GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University softball team banged out 14 hits in each game and scored 21 total runs as they claimed a Sunday doubleheader and 4-game series sweep of visiting Chadron State College here at the CMU Softball Stadium.
 
The Mavericks hit four home runs, seven doubles and a triple in the 8-4 and 13-3 wins, the second of which was completed in five innings, throughout the day as they improved to 10-4 on the season and to 4-0 in the RMAC.  The Eagles fell to 5-10 overall and 0-4 in the RMAC as they fell to the Mavericks for the 13^th and 14^th consecutive times dating back to 2017.
 
Senior third baseman Bailey Kleespies and sophomore catcher Jordyn Hays both went 5-for-6 at the plate and combined for a dozen RBIs throughout the day.  Sophomore Lauren Wedman also added five hits in the two games while raising her batting average to .457 with hits in 12 of CMU's first 14 games.
 
Kleespies hit three doubles and a 3-run home run finishing the day with seven RBIs.  Hays had five extra-base hits throughout the doubleheader and knocked in a career-high five runs in the second game alone.
 
Game 1
 
Eight different Mavericks recorded hits as they raced to a 7-0 lead before closing out the win.
 
Kleespies delivered the early blow with a 3-run home run in the bottom of the first as the Mavericks took early control after having to come from behind in both of Saturday's victories.
 
The Mavericks then added two more runs in the third as Kleespies hit a 2-out double before Staudle plated her with an RBI single.  Hailey Hinson then followed that up with another RBI single as the Mavs went up 5-0 through three innings.
 
The Mavericks would then tack on two more runs in the fourth as Hays began the frame with a triple before Taylor Tremelling hit an RBI single.  Wedman then recorded a single and stole second as the ball got away from Eagle catcher Bailey Rominger on her throw as Tremelling scored to put CMU up 7-0.
 
Meanwhile, Ellie Smith, making her home pitching debut, allowed just one Eagle hit in each of the first innings before the Eagles scored twice in the fifth thanks to doubles from Gabby Russell and Mackenzie Kroal and an RBI single by Rominger.
 
The Mavericks then pulled one of those runs back and went ahead 8-2 thanks to a 1-out double by Hays followed by another RBI single by Tremelling.
 
Smith, who improved to 3-2 after spreading seven hits and one earned run over five innings of work, then gave way to Sarah Jorissen, who saw her first collegiate pitching action over the final two frames.
 
The Eagles, who had 11 hits, would score twice in the seventh but ran out of outs as the Mavericks closed out the victory.
 
Game 2
 
The early stages of the second game featured big momentum shifts as the Eagles loaded the bases with no outs thanks to a walk and two bunts in the top of the first only to come away empty as Shea Mauser recorded two of her career-high nine strikeouts to help her get out of the jam.
 
The Mavericks did not make the same mistake as Wedman and Brooke Doumer both singled, two plays before Kleespies brought both of them home with a double to right.  Hays then hit the first of her two home runs in the game as the Mavericks jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead.
 
The Eagles would then score three runs of their own in the top of the second as Allie Mason registered her first hit of the series, a 1-out line-drive homer to center before Rominger later delivered a 2-run single up the middle to make it a 4-3 game.
 
However, the Mavericks came roaring back with five more runs of their own as Doumer hit a 1-out double before RBI singles by AnnMarie Torres and Kleespies helped set up Hays for a 3-run home run, her second in as many innings as the Mavericks seized control to score the game's final nine runs unanswered.
 
Two of those came in the bottom of the third on an RBI double by Kleespies followed by a dropped fly ball in the Eagle outfield allowed the Mavs to extend the lead to 11-3.
 
Maverick head coach Erik Kozel then made two very successful changes to begin the bottom of the fourth as Nicole Christensen led the inning off with a pinch-hit double before Tayah Gerber tallied a pinch-hit homer, her first of the season, to complete the scoring.
 
Meanwhile, Mauser was tested but came out relatively unscathed as she improved to 6-1 after spreading out eight hits and two walks over the 5-inning complete game win.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will head on the road next weekend facing CSU-Pueblo in a 4-game set next Saturday and Sunday.  The ThunderWolves came into the start of their RMAC season on Sunday at No. 13 Dixie State with an 0-10 overall record.