GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After getting out to a strong 4-1 start to open the 2020 campaign at last week's Dixie State Courtyard Classic in St. George, Utah, the Colorado Mesa University Softball team will play another five tournament games this week as they face a key NCAA Division II South Central Regional weekend at the Cactus Classic in Tucson, Arizona.
 
The Mavericks will play five intra-region games against Lone Star Conference foes starting Thursday at noon when they take on West Texas A&M in a re-match of last year's NCAA Division II Tournament opening round match-up.  They will also play Western New Mexico at 2:30 p.m. that day.  On Friday, the Mavericks will take on St. Mary's (Texas), a team they defeated 15-0 last Saturday, and Eastern New Mexico.  They wrap up the season against No.2 ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville, last year's national runners-up.
 
All of the Mavs' games will be played at the Lincoln Park North Fields 5 and 6.
 
There will not be any streaming coverage although fans are encouraged to follow the Mavericks on Twitter @colomesasb for in-game updates and www.cmumavericks.com for nightly recaps throughout the week.  Live statistics for Thursday's game against West Texas A&M can be accessed here.
 
Double Grand Slammer
 
Maverick senior third baseman Bailey Kleespies hit two grand slams and tallied 11 RBIs in last Saturday's two wins over St. Mary's and Hawai'i-Hilo.  She had a career-high six RBIs in the 15-0 morning win over St. Mary's highlighting a 10-run sixth-inning with her grand slam, the second of her career.  She then hit a walk-off grand slam in CMU's come-from-behind 8-5 win over the Vulcans in the afternoon game.
 
The Mavericks trailed 5-3 going into the bottom of the seventh of that game.  They loaded the bases with one out before senior AnnMarie Torres registered an infield single to make the score 5-4.  Two plays later and down to the final out, Kleespies then hit her second grand slam of the day to give the Mavs the thrilling win.
 
Kleespies, a native of Longmont, Colorado, had hit her first collegiate grand slam in the first game of her career back on Feb. 4, 2017 in a 22-4 season-opening win over Nebraska-Kearney as a freshman.
 
Fans can see Kleespies' walk-off grand slam from a multitude of angles on the the Mavs' team Twitter account.
 
Record-tying and triple-digit walker
 
Maverick senior AnnMarie Torres drew four bases on balls during last week's tournament and in the process became just the second Maverick in their Division II history (1993-Present) to reach triple digits for career walks while tying Danielle Vallie's career record for 102 walks.  Torres, who entered 2020 with 98 career walks, led the RMAC in walks with 45 last year, which was a CMU single-season record.
 
Speaking of Milestones
 
Torres also reached another career milestone last Saturday when she recorded her 200^th career hit, an RBI single in the bottom half of the seventh inning to help the Mavericks come from 5-3 down to win 8-5 on Kleespies' walk-off grand slam.  She is the eighth Maverick in the Division II era to reach that total.

Torres also had three RBIs last weekend and now just needs three more to reach the 200 career RBI milestone.  Only two other Mavericks (Brooke Hodgson and Makayla Kovac) have reached that total.
 
50 is next
 
Maverick Head Coach Erik Kozel, just starting his second year at the helm of the program, is already just one win away from 50 in his career.  Named as the permanent head coach after a nation-wide search in July, 2019 after serving as the program's interim head coach during the 2019 season, Kozel already has amassed a 49-12 career record as a head coach, good for an impressive .803 winning percentage.
 
A Maverick assistant coach for six seasons from 2013-18,Kozel led the Mavericks to a 45-11 record and their fourth consecutive RMAC Championship with a 35-4 conference mark last season.  They also qualified for their fourth consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
A former CMU baseball standout, Kozel is no stranger to the Maverick softball program.  He was a critical part of the Maverick's back-to-back RMAC Regular Season and Championship winning teams in 2017 and 2018 in his two years as the program's top assistant.  In those two years, the Mavericks posted a combined 96-13 (.881) record.  The Mavericks also won RMAC titles in 2014 and 2016 when Kozel was on the staff.

In 2020, Kozel will again be assisted by Mercedes Lovato, the team's pitching coach, and P.J. Gonzalez.  Kellie Mrofcza, a 3-time All-RMAC selection who finished her playing career in 2019, has also joined the coaching staff this season.
 
Back-to-Back Scoring Winners
 
The Mavericks won their second straight NCAA Division II national statistical title for scoring offense in 2019 putting up nearly eight runs (7.98) per game last season after scoring 508 runs in 2018 to average 9.58 per game.  The 2018 mark was a RMAC record and was the most runs scored by a collegiate softball team in the country (all divisions).
 
In 2019, the Mavericks also finished second in the country for slugging percentage (.582) and third for on-base percentage (.442). 
 
In 2018, the Mavericks also won Division II team statistical titles for batting average (.398) and doubles per game (2.55) while setting RMAC records for those categories as well as RBIs (442) and total hits (609).
 
Good start
 
This year's squad put up 38 runs, good for an average of 7.60 per game, in their first five games of the season.  They have an early team batting average of .376 after swinging the sticks at a .347 clip last season.  This year's mark leads the RMAC thus far.
 
Five different regular starters and six players overall are hitting .400 or higher early in 2020, including freshman designated player Camryn Mullen, who went 9-for-17 (.529) in her first weekend of collegiate ball.
 
Senior Brooke Doumer also hit .500 (9-18) from the lead-off spot in CMU's lineup last week while fellow senior Hailey Hinson drilled two home runs.
 
Perfect relief
 
Maverick sophomores Shea Mauser and Ellie Smith both went 2-0 from inside the circle last weekend.  Amazingly, all four of their wins came as relief pitcher.    Mauser pitched a combined 6 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in wins over Montana State Billings and St. Mary's, giving up just two hits in each.  She had a no decision in her lone start against Hawai'i-Hilo, a game which saw Smith earn the win after throwing two innings of shutout relief.  Smith also picked up the win in three innings of scoreless relief against Central Washington in the season-opener.
 
In fact, the Mavericks' three pitchers, who all made at least one start on the opening weekend, have a spotless 0.00 ERA as releivers having surrendering just two unearned runs in 12 2/3 combined innings of relief work.
 
Make it A Dozen
 
The Mavericks went 35-4 in conference play last year to win the RMAC's Regular Season Championship for the fourth straight year and fifth time in the last five years.  They have now won 12 official RMAC Championships, five more than any other institution in conference history.  They are the first program to win four 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.
 
Four straight 40s
 
Winning 45 games a year ago, the Mavericks have now reached the 40-win mark in each of the last four years and have seven such seasons in the NCAA Division II portion of their history, which dates back to 1992. The 2016 Mavericks went 40-13 before the team posted back-to-back 48-win seasons in 2018 and 2019.
 
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.

Scouting the Opponents
 
West Texas A&M (Thursday – Noon)
 
The Lady Buffs went 3-2 to begin the season at the Desert Stinger Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev. On Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.  They were off last week.  They defeated Sonoma State, Montana State Billings and Regis all via the mercy-rule while falling to Northwest Nazarene and No. 6 UC-San Diego.  Thursday's game against the Mavericks will be the first of eight that Lady Buffs will play at the Cactus Classic.
 
With a new head coach in Michael Mook at the helm of the program, they were picked sixth out of 17 teams in the LSC's preseason poll and are coming off a 32-15 season in 2019.  They went 32-15 last year and made their seventh straight NCAA Division II tournament as the No. 4 seed in the South Central Regional.  They return seven starters, including four All-LSC honorees from that squad that led the country in both home runs (1.85/game) and slugging percentage (.611) while ranking third in scoring (7.62 runs/game), just two spots behind the Mavericks.
 
The Lady Buffs hit .373 and slugged at a .507 pace during their opening five games and hit three home runs.  Steph Elliott and Alyx Cordell both hit .500 during the opening weekend and combined for 12 RBIs.  Cordell hit a home run and leads the team with seven RBIs and seven runs scored while Elliott drove in five.
 
Kyra Lair has been the pitching work-horse thus far throwing 23 1/3 of the team's 29 defensive innings.  She has appeared in all five of WTAMU's games, starting four of them.  She has a 3-1 record and a 2.31 ERA while striking out 23.
 
The Lady Buffs did commit ten errors in their first five games defensively.
 
Western New Mexico (Thursday – 2:30 p.m.)
 
The Mustangs have started the year a solid 5-3 after winning three home games over Adams State to begin the season before going 2-3 at the Dixie State Courtyard Classic last season.  They have two common opponents with CMU having lost to Montana State Billings and beating Central Washington.
 
In 2019, the Mustangs went just 7-33, a reason they were picked last in this year's LSC preseason poll.
 
This year's squad, head coach Elsa Cocker's third, is hitting .310 as a team and has scored nearly eight runs per game (47 in total).  Samantha Corral is hitting .435 while Kaila Burnett is hitting .417 and leads the team with three doubles, her .667 slugging percentage and three doubles.  She has also drawn six walks and has a .533 on-base percentage.  Brittany Santellanes has two home runs and six RBIs on the young season but is hitting .240 overall.
 
Cocker has used four pitchers thus far.  Jalyn McClain has thrown a team-high 23 2/3 innings and has a 3-1 record and 3-1 record with two complete games in three starts and five appearances.  Julia Vega and Kristin Cocke both have 1-1 records and have 4.10 and 4.20 ERA, respectively. 
 
St. Mary's (Friday – 3 p.m.)
 
The Rattlers, a normally powerhouse program which won all ten Heartland Conference titles in the last decade, had a rough weekend at the Dixie State Courtyard Classic going 0-5 to fall to 2-8 on the young 2020 season.  One of those losses was to the Mavericks.
 
Thus far, Amber Gonzales is leading the Rattlers' offensive attack.  She is hitting .440 and is one of four players to have four RBIs.  Tiffany Licon (.393) and Jayme Johns (.371) have also been the most productive at the plate.
 
As a team, the Rattlers have a 10.54 ERA having surrendered 83 total and 73 earned runs in their first ten games.  Four different pitchers have started games, with Staci Johns getting the nod five times.  She has posted a 1-3 record and has a 9.45 ERA in 20 innings spanning seven total appearances.
 
Now members of the Lone Star Conference, which took in many of the former Heartland Conference members this year, St. Mary's was picked eighth out of 17 teams in that league's preseason poll.
 
Eastern New Mexico (Friday – 5:30 p.m.)
 
The Greyhounds are off to an official 2-1 start this season having defeating New Mexico Highlands 2-1 in the first game of a Feb. 1 doubleheader in Las Vegas, New Mexico.  They were leading the Cowgirls 20-11 through three innings of the second game of that doubleheader, which was called off due to the lack of sunlight.
 
Last Friday (Feb. 7), they lost to Nebraska-Kearney, 8-4 before defeating CSU-Pueblo, 10-7 at a tournament in Lubbock, Texas.  Their other four games at that tournament were cancelled due to weather.
 
When they have played, they have hit an impressive .376 as a team, including the partial game against New Mexico Highlands.  Elysa Rodriguez is 9-for-16 (.563) at that plate while Brook Leger is 2-0 with a 3.07 ERA as head coach Kira Zeiter's top pitcher having made an appearance in all four of their full or partial games.
 
In 2019, the Greyhounds went 12-30 overall and 8-22 in LSC play.  As such, they were picked 15^th in this year's LSC preseason poll.
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville (Saturday – 10 a.m.)
 
After winning last year's NCAA Division II South Central Regional title and finishing second at the national tournament, this year's Javelina squad has shown that was no fluke.  They are off to an impressive 9-1 start and defeated four fellow nationally-ranked squads during a 6-0 start at the Arkansas Tech Winter Invitational from Jan. 31-Feb. 2 in Conroe, Texas. They went 3-1 last week at the McGhee-Hawkins Invitational in Arkadelphia, Arkansas with their lone loss coming by an 8-1 margin at the hands of Mississippi College.
 
Rewriting almost every mark in the program's record book during their impressive 52-10 season in 2019, the Javelina returned four First Team All-LSC honorees this year, including pitchers Breanna Smith and Saidi Castillo, who went a combined 49-9 last year.
 
Castillo is 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA and has allowed just 11 hits and eight walks in 28 innings, good for a stellar 0.68 WHIP thus far in 2020.  Smith is 4-1 with a 2.97 ERA and 1.24 WHIP.  They have also combined for 61 of the pitching staff's 63 strikeouts as Castillo has recorded 37 of them.
 
Offensively, they are hitting .321 and have out-scored their opponents 58-26.  Loren Kelly his leading the regulars with her .444 batting average and has scored 11 runs.  She has already swiped 16 bases as well.  Matisen Onofri is hitting .387 and has seven extra-base hits, including four home runs, amongst her 12 overall hits.  She has driven in 12 runs and is slugging .903.  Anastasia Leibas is hitting .355 to stand third on the team and has driven in ten runs.
 
Digging into history
 
The Mavericks are just 1-7 all-time against West Texas A&M and have met them a combined four times in NCAA Tournament play, including last year's (May 9) contest, which the Lady Buffs won, 7-3.  They Mavs also played four February games against the Lady Buffs between 2013-15, all of which WTAMU won.  Two of those contests were played in Tucson, Arizona.
 
The Mavericks have won each of the last six meetings with Western New Mexico, outscoring them 67-9 in that span since 2016.  They swept a 4-game home series against the Mustangs in 2016, their last year as RMAC members.  CMU has also won two neutral-site games in February, 2018 in the last two meetings between the teams.    The Mavericks hold a 27-9 series lead against their former RMAC rivals since 2009.
 
Before posting last Saturday's 15-0 win, the Mavericks had split 1-run games in the early portions of the last two seasons against St. Mary's.  They dropped a 5-4 decision on Feb. 16 of last year in Tucson, Arizona and beat them 4-3 on Feb. 4, 2018 in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.  Prior to that, they had not met since 2007.  St. Mary's now holds a 15-7 lead in the all-time series.
 
The Mavericks have not played Eastern New Mexico since Feb. 15, 2014.  The Greyhounds, known as the Zias at that time, won that game, played in Canyon, Texas, by a 12-7 margin in eight innings.  The Mavericks are 3-3 against ENMU in known history and all six games have been played on a neutral-field.  The Mavericks last win in the rivalry came on Feb. 8, 2003.
 
The Mavericks did not play Texas A&M-Kingsville last year but did go to Kingsville for the NCAA Division II South Central Regional.  The Mavericks are 1-1 all-time against the Javelinas, winning a 4-0 contest on Feb. 16, 2014 in Canyon, Texas.  TAMUK had won a Mar. 11, 2006 decision in Austin, Texas in the only other previous meeting between the two teams at opposite ends of the NCAA's South Central Region, located 1,264 miles and nearly 20 hours away via the road, according to Mapquest.
 
Up Next
 
After this weekend's tournament, the Mavericks will return home to prepare for their home and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference-opening season against Chadron State on Feb. 22 and 23.  That 4-game set will feature doubleheaders at noon on Saturday (Feb. 22) and 11 a.m. on that Sunday (Feb. 23).