GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Four early-inning errors led to four unearned runs and a 5-run deficit as the Colorado Mesa University softball team was uncharacteristically unable to come up with a timely hit in an 8-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament loss at the hands of the visiting Colorado Christian University Cougars on Friday afternoon at the CMU Softball Stadium.
 
The nation's 15^th-ranked Mavericks, beaten for just the third time in 38 games this season, were shutout for the first time since Feb. 13, 2020, a span of 54 games.  They were also blanked for the first time at home and by an RMAC foe since Mar. 2, 2019, when Dixie State claimed a 6-0 win over the Mavs.
 
The Mavericks gave up two unearned runs in the top of the first and then watched Sydney Reamer, who went 4-for-4 for CCU, hit a 2-run homer in the second as the Cougars took a 4-0 lead to chase starting pitcher Paige Adair from the contest after just one-plus inning.
 
They then added another run in the fourth to extend the lead to 5-0 before the Mavs loaded the bases only to come up empty in the bottom half.
 
The Cougars then added two more runs in the fifth and one in the seventh.
 
Meanwhile, CCU pitcher Sydney Rawlings, who recorded six strikeouts on the day, then retired nine of the final 11 Mavs she faced to record her fifth win and her first individual shutout of the year against just one loss inside the circle.
 
Adair was beaten for the second time and fell to 18-2.
 
The Mavericks did receive some strong offensive efforts from Lauren Wedman and Sarah Staudle, both had 3-hit games.  Wedman banged out two doubles and was 3-for-4 while Staudle went 3-for-3.  However, the rest of the Maverick lineup, including three pinch-hitters in what ended up being a frustratingly fruitless fourth inning, went a combined 1-for-21.
 
Wedman is now 6-for-7 in two games of the RMAC Tournament raising her batting average to .553, which is four points higher than the RMAC single-season record of .549, set way back in 1993 by Adams State's Amy Tjaarda.
 
Staudle is now 5-for-6 in the tournament and is hitting .443 on the season.
 
On Friday, the Mavericks left nine runners on base although the Cougars left on 11.  CCU had 13 hits in the game, including 12 singles as the first three hitters in the lineup went a combined 9-for-14 with six of the seven Cougar RBIs.
 
The Mavs, who have gone without a run for 13 straight innings, will attempt to bounce back on Saturday afternoon when they play in a tournament elimination game against the winner of Friday night's elimination clash between fifth-seeded Regis and No. 6 seed Fort Lewis.
 
Should the Mavericks win on Saturday, they would then need to defeat the third-seeded Cougars (29-11) twice later in the day to win the RMAC Tournament title, which would ensure them of a fifth straight NCAA Tournament selection.
 
If the Mavs are not able to come up with three Saturday wins, they will await Sunday evening's NCAA Tournament selection show for a potential at-large selection to next week's South Central regional portion of the tournament, which begins Wednesday in Commerce, Texas.