GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University pitcher and designated player Ellie Smith hit a grand-slam, drove in seven runs and picked up a win from inside the circle as the Maverick softball team extended their winning streak to 13 games while moving into first place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings with a doubleheader sweep over visiting Fort Lewis College on Saturday here at the CMU Softball Stadium.
 
Fourteen different Mavericks combined for 22 hits throughout the day as the Mavericks posted an 8-1 win in the first game before taking down the Skyhawks, 11-3 in five innings during the second. 
 
In the process, the Mavericks improved to 14-4 overall and to 8-0 in RMAC play, which combined with a doubleheader split between UCCS and Regis in Colorado Springs, put the Mavericks ahead of the Rangers on percentage points.  Regis had come into the day 8-0 in conference play and is now 9-1 in the loop.
 
Smith, a Consensus First Team All-American in 2021, went 4-for-7 at the plate throughout the day recording a combined cycle with a single and double in the first game before hitting a triple and her third career grand slam in the second.  The blast was also her fourth home run of the season.
 
Meanwhile, Smith picked up the win in Game 2, spreading five hits and three runs while striking out three Skyhawks to improve to 6-2.
 
Shea Mauser also had a solid start in the first game, giving up just five hits and a single unearned run while recording a career-high ten strikeouts to move to 4-1.
 
Catcher Ally Distler also hit a home run in the first game before she and six other Game 1 starters were rested in Game 2, allowing the reserves to shine in the second.
 
Game 1 Recap
 
The Mavericks got out to a quick start as Ava Fugate doubled before she and Lauren Wedman both scored on a Smith RBI single and Skyhawk bobble in the bottom of the first.
 
The Mavs then extended the lead to 3- in the fourth when Mallory Warner drove in Myah Arrieta with an RBI single after the Maverick freshman second baseman had started the inning by drawing a walk.  Arrieta then stole second and moved to third on a Nicole Christensen single.
 
Meanwhile, Mauser gave up just two hits through five innings.
 
Her teammates then gave her plenty of breathing room as the Mavericks put up four runs in the bottom of the fifth.  Smith drove in the first of those runs on a double before Arrieta drove in pinch-runner Rylee Crouch was another single.
 
Skyhawk starting pitcher Hallie Mann was then lifted for reliever Amiee Shanks, who watched Distler hit her third pitch over the left field fence to put the Mavs up 7-0.
 
The Skyhawks would get one run back in the top of the sixth on a Maverick fielding error but would get no closer as the Mavs answered back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning thanks to RBI double by Laruen Wedman, who drove in Iliana Mendoza.
 
The Mavs finished the game with 12 hits as Smith, Warner and Mendoza all had two while six other Mavericks managed one.
 
Game 2 Recap
 
The Mavericks again took the early lead scoring runs in all five innings, including single tallies in each of the first three.
 
The Skyhawks were guilty of five errors in that span, which certainly did not aid their cause as each of the Mavs' first three runs were all unearned.
 
The Mavericks, who left six runners on base in the first three innings, then watched the Skyhawks score a single tally in the fourth thanks to a lead-off single, wild pitch and two groundouts.
 
However, Smith and the Mavericks got out of the inning before a 1-out Arrietta double and ensuing Smith triple put the Mavs up 4-1.  Moments later, Sarah Jorissen singled through the right side to extend the lead to 5-1 after four innings.
 
The Skyhawks again rallied, pulling within 5-3 with two runs in the top of fifth before the Mavericks did some major damage in the bottom half of the inning, all with two outs.
 
Brooklyn Corns was then hit by a pitch before a Warner walk and Arrieta infield single loaded the bases to set up Smith for her deep drive to center field that extended CMU's lead to 9-3.

The Mavers were not done as Jorissen and Kaley Barker both walked before another Skyhawk pitching change.  Brandi Haller then doubled to plate Jorissen before a wild pitch allowed Barker to score as the game was halted two innings early due to the mercy-rule.
 
The Mavericks finished the second game with ten hits as Arrieta went 2-for-4 with a double and three runs scored while Smith finished with a season-high five RBIs.  Jorrisen was 2-for-2 with a double, walk, two runs scored and two RBIs.
 
Four other Maverick reserves, who did not start the first game, also recorded hits.
 
Arrietta was 3-for-6 with five runs scored throughout the twin-bill.
 
The Mavericks have now won 23 straight games over the Skyhawks since 2015 and have run-ruled them in eight of the last ten.
 
The teams will wrap up a 4-game weekend series with a Sunday doubleheader at 11 a.m.