IRVINE, Calif.— For the second straight game, the Colorado Mesa University softball team gave up two runs in the top of the seventh. 
 
For the second straight game, the Mavericks dropped a tight, defensive game to touted competition.
 
On Saturday, the Mavericks fell 2-0 to Chico State, the California Collegiate Athletic Association pre-season favorites, in Saturday afternoon action at Great Park as part of the Concordia Kickoff Classic.  This came after a 2-1 setback to No. 3 Biola on Friday night.
 
The Mavericks, now 1-2 on the tournament and the young season, were held to four hits as the Wildcats improved to 3-0 while claiming their 22^nd victory out of the last 24 games dating back to 2020.
 
Chico State pitcher Brooke Larsen struck out nine Mavericks and pitched five 1-2-3 innings to earn the victory.
 
CMU's Paige Adair also had another strong effort, matching Larsen for strikeouts, taking a perfect game into the fifth, while giving up just one hit and a walk through six innings before Reilani Peleti had a lead-off double to begin the seventh.   Blaire Willson then replaced her as a pinch runner and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt before scoring what proved to be the winning run on a Alani Nguyen RBI single.
 
The Wildcats, who did play in 2021 after going 19-2 while holding the No. 2 national ranking in the 2020-pandemic canceled season, then doubled the lead to 2-0 on a Drew Rodriguez double off of relief pitcher Ellie Smith.
 
Larsen then retired the Maverick side in the bottom half of the inning to come out on top of the pitcher's duel.
 
The Mavericks had their best chances to score in the second inning and fifth innings.
 
In the second, singles by Nicole Christensen and Myah Arrieta around a walk and fielder's choice allowed the Mavs to load the bases.  However, Larsen recorded the second of her strikeouts to get out of the jam.
 
In the fifth, Ashley Bradford singled to begin the frame and advanced to third on an Arrieta sacrifice bunt before Larsen got the next two Mavericks to fly out.
 
Meanwhile, Adair was in fine form retiring each of the first 15 Wildcats she faced taking a perfect game into the sixth before Hailey Seva broke it up with a lead-off single. 
 
The Mavericks will attempt to bounce back against 10^th-ranked and tournament host Concordia in the park's stadium later Saturday evening.
 
First pitch is slated for 4:30 p.m. local time (5:30 p.m. Mountain) pending the length of previous games.