SPEARFISH, S.D.— The nation's 19^th-ranked Colorado Mesa University softball team extended their winning streak to nine while completing their fifth series sweep and sixth series win of the season with an 11-3, 5-inning win in cold and windy conditions in the mid 30's at Black Hills State University's Yellow Jacket Field on Sunday.
 
The Mavericks, who extended their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference-leading record to 23-1 with what was their 14^th mercy-rule win of the year, out-scored the now 3-24 Yellow Jackets, 52-9 throughout the 4-game series, which was able to be completed after the teams had pro-actively played a tripleheader, instead of a scheduled doubleheader on Saturday.
 
In Sunday's game, all nine Maverick starters recorded a hit as the Mavericks combined for 14.  BHSU managed just four against Maverick pitcher Ellie Smith, who picked up her third win of the series and ninth of the year after going the distance with six strikeouts and just one walk allowed.
 
Offensively, Lauren Wedman had a double and home run, her eighth of the season, while finishing with three RBIs.  Brandi Haller, making her first start of the Maverick portion of her career, also had two doubles during a 3-for-3, 3-run, 2-RBI game.
 
For the second time in the series, the Mavericks had to play from behind as BHSU's Gianna Haley hit a 1-out double before moving to third on a ground out and scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first inning.
 
However, Ashley Bradford, who had eight hits throughout the series, tied the game at 1 with a home run to begin the bottom of the third before the Mavericks scored two more runs later in the inning thanks to a run-scoring Wedman double, which plated Haller, and a later Yellow Jacket error.
 
The Mavericks then posted their third 7-run inning of the series in the fourth inning to take a commanding 10-1 lead.  Wedman had her home run, a 2-run shot, in that inning, while Aislyn Sharp reached base safely twice thanks to a lead-off single and later walk, which set up Sarah Staudle for a 2-out, 2-run single.  Brooke Doumer also had a 2-run single in the run-scoring barrage.
 
Nicole Christensen then delivered a RBI single in the top of the fifth as she extended her hitting streak to 20 consecutive games while helping the Mavericks score their 11^th run after Haller had hit a lead-off double.
 
The Yellow Jackets would score two runs in the bottom of the fifth as five different pinch hitters came to the plate in what ended up being the final inning of the series, which started with a 13-inning thriller early Saturday afternoon.  The Mavericks scored five runs in the 13^th inning of that game to win, 8-3, and ended up scoring the next 38 runs of the series, punctuated by three consecutive 5-inning, mercy-rule victories in a span of just over 20 hours.
 
After what was their longest road trip of the season, the Mavericks will now return home for an 8-game home-stand beginning Saturday (Apr. 17) against UCCS, which fell to 13-17 overall and to 12-14 in RMAC play after being run-ruled in each of their four home games against a hot MSU Denver side this weekend.
 
Elsewhere, Colorado Christian and the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers split a 4-game series in Golden over the weekend as the Cougars fell to 16-3 in conference play and 4 ½ games behind the Mavericks in the RMAC standings.  MSU Denver, a team the Mavericks swept on the road to begin the year, is now third in the conference standings at 16-4 heading into the first of two mid-week make-up doubleheaders at Colorado Christian over the next two weeks.  The Roadrunners have won 16 straight conference games after dropping the first four to the Mavericks.
 
Colorado Christian will visit CMU for a 4-game set on the back-end of that stretch on Apr. 24-25.
 
Mines, another team that CMU has already swept, is fourth in the RMAC standings at 18-10 in RMAC play.