GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After getting off to a perfect 4-0 start in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with a home sweep of Chadron State College, the Colorado Mesa University softball team will head out on the road for a 4-games series at CSU-Pueblo this weekend at the ThunderWolves' Rawlings Complex.
The Mavericks, now 10-4 overall, are currently tied for first place with Colorado Christian in the early RMAC standings at 4-0.
The ThunderWolves (1-13, 1-3 RMAC) earned their first win of the campaign on Monday taking the first game of that day's doubleheader and the third of the overall series against nationally-ranked Dixie State, ranked 13
th at the time.
This weekend's series will include doubleheaders on Saturday at noon and 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Links to CSU-Pueblo's live stream (natural sound only) and live statistics for all four games can be seen at the link above.
Recapping the Chadron State Series
The Mavericks out-scored the Eagles by a combined 28-10 margin taking all four games. On Saturday, the Mavericks trailed in both games but rallied for 3-2 and 4-1 wins. The Mavs got out to much quicker starts on Sunday scoring seven combined runs in the first inning of those games en-route to 8-4 and 13-3 victories. The last game ended in five innings due to the mercy rule as the Mavericks extended their winning streak over the Eagles to 14 straight games.
The Mavericks hit six home runs in the series as a team off the bat of five different players.
Jordyn Hays went 6-for-9 from the plate throughout the series and was an impressive 5-for-6 in Sunday's doubleheader. She had two doubles, a triple and hit home runs in successive innings of the second game to finish with a career-high five RBIs.
Bailey Kleespies also had three doubles and a home run in Sunday's doubleheader finishing the day with seven RBIs. She was .500 (6-12) from the plate throughout the series.
AnnMarie Torres,
Brooke Doumer and
Tayah Gerber all hit home runs as well. Doumer hit a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh in the series opener and then added a 2-run home run in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader sweep.
Torres hit her home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the sixth in the opening game to spark CMU's late-inning comeback after the Mavericks had trailed 2-0 entering the sixth.
Gerber's home run came on a pinch-hit opportunity in the series finale.
As a team, the Mavericks hit .396 throughout the series and recorded 15 extra-base hits amongst their 50 overall.
They also played solid defense committing just one error throughout the weekend while limiting the Eagles to ten runs.
Paige Adair,
Ellie Smith and
Shea Mauser (two) all recorded wins from inside the circle. Adair allowed just three hits and a run while striking out six in the second game on Saturday. Mauser had a career-high nine strikeouts in the series finale while Smith made her home debut earlier on Sunday, spreading seven hits and a single earned run out over five innings of work. Freshman Sarah Jorrisen made her pitching debut throwing the final two innings of that game.
Top Staff and Top Pitcher
Recording a 2.42 team ERA in the Chadron State series, the Mavericks now have a RMAC-leading 2.37 mark on the year. Sophomore
Shea Mauser also leads the RMAC individual statistics with her 1.64 ERA. Fellow sophomore
Ellie Smitha and junior
Ellie Smith also rank amongst the RMAC's top 10 with their 2.65 and 3.36 ERA's. Smith is fourth in the conference while Adair stands sixth.
Driving them in bunches
Maverick senior third baseman
Bailey Kleespies has already registered 22 RBIs this season. That mark is the second highest in the conference. She has had multiple RBIs in a team-high five games this season, knocking in at least three in each of those five games. In fact, Kleespies has had just a single RBI only once this season. She has half of her RBIs on home runs having hit two grand slams, both of which came on the same day (Feb.8), and a 3-run home run against Chadron State on Sunday.
Reaching base
Maverick senior
AnnMarie Torres and sophomore
Lauren Wedman have both reached safely in each of the Mavericks' last eight games. Wedman has a team-high 21 hits overall and leads the team with seven games in which she has posted multiple hits. She is hitting .457 this season.
Torres is hitting .302 and has much higher .464 on-base percentage, thanks in large part to her 12 bases on balls, tied for second most in the RMAC.
The Man in Charge
Maverick Head Coach
Erik Kozel, just starting his second year at the helm of the program, has amassed a 55-15 career record, good for an impressive .786 winning percentage. He was 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.
His 50
th win career win came on Feb. 13 against Western New Mexico.
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 PJ 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).
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.
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 ThunderWolves
The ThunderWolves (1-13, 1-3 RMAC) recorded their first win of 2020 on Monday as they edged then 13
th-ranked Dixie State, 5-4 in the first game of Monday's doubleheader with the Trailblazers in St. George, Utah. The Trailblazers won the other three games of the Sunday/Monday series via the mercy-rule.
CSU-Pueblo's Gabby Moreno was named as the RMAC's Player of the Week as she went 9-for-13 (.692) with a double, two triples, four runs scored and seven RBIs in the series. She also stole four bases and had had 1.077 slugging and .733 on-base percentages.
Moreno leads the Pack with her .488 overall batting average and has recorded six extra-base and 21 overall hits in 2020. She also leads the team with 11 runs scored and 12 RBIs and is slugging a team-best .674. She is one of five ThunderWolves who has been named on eighth-year head coach Christie Koschke's lineup card all 14 times this season.
Sabrina Felix, who his hitting .395 and Isabel Griego, who is hitting .381 are also potent threats at the plate as is Marissa Piatt, who is hitting .310 with a home run and nine RBIs.
The ThunderWolves' 4-player pitching staff has posted a combined 9.12 team ERA and have completed just one game. Samantha Riesen (0-4, 7.20 ERA) and Hannah Anderson (1-3, 7.99 ERA) lead the team in innings and ERA. Anderson has 15 strikeouts to her credit.
Series History
The Mavericks have won 11 straight and 15 of 16 games against the ThunderWolves since 2016. In 2019, the Mavericks swept the season-series 3-0 taking 4-1 and 6-2 decisions at home during a Apr. 13-14 RMAC pod weekend that also included Regis. The Mavericks then won an 11-2 game on May 2 in the opening round of the RMAC Tournament, helping avenge CSU-Pueblo's last win in the rivalry during the 2017 RMAC Tournament.
In 2018, the Mavericks swept a 4-game series in their last visit to Pueblo, clinching that year's RMAC Regular Season title in the final weekend of conference play (Apr. 28-29).
Including that series, the Mavericks have won eight straight games in Pueblo since dropping a 3-1 decision on Mar. 9, 2015 during non-conference play.
Up Next
After this weekend's series, the Mavericks will return home for a 4-game set against the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers. The Mavs will play doubleheaders on Saturday, Mar. 7 and Sunday, Mar. 8 beginning at noon and 11 a.m., respectively.
