 
The Mavericks are 10-1 against the Cowgirls under Ben Garcia and have won nine straight games against them dating back to 2015, when the Cowgirls won the second of a 4-game series in Grand Junction. 
 
CMU has not played the Cowgirls in Las Vegas, N.M. since 2014 and swept a 4-game series on Mar. 15 and 16 of that year.
 
Up Next
 
After this weekend's series, the Mavericks will continue their stretch of 12 straight away 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.