GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After a successful 4-game sweep on the road last weekend, the Colorado Mesa University softball team will return home for a 4-game weekend series against the Colorado School of Mines and will look to remain unbeaten in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
 
Doubleheaders are slated for noon on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday.
 
Winning all four of their games at CSU-Pueblo last weekend, the Mavericks have now won eight straight games to improve their overall record 14-4.  They are 8-0 in conference play and are tied for first place with Colorado Christian, which is away to Fort Lewis this Friday and Saturday.
 
Mines will enter the weekend with a 7-10 overall record.  The Orediggers are 4-4 in RMAC play after dropping three of four home games with Fort Lewis last weekend.
 
Links to live statistics and the live stream on the RMAC Network for all four games can be found above.
 
Recapping the CSU-Pueblo Series
 
Brooke Doumer, AnnMarie Torres and Lauren Wedman all hit above .530 as the plate as the Mavericks outscored CSU-Pueblo by a combined 28-12 margin in the 4-game weekend set at the ThunderWolves Rawlings Complex on Saturday and Sunday.  Doumer and Torres, named as the RMAC and Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II National Player of the Week (more on that below) both went 7-for-13 (.538) while Wedman was 8-for-15 (.533) at the plate throughout the weekend.
 
On Saturday, the Mavericks rallied from 5-2 down after five innings to take the first game of that day's doubleheader by a 6-5 margin.  Ashley Bradford, Doumer and Jordyn Hays all had RBI singles in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 5 before Wedman delivered the game-winning RBI in the top of the seventh.
 
Meanwhile, pitcher Eillie Smith pitched nearly three flawless innings of relief allowing just one walk to earn the victory.
 
The Mavericks again had to rally in the second game of the day, taking it 7-2.  They were down 1-0 after two innings but tied it in the fourth as Torres hit the first of her two home runs in the game.  The Mavs then put up five runs in the fifth as Torres hit a 3-run homer.
 
On Sunday, Torres hit a home run in each game as the Mavericks swept that day's doubleheader with 11-3 and 4-2 wins, the first of which came in five innings due to the mercy rule.  In that affair, the Mavs scored on a Doumer RBI single in the first inning and then put up five runs in both the second and third innings to build an 11-0 lead before cruising to the victory.
 
The Mavericks also led throughout the second game but were leading just 1-0 going into the seventh when Torres hit a 2-run homer to put the Mavs up 4-0 moments after Wedman and Doumer had hit back-to-back doubles to make it 2-0.
 
The ThunderWolves would pull back two runs in the bottom of the seventh but could not complete the comeback as the Mavericks extended their winning streak over the ThunderWolves to 15.
 
Paige Adair went 2-0 inside the circle allowing just seven hits in 10 1/3 innings of work over two starts, one of which was a complete game victory.  Pack hitters hit just .194 against her and just .242 against the Maverick staff as Shea Mauser and Smith also picked up wins.  Mauser made two starts and three appearances throughout the weekend.
 
Double Honoree
 
As mentioned above, CMU senior AnnMarie Torres was named as both the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Louisville Slugger/NFCA NCAA Division II National Player of the Week.  The announcements were made Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
 
Torres hit .538 and hit four home runs while driving in 11 total runs during the CSU-Pueblo series.  She also had a slugging percentage of 1.538, an on-base percentage of .647 and an amazing OPS of 2.185.
 
She has now swept those awards twice in her career after having done so on Feb. 26 and 27, 2019 for her efforts in a series sweep of Fort Lewis.
 
Record Walker
 
Torres also matched an RMAC record for walks in a game on Saturday when she drew four passes in the opening game of the series with CSU-Pueblo. 
 
Torres has now drawn an RMAC-leading 16 walks this year after setting a CMU single-season record and conference-leading 45 walks in 2019. She was tied for sixth nationally in that statistical category last year.
 
Torres has now drawn 114 walks throughout her career and set the CMU career record earlier this season.  She has a good shot at breaking the RMAC record of 140, which is held by Fort Lewis' Chelsea Rodriguez (2011-14).    On Saturday, Torres moved into third place on the RMAC's career charts moving past MSU Denver's Molly Clark, who had 113 walks from 2008-12.
 
Active Leader
 
Torres is also the active NCAA Division II leader for both career doubles (59) and runs batted in (216).   She has four more doubles than Concord's Jenna Witt and seven more than Mines' Clara Larson, who she and her fellow Mavs will face this week. 
 
In the RBI count, Torres has 22 more than Newberry's Haley Simonds and is 35 up on Colorado Christian's Stephanie Day, who has 179.  Larson is fifth amongst active Division II players with 177.
 
Former Maverick teammate Brooke Hodgson holds the RMAC record in both categories.  She banged out 71 doubles and 291 RBIs in her 2015-18 Maverick career.
 
The national records sit at 87 doubles and 344 RBIs.
 
Top Pitching Staff
 
With three of the lowest six individual ERAs in the conference, the Mavericks continue to lead the RMAC in team ERA at 2.55.  Sophomore Shea Mauser is second in the RMAC with a 2.11 ERA and has a 7-1 records.  Ellie Smith stands third in the RMAC with her 2.42 ERA while Paige Adair stands sixth at 3.37 ERA.
 
Lead-off success
 
Maverick sophomore Lauren Wedman has continued the Mavs' history of impressive lead-off hitters so far this season.  Since moving into that spot for each of the last nine games, Wedman has hit a team-best .567, going 17-for-30 with five walks and 10 runs scored.  She has .629 on-base percentage in that stretch and has five multiple-hit games in the period, including four 3-hit games.
 
Overall this season, Wedman leads the team and ranks third in the RMAC with her .475 batting average.  She has reached base safely in 12 consecutive games and has nine multiple-hit efforts, a team-high.
 
Her season-long .549 on-base percentage also ranks third 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 59-15 career record, good for an impressive .797 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 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).
 
This year's squad has put 120 runs in their 18 games thus far, an average of 6.67 per game.
 
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 Orediggers
 
The Orediggers will enter the weekend series with a 7-10 overall record.  They are 4-4 in RMAC play and are tied for seventh in the early RMAC standings.
 
Senior Clara Larson leads the Oredigger offensive attack in numerous categories, including batting average (.387), home runs (3) and RBIs (19).  She also has 24 hits and has scored a team-high 13 runs.  Five other Oredigger regulars are also hitting above .300 in the .310 to .357 range.  Stefanie Brunello is hitting .357 and has also drawn nine walks to help her toward her team-leading .491 on-base percentage.  Brunello also has two home runs and 10 RBIs.
 
The Orediggers are hitting .304 as a team to stand in the exact middle of the RMAC (7^th).  Four different CSM have combined to hit eight home runs.
 
Five different pitchers have combined to post a 5.23 team ERA.  Sydney Marchando has been the team's ace and workhorse.  She is 4-3 with a 3.79 ERA in eight starts and has thrown 44 1/3 innings.  She has struck out 43 opponents and has allowed just 13 walks.
 
Claire Stringfellow has made seven starts and holds a 1-4 record and 6.08 ERA in 38 innings spanning ten total appearances.
 
Series History
 
The Mavericks have dominated the recent series with the Colorado School of Mines winning 22 straight games from 2014-18.  The Mavs and Orediggers then split a 4-game regular season series last year, which was played at MSU-Denver's Regency Athletic Complex.  The Mavericks then posted a 9-1 win over the Orediggers in the second round of the RMAC Tournament played in Grand Junction.
 
Up Next
 
After this weekend's series, the Mavericks will be away from the CMU Softball Stadium for their next games.  On Mar. 14-15, they will play at RMAC Pod series against host Dixie State and Adams State in St. George, Utah.  They then head to Denver for a 4-game set at Regis on Mar. 21 and 22 before wrapping up the month of March with a 4-game home series against MSU Denver on Mar. 28-29.