GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Senior pitchers Kimbri Herring and McKenzie Surface, the 2018 and 2017 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament MVPs, respectively, both pitched 4-hit, 1-run complete games to help lead the top-seeded Colorado Mesa University Softball Team to their ninth and tenth consecutive conference tournament wins and into the title game for the third straight year on Friday at the CMU Softball Stadium.
 
The Mavericks defeated fourth-seeded Colorado School of Mines by a 9-1 count in five innings in their morning second round game before holding on for a 2-1 winner's bracket final over third-seeded Dixie State University in the evening.
 
The nation's 11^th-ranked Mavericks, 45-7 overall, have now won eight straight and 30 of their last 31 games and are 24-2 at home this season heading into Saturday's 1:15 p.m. title game against the winner of an 11 a.m. contest between Dixie State (39-11) and MSU Denver (31-26), which defeated Mines 10-4 in the nightcap on Friday to win their third straight elimination game of the tournament after losing 7-6 to Mines in nine innings on Thursday afternoon.
 
If the Mavericks were to fall in the title game, they would have another chance to win their seventh overall RMAC Tournament crown with a win in the "if necessary" game, which would follow at 3:30 p.m.
 
Colorado School of Mines Game (CMU 9, CSM 1 - 5 innings) - Highlight Video
 
The Mavericks scored five runs in the first inning and four more in the fourth after the Orediggers scored their only run of the game in the top half of the inning to pick up their 23th mercy-rule win of the season.
 
Herring struck out seven Orediggers and picked up her RMAC-leading 21^st win of the campaign as she faced just four batters (19) over the minimum.
 
Meanwhile, she had plenty of run support as Bailey Kleespies, who had pinch-hit walk-off, mercy-rule implementing home run on Thursday against CSU-Pueblo, earned the start and drove in the game's first two runs on a 1-out single in the bottom of the first.  After an Oredigger error, freshman Lauren Wedman drew a RBI walk to extend the lead to 3-0 before a Jordyn Hays sacrifice fly and Brooke Doumer RBI helped extend the inning which saw the Mavericks send 11 hitters to the plate.
 
Herring then struck out the side in the second and retired nine of the first ten hitters she faced before giving up a lead-off homer to CSM's Katie Leiker to begin the fourth.
 
However, the Mavericks pulled that run back and more as Alexandria Dufour doubled to begin the bottom of the fourth before a bunt single by Doumer set up senior shortstop Kellie Mrofcza for a 3-run home run, which gave CMU an 8-1 lead.
 
Later, Hailey Hinson delivered a pinch-hit RBI double to score AnnMarie Torres, who had drawn a walk from reliever Kylie Redding, who had just replaced Mines starter Sydney Marchando after Mrofcza's home run.
 
That run proved to be invaluable as Herring allowed just a 1-out single in the top of the fifth while striking out two final Orediggers to complete the victory in just five innings.
 
The Mavericks recorded seven hits in their four at bats, including three for extra bases, and also took advantage of five walks.
 
Doumer went 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs and an RBI while Dufour went 2-for-2 with a run as well.
 
Marchando suffered the loss for the Orediggers and fell to 15-5 after giving up six hits, four walks and six earned runs in her three-plus innings of work.
 
Dixie State Game (CMU 2, DSU 1) - Highlight Video
Post Game Press Conference
 
An early change in momentum proved to be the difference as Surface got out of a bases-loaded one-out jam unscathed in the top of the first as the Trailblazers could not capitalize on a 1-out single and back-to-back walks.
 
The Mavericks would then capitalize in the bottom half of the inning as Doumer was hit by a pitch before moving to second on a Mrofcza sacrifice.  Kaila Jacobi then hit a bloop RBI single to left just two plays later to score Doumer giving the Surface and the Mavericks an early 1-0 lead.
 
Surface, the RMAC's winningest pitcher of all-time, then allowed a double to the Trailblazers' Kasey Crawford to begin the second but would retire the next 12 Trailblazers through the top of the fifth.
 
The Mavericks then doubled their advantage to 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth as Mrofcza hit a 2-out double before scoring on a fielding error just moments later.
 
The Trailblazers valiantly came back with a run of their own in the top of the sixth as Bailey Gaffin snapped Surface's dominant streak with a double before trading places with Jessica Gonzalez, who hit an RBI double to break up the potential shutout.
 
However, Surface again locked in and retired the final six Trailblazers she faced to close out her 20^th victory of the season and her 90^th of her career. 
 
Surface, the 2017 RMAC Tournament MVP, has now reached the 20-win mark in each of her four collegiate seasons and is the only RMAC player who can claim such a feat.  She also surpassed the 100 strikeout milestone for the fourth straight season and now has 102 this season and 585 in her career, fourth most in RMAC history and just one shy of the No. 3 position.
 
The Mavericks also managed just four hits against Dixie State hurler Cambrie Hazel, who fell to 17-6.
 
Jacobi had two of those for CMU.