GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University's Lauren Wedman tied a school-record for hits in a game as she and fellow redshirt sophomore Nicole Christensen both hit two home runs to lead the undefeated Maverick softball team to a pair of walk-off, mercy-rule victories over visiting Adams State University on Saturday afternoon here at the CMU Softball Stadium.
 
Wedman, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's leading hitter in 2021, went 5-for-5 with two home runs in the second game, delivering her a solo home run to clinch the doubleheader sweep.  Meanwhile, Christensen hit a home run in each game and drove in seven total runs as the Mavericks banged out 28 hits, including six homers, to take 12-4 and 14-6 victories over the Grizzlies.  The first came in five innings while the second was in six as the nation's 22nd ranked Mavericks, who trailed in both games, moved to 10-0 (10-0 RMAC) on the season, good for a 2-game conference lead over 8-2 Regis and 7-1 Colorado Christian.
 
The Grizzlies, who had come in as winners of four straight, fell to 5-11 overall and to 5-9 in conference play.
 
Wedman was 6-for-7 throughout the day after going 1-for-2 with two walks in the first game.  She also scored six runs and became just the fourth Maverick to record five hits in a single game, joining Brooke Hodgson, who did it twice in 2018, Sarah Phillips (2014) and Whitney Bailey (2010).
 
Wedman, who has now recorded a hit in 20 consecutive games dating back more than a calendar year to Feb. 23, 2020, is hitting .618 on the season.  She also moved into a tie for the RMAC lead for home runs (6) and RBIs (21) with her Saturday afternoon.  Meanwhile, Christensen went 3-for-3 with four RBIs in the first game and then hit a go-ahead 3-run homer in the second as she tripled her career home run total to three.
 
Ellie Smith, who earned the second game win in relief, and freshman Ally Distler also homered for the Mavericks throughout the day.
 
Game 1
 
The Grizzlies jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first before Smith and Christensen both hit 2-run home runs in the bottom of the first to give the Mavs a 4-2 lead.
 
Aislyn Sharp, who also had a solid 4-for-5 day at the plate, then delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the third to increase CMU's lead to 5-2. 
 
However, Belinda Vargas and Breck Smith hit back-to-back solo home runs in the top of the fourth to cut the deficit to just one as CMU starter Paige Adair was chased from the game.  However, reliever Shea Mauser retired the next three Grizzlies before watching the Mavericks put up five runs in the bottom of the fourth to build a 10-4 lead.    In that inning, the Mavericks did their damage with small ball as three singles, three stolen bases, two Grizzly errors, two walks and a hit by pitch allowed CMU to bat around.
 
The Grizzlies then left two runners on base in the top of the fifth before Brooke Doumer, who recorded four hits throughout the day, singled and stole second before advancing to third on a Grizzly error for CMU in the bottom of the fifth.  Smith then brought her home with an RBI single while taking second on the throw, which set the plate for Distler to drive in Smith for the game-sealing run on the walk-off hit.
 
The Mavericks finished the game with 13 hits, including ten singles, along with four walks.  Five different Mavs also stole bases.
 
Adair claimed the pitching victory to move to 5-0 while Mauser picked up a rule-book save after pitching two innings of hitless relief.
 
Jasmine Garbiso was charged with the loss, her first in three decisions, for ASU after surrendering ten hits and ten earned runs in 3 1/3 innings of work.
 
Game 2
 
The Grizzlies again took an early lead with a run in the top of the first before Doumer scored the game-tying run on a Grizzly throwing error after Wedman delivered her first hit of the game to move Doumer to third.
 
Three plays later, Christensen hit her second home run of the game to put the Mavericks up 4-1 after one.
 
Analiese Rodriguez then cut the gap to 4-2 in the top of the second with a solo shot, before a 4-run top of the third, highlighted by a 2-run Tyler Hays double and back-to-back RBI singles by Smith and Rodriguez gave the visitors a 6-4 lead.
 
Smith then relieved Mauser and got out of the inning with just a harmless walk.
 
The Mavericks then began their come-from-behind charge scoring ten unanswered runs over the next three innings.
 
In the fourth, the Mavericks took advantage of a lead-off single by Wedman, two Grizzly errors and a wild pitch to score three runs to take a 7-6 lead on a Sharp single.
 
The Grizzlies' Sydney Muniz then hit a 2-out triple in the top half of the fifth before scoring an apparent game-tying run when Kyrah Archibald hit the ball up the middle.  However, Archibald was called out for making contact out of the batter's box as the Mavericks maintained their one-run lead.
 
In the bottom half of the fifth, Drew Swims singled before stealing second and scoring on a Doumer game-tying single.  After a pitching change, Wedman then hit her first homer of the game to right giving the Mavericks a 10-6 cushion.  Smith then singled before Distler hit another 2-run homer extending the lead to 12-6.  Ashley Bradford also had a RBI triple later in the inning to plate pinch-hitter Camryn Mullen putting CMU on the verge of a second run-rule victory.
 
The Grizzlies then left two more runners on base in the top of the sixth before Wedman tied the Maverick hitting record with one out in the bottom of the sixth with a laser over the center field fence.
 
The Mavericks finished the second game with 15 hits, aided by six Grizzly errors.
 
Smith, now 3-0, claimed the win after giving up just four hits in 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief while lowering her ERA to a RMAC-leading 0.89.

Jade Garbiso (1-3) took the loss for the Grizzlies.
 
The Mavericks have now won 17 consecutive games over the Grizzlies since 2015, including the last seven and eight out of the last nine via the mercy rule.
 
The two teams will play twice more on Sunday in a doubleheader, slated for an 11 a.m. start.