GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Ellie Smith hit two of Colorado Mesa University's four home runs and recorded the Game 2 pitching win as she and Shea Mauser combined for 13 strikeouts while allowing just ten hits and two runs in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference softball doubleheader sweep over MSU Denver on Sunday afternoon here at the CMU Softball Stadium.
 
Mallory Warner and Sarah Jorissen also homered for the Mavs, who used big innings to break 1-1 ties and claim 5-1 and 7-1 victories over the Roadrunners in the first home and conference games of the season.
 
The Mavericks have now won seven straight games and are 8-4 overall.  They have also won 14 straight against the Roadrunners, who had taken 1-0 leads in both games, since 2017.
 
The Roadrunners fell to 8-7 (0-2 RMAC), heading into a Monday doubleheader between the teams.
 
Game 1

Smith's fourth-inning home run ended up being the game-winner after MSU Denver's Shelby Robb and Jorissen traded solo shots in the third.
 
Three plays later, Warner hit her first career home run to give the Mavs a 3-1 lead before a Jorissen double followed by an Iliana Mendoza RBI single after a pitching change completed the Mavericks' 3-run fourth that proved to the difference.
 
The Mavs also added an insurance run in the fifth as Ally Distler doubled to begin the frame before pinch-runner Bryerly Avina moved to third on a wild pitch and across home plate on a Jorissen RBI fielder's choice.
 
Meanwhile, Mauser was in solid form retiring ten of the next 12 hitters she faced after Robb's home run, including five on strikes.  Mauser (1-1) recorded seven strikeouts overall and allowed just four hits as she picked up her first win of the season.
 
Jorissen went 2-for-3 with two extra-base hits, two runs and two RBIs to lead the Maverick offense, which out-hit the Roadrunners, 7-4.
 
Sarah Norton (4-2) took the loss for the visitors after surrendering five hits and four runs in 3 2/3 innings.
 
Game 2
 
Both Smith and Roadrunner counterpart Audrey Burt were strong in the opening three innings of the second game as neither team could score until the top of the fourth when a 1-out Hannah DiFabio single up the middle scored Ari Valdez, who had beat out an infield single before moving to second on a wild pitch and third on a Robb ground out.
 
However, Smith got out of the rest of the inning unscathed and then tied the game in the bottom half of the inning, taking a laser just over the left field fence.
 
After recording two of her six strikeouts in the top of the fifth, Smith then watched the Mavericks go up for goo in the bottom half as Ashley Bradford doubled off the left field fence to score pinch-runner Brandi Haller from first.
 
The Mavs went on to score four more runs, all unearned, in the inning as two errors contributed to the Roadrunner demise. 
 
Capitalizing on the opportunity Smith reached on one of those before Distler hit a sacrifice fly to plate Bradford, giving CMU a 3-1 lead.
 
Freshman second baseman Myah Arrieta then singled to bring home Lauren Wedman, who had walked against relief pitcher Julia Heitz, before a Warner RBI single plated pinch-runner Rylee Crouch, who had replaced Smith.  Another error then allowed Arrieta to score as the Mavericks suddenly had a 6-1 lead.
 
The Mavs then added another security run in the sixth as Smith drove home Mendoza on a RBI groundout before closing out the game on a come-backer in the top of the seventh.
 
Arrieta, Warner and Mendoza all had two hits in the game as the Mavericks recorded eight as a team.
 
Meanwhile, Smith (3-2) held the Roadrunners to just six and recorded six strikeouts in the complete game victory.
 
Burt (2-2), took the loss for the Roadrunners after giving up five hits and three runs, two of which were unearned, while striking out six in 4 1/3 innings.  Heitz then gave up three unearned runs in the rest of the fifth before Destinee Lopez pitched the final inning for the Roadrunners.