LOUISVILLE, Ky.— Colorado Mesa University redshirt sophomore softball standout Ellie Smith was named as the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II National Player of the Week on Wednesday.
 
As a team, the Mavericks also moved up a spot to a season-high 16^th in this week's NFCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, which was also announced on Wednesday.
 
Smith's player of the week selections comes on the heels of her Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honor from Tuesday and comes after Smith hit four home runs and two doubles while driving in 11 runs during a 4-game weekend sweep of visiting Colorado Christian University, which entered the week second in the RMAC standings.
 
Smith also picked up two wins from inside the circle and pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings during the series.
 
In the series sweep, that gave the Mavericks complete control of the RMAC standings, Smith went 9-for-15 at the plate and slugged at 1.533 clip as she hit two home runs in a 9-2 series opening win over the Cougars on Saturday before homering in each game of Sunday's doubleheader. 
 
She also hit a double on each day and continues to lead the country with 20 doubles this season.  She also took over the national lead in RBIs 62 as she passed teammate Lauren Wedman, who now has 61.  Smith also now leads the RMAC and ranks ninth nationally with 14 home runs.
 
The Riverside, California native also paces the RMAC and stands fifth in all of Division II with her 1.046 slugging percentage.  As a pitcher, she has the RMAC's best ERA of 1.68 and has an 11-0 record.  She is also fourth in the RMAC with her .472 batting average.
 
CMU has the best winning percentage in Division II softball (.938) is now 30-2 overall and in conference play with eight games to play, including this Friday and Saturday's series at Chadron State.
 
In the national poll, the Mavericks received 173 points in the polling of 16 head coaches from around the country.  The Mavericks continue to be the only RMAC team in the poll.
 
The Mavs also continue to be in the NCAA Division II's official regional rankings, which are continuing to list the top eight teams "under consideration" alphabetically due to the inequity of games played throughout the country because of COVID-19 related issues.  Those rankings will eventually determine the at-large qualification spots and seeding for the regional tournament next month in Commerce, Texas.