GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After clinching their third straight and fourth Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title in the last five years with a weekend-sweep of CSU-Pueblo, the Colorado Mesa University softball team (43-3, 33-3 RMAC) will begin the post-season this week, hosting the RMAC Tournament at the CMU Softball Stadium.
 
The 3-day, 8-team, double-elimination affair begins Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m.  The top-seeded Mavericks will play their first game against eighth-seeded Chadron State at 3:15 p.m. in the fourth overall game of the tournament.
 
Six games will be played on Thursday with another six scheduled for Friday.  Those will reduce the field to three teams, who will battle it out for the tournament title and an automatic berth into the South Central Regional portion of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
Title #11
 
The Mavericks have now won 11 official RMAC Championships, four more than any other institution.  They have won four of the last five and are now the first school to win three straight outright crowns* since Nebraska-Kearney won four straight from 1996-99 after claiming a 1995 Mile High Intercollegiate Softball League title before the RMAC officially resumed official sponsorship of the sport in 1996.
 
The Mavericks also won RMAC titles in 1982, 1983, 1989, 1992, 2000, 2002, 2007 and 2014.
 
The Lopers, who are no longer RMAC members, are second in conference history with seven crowns.
 
*-Colorado Mines did win 2012 and 2013 RMAC titles after sharing the top spot with MSU Denver in 2012.  MSU Denver had won the 2010 and 2011 crowns.
 
Looking to repeat
 
The Mavericks will be looking to repeat their 2017 RMAC Tournament Championship run as well.   A year ago, the Mavericks went 4-0, defeating New Mexico Highlands, Chadron State and the Colorado School of Mines (twice) to win their first RMAC Tournament title since 2000.
 
If they are able to repeat this weekend, the Mavericks would be the first team since MSU-Denver (2009-10) to win back-to-back tournament titles.  The Roadrunners won both those titles in Denver defeating the Mavericks in the championship game of each.
 
Hosting is nothing new
 
Thanks to their RMAC regular season titles as of late, the Mavericks are no strangers to hosting the post-season tournament.  In fact, they have hosted the tournament six previous times this century (2001, 2002, 2007, 2014, 2016, 2017).  However, they were only able to take advantage of hosting to win the tournament last year.   The Mavericks went 0-2 in 2014 and 2016 and lost in the championship games in both 2001 and 2002.  In 2001, the tournament winner (CSU-Pueblo) was recognized as the official RMAC Champion.  The same was the case in 2000 when the Mavericks won the crown in Kearney, Neb.
 
Campus is buzzing
 
The CMU campus and surrounding area will be a hub of sporting activity this weekend.  CMU will also be hosting the RMAC Men's Lacrosse Championship for the third straight year on Friday and Saturday at Walker Field after the nation's 10^th-ranked Mavericks completed a perfect 8-0 RMAC season, the first undefeated season in RMAC men's lacrosse history, with an overtime win at Westminster last weekend.  The Mavericks have won three straight RMAC and four straight overall league titles (2015-Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association).
 
Meanwhile, the nationally-ranked CMU baseball team took three of four games at Mines last weekend to re-take the lead in the RMAC standings.  They are guaranteed of another RMAC title, which would be their seventh straight and 25^th overall, and the right to host next week's RMAC Baseball Championship Tournament if they sweep a home series with MSU Denver that gets underway Thursday at 6:05 with Fireworks Night festivities at Suplizio Field.
 
Meanwhile, the CMU Club Cycling Team and the Greater Grand Junction Sports Commission, which is housed on campus, will be hosting the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships Friday-Sunday in downtown Grand Junction and the surrounding area.
 
The Colorado High School Athletic Association will also be hosting a regional tennis tournament and state tournament qualifier at CMU's Elliott Tennis Center on Thursday and Friday.
 
Three straight 40s
 
The Mavericks have now reached the 40-win mark in each of the last three years and have six such seasons in the NCAA Division II portion of their history, which dates back to 1992.  They set a school-record for single-season winning percentage (.857) last year, going 48-8, but currently have a .935 percentage this year.  The 2016 Mavericks went 40-13. 
 
The Mavericks also won 40 or more games in three straight years from 2000-02 winning a school-record 49 games in 2002 (49-13), two years after going 44-12 while reaching the Division II Women's College World Series in 2000.  The 2001 team went 41-12.
 
Remaining atop the region
 
The Mavericks remained in the No. 1 spot of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings for the third straight week, it was announced on Wednesday.  That puts the Mavericks in the pole position to potentially host both a 4-team regional next week (May 10-12) and a best-of-three Super Regional series on May 17-18.
 
The top two teams in the rankings following this weekend's conference tournaments will host 4-team regionals.  The highest remaining seed after those tournaments will have the right to host the Super Regional, which will send the winner to the Division II Women's College World Series, to be played May 24-28 in Salem, Va.
 
Angelo State, which will host the Lone Star Conference tournament, remained in the No. 2 position while West Texas A&M remained in the No. 3 spot.  Texas A&M-Commerce flip-flopped with Tarleton State to move into fourth while Cameron moved up a spot to sixth after winning the first of three games at Angelo State last weekend.
 
Regis also moved up a spot to seventh after sweeping Black Hill State last weekend, partially because Colorado Christian dropped two spots to eighth after splitting a 4-game series at Mines last weekend.
 
St. Mary's jumped into the rankings at the No. 9 spot and will host this week's Heartland Conference Tournament while Texas A&M-Kingsville remains in the NO. 10 spot.
 
The winners of the Heartland, Lone Star and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournaments will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Division II Tournament.  The regional rankings will determine the seeding and five at-large selections, which will be announced on Monday morning.
 
Top three streak continues
 
The Mavericks remained in the No. 3 spot of the NFCA Division II Coaches' Poll that was released Wednesday.  The Mavericks, who were ranked first for seven straight weeks, received 369 points in this week's poll and have been ranked third in the Week No. 1, 2 and 10 polls after sitting eighth in the preseason. 
 
They have been ranked in the top three for all 11 regular season polls this season.
 
North Georgia (53-2) remained in the top spot of the poll with 399 points.  Chico State (47-3), riding a 22-game winning streak, is second with 384 points.
 
North Alabama (42-5) moved up a spot to fourth while Winona State (41-5) moved up two spots into the top five.
 
Further down the poll, Angelo State remained in the No. 6 spots as the second of five South Central Regional teams in the top 15.  That group also includes now tenth-ranked West Texas A&M, No. 13 Texas A&M-Commerce and No. 15 (tie) Tarleton State.
 
The Mavericks hold wins over four other teams currently in the poll defeating Angelo State and Texas A&M-Commerce on back-to-back days (Feb. 2 &3) at the CMU Invitational in Rio Rancho, N.M. The Mavericks then defeated No. 12 Concordia Irvine and No. 15 (tie) California Baptist on the following weekend at the Dixie State Easton Classic.
 
Colorado Christian, is once again in the "receiving votes" category of the poll, picking up a single point.
 
A Baker's Dozen
 
The Mavericks had a conference-high dozen players earn All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference awards that were announced Tuesday.  Head Coach Bennie Garcia was also named as the RMAC Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three years (2016).
 
The Mavericks had a RMAC-leading four first team selections in senior outfielders Brooke Hodgson and Maggie Manwarren, junior pitcher McKenzie Surface and sophomore first baseman AnnMarrie Torres.  Hodgson, now a 4-time First Team All-RMAC pick, was also named as the RMAC Offensive Player of the Year after sharing those honors in 2017.  Manwarren was also named as the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year, an award Hodgson won in 2016.  Surface is now a 3-time First Team All-RMAC pick. Torres earned second team honors and was the RMAC Co-Freshman of the Year in 2017.
 
The Mavericks also had six second team selections in 4-time overall all-RMAC honoree Zoe Pakes, a senior catcher, junior pitcher Kimbri Herring, junior infielders Alexandria Dufour (2B), Kellie Mrofcza (SS) and Kaila Jacobi (3B), and sophomore outfielder Hailey Hinson.
 
Sophomore Bailey Kleespies and senior Abby Toller were recognized with honorable mention status at the designated player and utility positions, respectively.
 
Already tied for second
 
Despite having this year's post-season and all of her senior year remaining, Maverick junior pitcher McKenzie Surface is already tied for second in RMAC history for career victories.  She picked up her 69^th and 70^th of her career in last weekend's series against CSU-Pueblo to move into what is a 3-way tie for the No. 2 spot with Kelly Unkrich (Mines, 2010-13) and Kerri Chase (CSU-Pueblo, 1999-2001) in the RMAC record book.  Surface, who broke Melanie Meuchel's 17-year old CMU record against Colorado Christian the week before, is just eight wins away from the RMAC record of 78, currently held by Regis' Kaitlyn Gentert (2005-08).  Surface is 21-1 this year and leads the RMAC in winning percentage (.955) while ranking second in total wins, just two shy of Kenzie Mattey of Colorado Christian, who is 23-7.
 
Surface also ranks eighth in RMAC history for career strikeouts (480) and broke the school record as a sophomore.  She has also completed 63 of her 82 career starts and already ranks fifth in RMAC history for career complete games.  Surface has completed 19 of her 25 starts this season and has tallied 141 strikeouts.  She is third in the RMAC for both of those categories this season.
 
Standing out in the classroom
 
The Mavericks not only win on the field, but are also at the head of their class, academically. Led by repeat RMAC Academic Player of the Year McKenzie Surface, the Mavericks had a RMAC-high six First Team and conference-leading overall selections to the RMAC's All-Academic Team that were announced last week.
 
Joining Surface on the 12-player first team were Hailey Hinson, Brooke Hodgson, Kaila Jacobi, Magie Manwarren and Zoe Pakes.  No other RMAC school had more than three first team selections (Regis). 
 
The Mavericks 13 overall selections were also four more than Regis.
 
Two days, two RMAC records
 
The Mavericks broke a pair of long-standing Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference team records over the weekend in their series sweep at CSU-Pueblo.
 
On Saturday, the Mavericks banged out three doubles in each game of the doubleheader and six overall to surpass the Colorado School of Mines' former record for doubles in a season (112 in 2009).  The Mavericks entered the weekend just two shy of that mark and then hit five more doubles in Sunday's doubleheader.  They now have a national-leading 121 and are averaging 2.63 per game, a mark that is currently fifth in Division II history.  The 121 total doubles are already the 12^th most in Division II history.
 
On Sunday, the Mavericks surpassed the RMAC record for runs in a season when Bailey Kleespies hit a 3-run homerun in the seventh inning of the Mavericks' 16-6 first-game win.  That homer put the Mavericks at 453, one more than the former record of 452 set by the 53-6 MSU-Denver squad, which played 59 games.  The Mavericks needed just 45 games to break the record and currently have a NCAA-leading 457 runs, while conceding just 107.  The Mavericks are ranked second in the nation for scoring average at 9.93 runs per game, trailing only Benedict (S.C.), which has put up 9.97 runs per contest en-route to a 23-13 campaign thus far.
 
The 457 runs scored is already the 18^th best team total in NCAA Division II history.
 
A 1-2 Finish?
 
Maverick outfielders Brooke Hodgson and Maggie Manwarren are locked in a battle for the NCAA lead in runs scored and both have a very strong chance at setting the RMAC record for runs in a season.  Hodgson scored seven runs in last weekend's series at CSU-Pueblo and now has touched the plate 72 times this season.  Manwarren is right behind with 71 after scoring six times against the ThunderWolves.  Hodgson is now tied for third in RMAC history for runs in a season and trails the record of 73 by just one.  Manwarren is now tied for the fifth most runs in RMAC history.   The CMU and RMAC record is 73, and was set by CMU's Kelly Adams (2000) and matched by UCCS' Stacy Haney in 2007.
 
RUN-ing towards more records
 
Hodgson has also now scored 228 runs in her career and is just two shy of the RMAC record of 230, currently held by MSU-Denver's Amber Roundtree (2008-11).  Hodgson set the school-record over the weekend surpassing Mekayla Kovac's former mark of 222, which had been the second best (now third) career runs total in RMAC history.
 
Symbiotic relationship
 
Hodgson, who has hit mostly in the No. 3 spot in the Maverick lineup this season, is also leading the country in RBIs with 87, 17 more than her own former school-record of 70, which had been set in 2017.  A large part of that can be attributed to how well Manwarren and Alexandria Dufour have done at getting on and advancing bases.  Manwarren is third in the conference with her .464 batting average and ranks fourth in the RMAC with her .524 on-base percentage.  She also leads the RMAC with 42 stolen bases and has been caught just once.
 
Meanwhile, Dufour is hitting a solid .378, has stolen 19 bases in 22 attempts and leads the RMAC with nine sacrifice hits, three more than any other player in the conference.  Manwarren is tied for second in that category with seven.  Dufour has also scored 54 run to rank fifth in the RMAC.
 
Dufour had started the first 44 games of the year in the No. 2 spot in the Mavericks' lineup.  She did not play in Sunday's first game as Garcia gave a total of 12 different hitters starts in the CSU-Pueblo series.  Dufour then hit seventh in the regular season finale.  Kellie Mrofcza hit in the No. 2 spot of both games of Sunday's doubleheader.
 
Every general, needs a strong lieutenant
 
Sophomore AnnMarie Torres, often nicknamed Lieutenant Ann on the @colomesab Twitter account, has played mostly in the clean-up spot (fourth) of the Maverick lineup this year and has done a fine job en-route to First Team All-RMAC honors.  Hitting behind Brooke Hodgson, Torres has driven in 65 runs to rank second in the RMAC and third nationally.  She has also cranked out 20 doubles, third most in the RMAC and sixth most in NCAA Division II and has hit 12 home runs, fourth most in the conference.   
 
Hitting .424 to rank eighth in overall batting average, Torres has recorded 117 total bases and a .842 slugging percentage, good for 13^th in the RMAC.  She's also drawn 29 walks, second most in the RMAC. Defensively, she's committed just one error in 205 total chances at first base, good for an impressive .995 fielding percentage.
 
NFCA Top 25
 
Hodgson was named to the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II Player of the Year Top 25 finalists list, which was announced by the organization earlier this week.  The reigning RMAC Player of the Year and 2018 Preseason RMAC Player of the Year was the only RMAC player to have made the cut is leading the country in RBIs (87), RBIs per game (1.89), doubles (24), runs (72) and runs per game (1.54).  She also ranks second in nation for both total bases (155), total hits (83) and is third in the nation for batting average (.512) and doubles per game (0.52), hits (76).  Hodgson also ranks seventh in the nation for slugging percentage (.957) and 10th for on-base percentage (.543).
 
In her career, Hodgson has driven in 273 runs and set broke both the CMU and RMAC record for career RBIs on Mar. 25 against Mines.  She has more career RBIs than any other active NCAA Division II player, is now tied for second in the national record book with Alabama-Huntsville's Kaitlyn Bannister, who finished her 4-year career with the Chargers in 2017 with 273.  Jackie Aiken of Wisconsin-Parkside (1994-97) holds the national record of 344.
 
Aiken also holds the NCAA Division II single-season record of 110 set in 1995.  The RMAC record for single-season RBIs is 93, set by UCCS's Stacy Haney in 2007.  Hodgson's total of 87 is already the second best single-season RMAC history and just six away from Haney's mark.
 
What a staff
 
The Mavericks pitching strength does not only come from McKenzie Surface.  CMU's other two pitchers Kimbri Herring and Brooke Hodgson have also got the job done in the circle this year.
 
Herring's 2018 numbers are comparable to Surface and in many cases even better.  The Stansbury, Utah native who spent her first collegiate season at Snow College before transferring to CMU for the 2017 season ranks second in the RMAC with her 1.98 ERA and has held opponents to a RMAC-low .218 batting average.  She is 17-1 with five shutouts and also ranks sixth in the entire country for strikeouts per seven innings at 9.3 after she has fanned 131 in her 99 innings.
 
Meanwhile, utility player Brooke Hodgson has posted a 5-1 record and 1.05 ERA in her 40 innings, spanning 11appearances and five starts in the circle.  She does not quite qualify for the RMAC ERA title because she has not thrown an inning for every team game (46) but does has the best ERA on the team.
 
As a staff, the Mavericks are leading the RMAC by a wide margin in ERA (1.96), opposing batting average (.220), in addition to multiple other categories, including strikeouts (298).
 
Seventh Sweep
 
The Mavericks series sweep of CSU-Pueblo was the Mavericks' seventh such weekend sweep of a RMAC opponent this year.  The Mavericks won eight of their nine RMAC series overall and did not lose a single one, splitting a 4-game set with Colorado Christian after taking three of four from Regis. 
 
Mother Nature was the only "team" to have defeated the Mavericks in a series this year.  CMU's scheduled series at Black Hills State, which finished tenth in the RMAC standings at 9-23, was wiped out due to snow in Spearfish, S.D. in early April.  Not playing that series prevented the Mavericks from possibly surpassing their own school-record for RMAC wins and matching conference record of 37 conference wins, set by MSU-Denver in 2010.
 
Perfect on the road
 
The weekend sweep of CSU-Pueblo allowed the Mavericks to complete a perfect regular season away from home.  The Mavericks went 16-0 in away games and 10-0 in neutral-site early-season tournament contests this year. 
 
The Mavericks had also won 39 straight home games over the past two seasons before dropping three of their last five at the CMU Softball Stadium in their final two home series of the campaign.  Those losses came against the next closest teams to the Mavericks in the RMAC standings (Colorado Christian-twice and Regis).
 
With their No. 1 position in the regional rankings, the Mavericks have a good chance at remaining at home for the next three weekends in hopes of reaching the Division II Women's College World Series, which will be played May 24-28 in Salem, Va.
 
Home is still pretty sweet
 
Although the Mavericks have dropped three of their last five home games, the home field advantage has certainly been strong for the Mavericks.  The Mavericks are 17-3 at home this year and went a perfect 24-0 at home in 2017, including their aforementioned RMAC Tournament title-winning run.
 
In 2016, the Mavericks went 17-3 at home in the regular season and 17-5 overall.  They were also 18-2 at home in 2015, the first year that Ben Garcia was at the helm of the Maverick program.  Under Garcia, the Mavericks enter the RMAC Tournament with a 72-10 home record, good for a .878 winning percentage.  
 
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 and again on Tuesday, he has guided the Mavericks to 164 wins and a .777 winning percentage in his first 211 games (164-47) at CMU.  The Mavericks, who have advanced to the last two South Central Regional Championship games, are also a combined 131-21 (.862) in RMAC games and 142-25 (.850) against RMAC foes –-counting non-conference and RMAC Tournament games— under Garcia.
 
Garcia's .862 conference winning percentage currently ranks him second in conference history for coaches who have coached at least 100 RMAC games (Dan Simmons, Nebraska-Kearney, .898 (123-14)).
 
Amazingly, he also ranks 10^th in RMAC history for career conference wins.  Now CMU Co-Athletic Director Kris Mort holds the record of 387 in her long and successful 1994-2012 stint as the Mavericks' head coach.
 
Garcia's .777 overall winning percentage also ranks him second behind only Simmons, who guided Nebraska-Kearney to a 271-61 (.816) combined record in his 1990 and 1995-2000 tenure with the Lopers.  Simmons was selected in 2009 as the RMAC's All-Time Top Coach in the sport as part of the RMAC's Centennial Celebration.
 
CMU has now won the last three RMAC Championships under Garcia with 33-3 (2018), 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 103 RMAC games in the past three years, 24 more than any other team in the past three seasons (MSU Denver, 79), and have also won 24 more than the Roadrunners (107) 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.
                                                                                                                                       
Reaching 300
 
Brooke Hodgson became just the third player in RMAC history to reach the 300 career hit milestone as she went 7-for-18 against CSU-Pueblo.  Hodgson, the school-record holder in the career hits category has a RMAC-leading 83 hits this year to rank second nationally and just one behind Concordia-St. Paul's Carlie Hart.  Regis' Alisa Heronema (2008-11) holds the RMAC single-season record of 339 while Katelyn Lovato of Adams State had 321 in her 2010-13 career.  Hodgson is just one hit away from moving into a 4-way tie for ninth on the RMAC's single-season hits chart and is just two way from matching Kelly Adams' 17-year old Maverick record of 85.  Hannah Rapoport tallied 105 hits to set the conference record for Colorado Christin in 2012.
 
Just two away
 
Hodgson is also just two doubles away from matching the CMU and RMAC record for career two-baggers.  She hit four against CSU-Pueblo alone and now has a nation-leading 24 this season to rank fifth in RMAC single history.  She has also hit 68 career doubles, to rank second in conference records behind only former teammate Makayla Kovac, who had 70 from 2013-16.  Earlier this season, Hodgson broke Kovac's school and RMAC record for career RBIs.
 
Needing just a single
 
Hodgson is also just a single away from matching or a double away from breaking Kovac's CMU and RMAC record career total bases as well.  Hodgson has recorded 155 total bases this year and 553 in her career.  Kovac recorded 554.  With a deep post-season run, Hodgson could also reach the RMAC single-season record of 178 set by Adams State's Heather Ebert en-route to Daktronics National Player of the Year honors in 2008.  Hodgson currently sits eight in RMAC single-season history behind two former Mavericks in Kelly Adams (177 in 2001, 2^nd) and Kovac (163 in 2014, T-4^th).
 
Quite a thief
 
Maggie Manwarren leads the RMAC with 42 stolen bases this season, already the sixth greatest single-season total in RMAC history, and one greater than Regis' Melissa Heronema, who has swiped 41 bases in 2018. The RMAC record of 60 is likely out of reach although Manwarren still has a shot at setting the CMU record of 48, set by Kelly Adams in 2001.  Adams was named as the RMAC's Top All-Time player in the aforementioned RMAC Centennial Celebration and was the RMAC Player of the Year in both of her years as a Maverick (2000, 2001).
 
Manwarren also ranks sixth in the NCAA Division II national statistics for stolen bases per game (0.93).
 
Mercy, Mercy
 
The Mavericks have posted an impressive mercy-rule victories this season, ending 11 games in five innings and another 10 in six.
 
In their 36 RMAC games this season, the Mavericks outscored their opponents by a combined 291 runs (365-74), winning by an average of 8.08 per.  The Mavericks have won exactly half (18) conference games via the mercy-rule.
 
Overall, the Mavericks have scored a nation-leading 418 runs while conceding just 91 and are ranked second in the nation for scoring average at 9.95 runs per game, trailing only Benedict (S.C.), which has put up 10.24 per contest en-route to a 22-12 campaign thus far.
 
On pace
 
The Mavericks are also on pace to set several other RMAC single-season records as well.  Their current national-leading .404 batting average is an incredible 35 points higher than the current RMAC mark of .369, which CMU set last year and would be the best team batting average for any NCAA Division II squads in nine seasons since Bowie State hit .409 in 2009.
 
The Mavericks' team slugging percentage of .652 also ranks second in the country and is just shy of the current RMAC record of .654, held by the 2001 Maverick team.
 
As a team, the Mavericks also have 397 RBIs, just 16 away from the current RMAC record of 413, set in 2009 by MSU Denver. 
 
Balance of power
 
As a team, the Mavericks have hit 61 home runs this season to lead the RMAC and rank fifth in the country for home runs per game (1.33).  In total, eleven different Maverick players have gone long this season.  Five have hit five or more, including Brooke Hodgson, second in the RMAC with 14, and AnnMarie Torres, who has hit 12 to rank fourth in the conference.  Zoe Pakes is just one shy of double-figures at nine while Kaila Jacobi hit one in each game of Saturday's doubleheader sweep to reach seven for the year.
 
Glove work
 
Although the offense is certainly in strong form, the Mavericks are also playing superb defense.  They are ranked ninth nationally and atop the RMAC with their .972 fielding percentage.  The Mavericks have committed just 32 errors all season, tied for seventh fewest in the nation.
 
Scouting the Eagles
 
Chadron State, CMU's first RMAC Tournament opponent, earned their way into the tournament by taking three of four games in their regular-season ending home series against Fort Lewis while getting some help from the Mavericks, who swept CSU-Pueblo to keep the ThunderWolves outside looking in.
 
 
The eighth-seeded Eagles (15-32, 13-24 RMAC), who had lost 13 of their previous 14, will be making their third straight RMAC Tournament appearance and have finished third in each of the last two years posting a 5-4 combined record in their recent post-season trips to Grand Junction. 
 
This year's Eagle squad is led by Second Team All-RMAC pitcher Jessica Jerecki, who leads the RMAC with 185 strikeouts and 23 complete games.  She also ranks fifth in the RMAC for ERA (2.46), second for innings pitched (165 1/3), third for opposing batting average (.227).
 
Aspen Eubanks, an Honorable Mention All-RMAC outfielder, is third on the team with her .303 batting average.  Bailynn Meek, who has played in 29 of the Eagles' 47 games, leads the team in that category at .350 while Kayla Michel his hitting .328 and is tied for the team lead in home runs with five.
 
The Last time we met
 
The Mavericks began RMAC play by sweeping the Eagles at home on Feb. 25-26.  The Eagles scored just two runs in that series as McKenzie Surface allowed just one hit in 13 innings while fanning 22.  Surface threw her first career no-hitter against the Eagles on Feb. 25 and then followed it up with a 1-hitter on the next day. 
 
Maggie Manwarren led the offensive attack for the Mavericks hitting .583 (7-12) while scoring eight runs and stealing six bases in the series.  She also drew two walks and an on-base percentage of .643 in that Sunday/Monday series. 
 
The Eagles had just 10 total hits in the series and were held to a .115 batting average by the Maverick pitching staff. 
 
Jarecki had two complete game efforts in the circle posting a 3.60 ERA while striking out 15 Mavericks in 11 2/3 innings worth of work.  The Eagles committed seven errors in the series as 15 of the Mavericks' 32 total runs were unearned.
 
Series History
 
The Mavericks are 8-4 against the Eagles under Ben Garcia.  The Eagles won two of three games in a weather-plagued 2017 regular season tripleheader but dropped a 3-0 decision to the Mavericks in last year's RMAC Tournament in what has been the only previous post-season meeting.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will play either fourth-seeded MSU Denver or fifth-seeded Mines in their second RMAC Tournament game.  A victory against Chadron State in Game 4 of the tournament would mean the Mavericks would play the winner of the Game 3 Roadrunner/Oredigger clash at 10:45 a.m. on Friday in Game 8.  A loss to the Eagles would mean that the Mavericks would play the Roadrunner/Oredigger loser in a Thursday evening (7:45) elimination game (Game 6).
 
The Mavericks swept a 4-game home series with Mines on Mar. 24-25 and also defeated the Orediggers twice to claim the 2017 RMAC Tournament title.
 
The Mavericks did not face MSU Denver in conference play this season.  However, the Mavericks did claim an 8-5 non-conference win over the Roadrunners on Feb. 3 in Rio Rancho, N.M. in what was their third game of five at the CMU Invitational.