GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The nation's 17
th-ranked and conference-leading Colorado Mesa University softball team will host a massive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference series against second place Colorado Christian University this Saturday and Sunday at the CMU Softball Stadium.
The Mavericks, who won their seventh straight series last weekend, three games to one over UCCS, lead the conference standings with their conference and overall 26-2 mark. The Cougars will enter Grand Junction with a 23-6 overall mark. They are 22-3 in conference play.
Doubleheaders are slated for noon on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday. The Mavericks will recognize their two seniors –
Brooke Doumer and
Sarah Staudle— during Senior Day festivities in-between games on Sunday, which will be the last regular season home date of the season for the Mavericks.
Tickets are available at
www.cmumavericks.com/tickets and for those who can not attend in person, a live stream can be accessed through the RMAC Network. Live statistics can also be found on the link above.
What's at Stake?
Simply, a lot.
With only one weekend of regularly scheduled games to go in the regular season plus possible COVID and weather-related make-ups still on the table, the winner of this weekend's series will have the inside track to the RMAC Regular Season title and the right to host the 6-team RMAC Tournament from May 13-15.
The title and qualification spots are determined by winning percentage. The Mavericks currently hold a 49-point advantage with their .929 conference winning percentage. CCU is currently at .880 although a 3-1 series win would put the Cougars ahead .862-.844 after the weekend.
Conversely, a 3-1 series win would put the Mavericks ahead .906-.793. A series sweep for either team would grown the margins even more while a 2-2 series split would keep the Mavericks ahead by 48 percentage points.
The Mavericks are at Chadron State on Apr. 30 and May 1 in their final regularly schedule series. Colorado Christian is due to host MSU Denver in a mid-week doubleheader on Wednesday (Apr. 28) and New Mexico Highlands in a 4-game set on Apr. 30 and May 1.
The Mavericks had an earlier series at Fort Lewis postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Skyhawk program while Colorado Christian had a home series with Regis postponed for the same protocols. Potential make-up dates for those respective series have yet to be determined.
The Cougars, who did not play one game of a 4-game set at Black Hills State due to weather, have made up two games of a 4-game series with third place MSU Denver. They were scheduled to complete that series on Wednesday but due to weather have pushed a second make-up doubleheader back to next week.
Defending Champions
The Mavericks are the 4-time defending RMAC Regular Season Champions having won the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 titles. They were also 10-2 and tied for the lead with Colorado Christian and MSU Denver in the 2020 RMAC standings when the remainder of last year's season was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mavericks, who went 16-6 overall in 2020, have won 11 RMAC Championships in their program history, including in five of the last six completed seasons.
With their 26-2 record, the Mavericks lead this year's conference standings by a 1 ½ games over Colorado Christian coming into this weekend.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks are coming off a 3-1 series win over UCCS, which saw the Mavericks split a Saturday doubleheader before responding in a big way with 14-4 and 11-3, 5-inning mercy-rule victories over the Mountain Lions last Sunday.
Brooke Doumer hit home runs in three consecutive at bats and innings in the first game on Sunday, becoming just the second Maverick to ever hit three bombs in the same game. Doumer also homered in Saturday's 9-2 first game win and finished the weekend hitting 8-for-12 (.667), with ten runs scored, four walks, four stolen bases, seven RBIs and her four home runs while slugging at a 1.667 clip and reaching base on 75 percent of her 16 plate appearances.
Lauren Wedman also had another big weekend hitting .600 (9-15) with five runs and seven RBIs as the Mavericks outscored the Mountain Lions, 37-13 throughout the weekend. CMU hit .413 as a team during the series and had five doubles and six home runs, including five in the Sunday Game No. 1 victory, punctuated by an
Ellie Smith walk-off homer.
Meanwhile,
Paige Adair posted a pair of wins in the circle holding the Mountain Lions to a .186 batting average against her after allowing just 11 hits in 16 2/3 innings of work over three appearances and two starts. She also struck out 15 Mountain Lions.
Honors Sweep
For their efforts against the Mountain Lions, Doumer and Adair swept the RMAC Player and Pitcher of the Week awards, which were announced on Tuesday. The Mavericks have now swept the awards twice this season winning seven of them combined.
Adair was also named as the RMAC Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 2 as she and
Lauren Wedman, who also received the Mar. 9 RMAC Player of the Week awards swept those honors. On Mar. 30,
Ellie Smith was named as the RMAC Player of the Week. A week later on Apr. 6, Smith was recognized as the pitcher of the week.
Bombs Away
As mentioned above,
Brooke Doumer became just the second Maverick to ever hit three home runs in the same game as she matched the CMU record, held by current assistant coach Kelly Reese (Adams), who had also hit three home runs against the UCCS Mountain Lions back in 2001.
Doumer's home runs came in the first, second and third innings of Sunday's 14-4 win over the Mountain Lions and were to all three parts of the field. Her first inning lead-off solo shot was to left while her second inning solo home run was to right. She then hit a 2-run homer in the third inning to center field.
Doumer is the only player in the RMAC to have a 3-home run game this season. The Division II national record for home runs in a game is four, accomplished by seven players, most recently in 2018.
You can watch her home runs below.
Mercy, Mercy Me
Impressively, the Mavericks have now ended 16 games prematurely this season via the mercy rule. CMU has recorded at least one mercy-rule victory over each of the seven opponents they have faced this year, taking both legs of Sunday's doubleheader against UCCS via the "8 after 5" rule.
Scoring Leaders
Putting up 158 runs in their last 13 games alone, the Mavericks continue to lead the NCAA (all divisions) in scoring. They are scoring 10.25 runs per game throughout the season and have been in double figures in all but three of their last 13 contests.
Their 287 total runs are 25 more than any other NCAA Division Ii school through Tuesday with Valdosta State checking in second with 262 runs in 32 games. In terms of scoring average, the Mavericks lead a trio of RMAC schools in the No. 1, 2 and 3 spots nationally. Regis is second in the country in scoring with an average of 8.60 runs per game while this week's opponent Colorado Christian is third with an average of 8.21, just ahead of Savannah State (8.20) and Valdosta State (8.19).
The reasons why
It is not hard to see why the Mavericks are faring so well offensively. The Mavericks also lead the country with their .393 team bating average and are second in the county for both slugging percentage (.648) and on-base percentage (.462) while sitting third for home runs per game (1.46) and seventh for doubles per game (2.07)
Doubling up
Ellie Smith hit another double last Sunday against UCCS, raising her season-total to 18, two more than any other NCAA Division II player. Her per game average of 0.67 per game is second best in the country.
In just 28 games, Smith already stands 11
th in CMU's single-season history and puts her just one double away from the tenth spot, occupied by current teammate
Brooke Doumer, who had 19 doubles in 2019.
Brooke Hodgson holds the school record of 27, set back in 2018.
Smith also leads the team with 10 home runs, second most in the RMAC, and paces the conference with 28 extra-base hits, helping her to a .968 slugging percentage, third best in the conference.
Record Pace
Lauren Wedman is on pace to smash several CMU records. Her .578 batting average and .633 on-base and 1.067 slugging percentages all rank her amongst the top 10 hitters nationally and are well ahead of the CMU single-season records of .508 (batting), .587 (on-base) and 1.000 (slugging) held by
Brooke Hodgson,
AnnMarie Torres and Makayla Kovac, a who's who in CMU Softball history.
Back-to-Back-to-Back threats
Wedman, who hit second in the Maverick lineup, and Smith, who hits third, are also putting up some impressive RBI totals. Wedman has 56 RBIs to her credit to lead the country while Smith's total of 51 is third best in Division II.
Wedman is also second in the country for runs per game (1.68) while lead-off hitter
Brooke Doumer paces now lead the country at 1.71 thanks to her stout .560 on-base and .407 batting averages and hitters like Wedman and Smith hitting behind her. Doumer scored 10 runs last weekend alone. She also has blazing speed, stealing 16 bases this season.
The Maverick lineup does not get much easier after those three as
Nicole Christensen, who is hitting .430 with seven home runs and 35 RBIs and
Ally Distler, who has 11 extra-base hits, 29 RBIs and a .337 batting average, interchanging in the No. 4 and 5 spots throughout the season.
Sarah Staudle, who is hitting .403, has hit in the No. 6 hole in 14 games.
All Nine
All nine Maverick starters are now hitting at .300 or higher this season. Five of them have a .400 or higher batting average including Wedman, who is at .578 entering this weekend.
Top staff
With all of the offensive prowess that the Mavericks have shown, it would be easy to forget about the pitching staff. However, the Mavericks have also the top pitching staff in the conference.
The Mavericks have a team ERA of 2.81, which paces the conference ahead of MSU Denver's 3.04 mark. The Mavericks have also combined for five shutouts, one more than MSU Denver and Regis and have held opponents to a league-low .259 batting average.
Individually,
Ellie Smith is third in the RMAC with her 1.92 ERA while
Paige Adair is right behind at 2.12. Adair also stands second in the league with her .231 opponent batting average and is tied for the conference lead with 12 wins. Her four shutouts are also the most of any RMAC pitcher.
Smith is 9-0 on the season and is tied third in the conference for wins.
Shea Mauser is 5-1 with a 5.21 ERA to rank amongst the RMAC's top 20 as well.
National Poll
Despite falling for just the second time of the season last Saturday, the Mavericks moved up two spots
to a season-high 17th in this week's NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll, released Wednesday (Apr. 21). The Mavericks received 135 points in the polling of 16 coaches from around the country and are still only Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference team in the poll.
The Mavs are the fourth of six NCAA Division II South Central Regional teams in the poll. Texas A&M-Commerce, which was selected as the pre-determined host of the May 19-22 NCAA Division II South Central Regional last week, is ranked sixth while Oklahoma Christian and West Texas A&M are tenth and 12
th, respectively. Angelo State and Texas A&M-Kingsville, who are also part of the Lone Star Conference are ranked 23
rd and 24
th.
Home Sweet Home but still quite strong anywhere
With a 15-1 home record this year, the Mavericks are now 108-17 at home since the start of 2016, good for an .863 winning percentage. The Mavs had won 15 straight home games before Saturday's 4-3 Game 2 loss to the Mountain Lions.
The Mavericks are an impressive 97-16 at home since the start of 2016, good for an .864 winning percentage. They are nearly as strong when playing anywhere winning 83.2 percent of their games, going 223-45 since their current RMAC title winning streak began in 2016.
About the Cougars
The Cougars enter this weekend as the hottest team in the RMAC winning seven straight games. They are second in the conference behind the Mavericks in runs scored posting 238 in their 29 games to rank third nationally in runs per game at 8.20. They are also hitting .377 as a team to stand third in the RMAC. Their team ERA is 3.36, which is third best in the conference as well.
Individually, the Cougars have eight regular starters hitting .333 or higher, including two well above the .400 mark in Piper Lujan and Sydney Reamer. Lujan is hitting .439 an has a team-high eight home runs. She also has nine doubles, two triples and a team-best 39 RBIs to her credit.
Sydney Reamer is hitting .429 with 13 doubles and seven home runs. Kenzie Middleton, just below .400 at .396, also has hit seven home runs.
Jennifer Romero and Julie Katz are the co-work horses inside the circle for third-year Cougar head coach Larry Hays. Romero is 8-2 with a 3.52 ERA in 16 appearances and 14 starts covering 65 2/3 innings. Katz is 8-0 with a 3.70 ERA in 64 1/3 innings. They have also combined to strike out 99 opponents with Romero recording 57 of them.
Going to the bullpen has been a regularity for Hays as Romero and Katz have combined to record just six complete games (3 each). However, with talented relievers such as Samaria Roope and Sydney Rawlings, the formula has worked. Roope has a 5-2 record and an ERA of just 1.91 in 29 1/3 innings over 12 appearances and is holding opponents to a conference-low .206 batting average. Rawlings is 2-1 with a 2-1 record in 11 appearances covering 19 innings. Both of those pitchers have made one start as well.
Series History
The Mavericks lead the series against the Cougars, 23-10 since CCU started a program in 2012. The Mavs are 12-6 at home against CCU and have won the last four, five of the last six and seven of the last nine overall. The teams did not play in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. In 2019, the Mavericks clinched the RMAC regular season title with a 4-3 win over the Cougars in the first of two head-to-head meetings in Lakewood during a pod series. The teams split a regular season series in Grand Junction in 2018 (Arp. 21-22) although the Mavericks won both games between the team's during that year's RMAC Tournament en-route to the title.
Up Next
After this weekend's series, the Mavericks will head out on the road for a Friday, Apr. 30 and Saturday, May 1 series at Chadron State in Nebraska.
