GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Winners of 21 consecutive games and atop the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Softball standings by a game, the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks will return home for their biggest conference test to date this weekend.
 
The Mavericks (22-4, 14-0 RMAC) will host Regis University (20-11, 14-2 RMAC) in a key 4-game set at the CMU Softball Stadium.   Doubleheaders will begin at Noon on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday.
 
All four games will be streamed live on the RMAC Network and live statistics for each can be found at the link above.
 
Tickets can also be purchased at www.cmumavericks.com/tickets.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks out-scored Adams State University, 48-7 in a 4-game conference series sweep last weekend in Alamosa.  The Mavericks run-ruled the Grizzlies in three of the four games and posted a 10-0 win in the other.
 
They hit .475 as a team throughout the series, banging out 25 extra-base and 56 total hits, from the bats of 15 different Mavericks.
 
Five different Mavericks hit home runs, including Ashley Bradford, Nicole Christensen and Ally Distler, who all hit two homers during the series sweep.  Eight different Maverick had batting averages of .500 or better throughout the domination.
 
The Mavs were also strong in the pitching circle holding the Grizzlies scoreless twice while conceding just 14 hits throughout the weekend, which began with 13-5 and 10-0 victories in Saturday's doubleheader.  The Mavs then posted 13-2 and 12-0 wins on Sunday.  All but the 10-0 victory came in five innings.
 
Streaking
 
The Mavericks have now won 21 games after going perfect in each of the past five weeks.  Their winning streak is the longest of any RMAC team this season and is the second longest active streak in Division II.  Concordia Irvine, which is a perfect 28-0 this year, is the only team with a longer streak.  One of the Eagles' wins came over the Mavs by a 5-3 score back on Feb. 5.
 
Long winning streaks are nothing new to the Maverick program.  The Mavs won their first 14 games of 2021 and had 10 and 11-game winning streaks later in the year as well. 
 
They also had a 22-game winning streak during the 2019 season and won their first 37 games of the 2018 season after winning 29 straight during the 2016 campaign.
 
Hit parade continues
 
The Mavericks registered 56 hits in just 22 offensive innings during last weekend's series at Adams State.  They tallied a season-high 18 in the series opener last season and have no had 10 or more hits in each of their last five games.  The Mavs have now reached double figures in each of their last ten conference games and 11 of their last 12 overall.
 
In the process, the Mavericks have raised their season-long team batting average to .337, a full 82 points higher than the .255 team mark that the Mavs had going into RMAC play.
 
Bombs Away
 
The Mavericks have also regularly been hitting home runs as of late.  The Mavs had had at least one home run in all but two of their 14 RMAC games after managing just five in their first ten non-conference games of the year.  Hitting at least one home run in 14 of their last 16 overall games, the Mavs have raised their season total to 37, a mark that ranks them sixth in Division II.  They rank fifth with their per game average of 1.42.
 
Twelve different Mavericks have hit a bomb this year.  Ally Distler and Ellie Smith co-lead the team with seven.  Distler had two in the Adams State series and three last week while Smith hit one against Northern State and one against Adams State.
 
Two weeks, two awards
 
Maverick pitcher and designated player Ellie Smith has shown off her multiple talents over the last two weeks.  The returning RMAC Player of the Year and 2021 consensus first team all-American was named as the RMAC Player of the Week for her offensive exploits on Mar. 15 and was then tabbed as the RMAC Pitcher of the Week on this past Tuesday (Mar. 22).
 
During CMU's 6-0 week that included the Mar. 16 non-conference doubleheader sweep over Northern State and last weekend's RMAC series sweep at Adams State, Adair went 4-0 with a perfect 0.00 ERA.  She allowed just one unearned run and 11 hits, ten of which were singles, in 18 innings of work over five appearances.  She also struck out 16 batters and allowed just four walks posting two combined shutouts with Paige Adair.
 
Nearly unhitable
 
Paige Adair surrendered just one hit in five innings of work during the Adams State series as she slowly works her way back from injury, which kept her out of the Mavericks' first three RMAC series.  Adair has now given up just 15 hits in 34 total innings this season, ranking third in the country for hits allowed per seven innings (3.09).
 
The 2021 RMAC Pitcher of the Year made her first start since returning on Sunday and struck out five Adams State Grizzlies in three innings of the 12-0 run-rule victory on Sunday. 
 
Top staff
 
Despite being without Adair's talents for their first three RMAC weekends, the Mavericks' other two pitchers continued to do a fine job.  In fact, the Mavericks' three pitchers— Adair, Ellie Smith and Shea Mauser— have the lowest three ERAs in the conference.

Adair leads the group at 1.03 while Ellie Smith ranks second at 1.15.  Shea Mauser ranks third at 2.35.
 
As a team, the Mavericks have a team ERA of 1.55, by far the best in the conference.  That mark also ranks the Mavericks seventh in Division II, quite a feat considering that the RMAC is regarded as one of the best offensive conferences in the country year in and year out.
 
Colorado Christian has the RMAC's next best ERA figure at 2.83, 68^th best in the country.
 
Defending & Dominant Champions
 
The Mavericks enters the 2022 RMAC season as the 5-time defending regular season conference champions having won the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and 2021 titles.  They were also 10-2 and tied for the RMAC standings lead with Colorado Christian and MSU Denver in the 2020 RMAC standings when the remainder that season was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The Mavericks also won the RMAC Tournament title in 2017, 2018 and 2021 and advanced to their fifth straight NCAA Division II tournament last spring.
 
The Mavericks are also undefeated and hold the RMAC lead with their perfect 14-0 conference record this year.
 
Since beginning their RMAC title winning streak in 2016, the Mavericks have posted a 256-52 overall record, good for an .831 winning percentage in their 308 games since starting the title-winning streak.
 
The Mavs have been even more impressive in conference play, going a 196-18 in their 214 RMAC games since 2016, good for an .916 winning percentage.  The Mavs have not lost more than four RMAC games in a single season during that 6-year stretch.
 
Home Sweet Home
 
After winning all six games during their recent home-stand, the Mavericks now have a perfect 10-0 record at home this season.
 
The home success is nothing new for the Mavericks, who have been tough to beat at the CMU Softball Stadium.  The Mavericks went 23-2 at home last season and are now 143-20 at home since the start of the 2015 season, good for a .877 winning percentage over the seven seasons.  They were a perfect 24-0 at home back in 2017 and have also recorded 20 or more home wins in each of their last four full seasons.
 
Here's a look at the Mavericks' home-field records over that span
 
2015- 18-2
2016- 17-5
2017- 24-0
2018- 22-5
2019-24-4
2020*- 6-2
2021-23-2
2022- 10-0 (current)
 
*Pandemic abbreviated season.
 
Smoothing sailing at the helm
 
Second-year Maverick Head Coach Mercedes Bohte, a member of the Maverick coaching staff since 2013, now has a 61-9 (.871) career winning percentage as the leader of the program.  The Mavericks have won 96 percent (48-2) of their RMAC games under her tutelage.
 
In 2021, while serving as the program's interim coach, Bohte, led the Mavericks to a 39-5 overall record, good for an .886 winning percentage, which was the best in Division II softball.  She was named as the RMAC Coach of the Year for her efforts and then had the interim tag removed over the summer.
 
Under her direction, the Mavericks went 34-2 in RMAC play to win the RMAC's regular season title last spring.  They also claimed the RMAC Tournament crown and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
In her time on the coaching staff, which goes back to 2013, the Mavericks have won six RMAC Championships and have qualified for five NCAA Tournaments.  As the team's pitching coach, her staffs have led the RMAC in ERA during each of the last six seasons, including in 2021, when she guided RMAC Pitcher of the Year Paige Adair and RMAC Player of the Year Ellie Smith, who had the league's top two individual ERAs.
 
Smith, who also had a monster offensive season as the team's designated player, and outfielder Lauren Wedman were also named as consensus first team all-Americans as leaders of the Maverick attack, which led the country in scoring (8.95 runs per game) and the RMAC in a multitude of statistical categories.
 
In her time as the Mavs' pitching coach, Bohte has guided 11 All-RMAC pitchers, eight of whom have also earned all-region honors, a group led by McKenzie Surface, the RMAC's all-time winningest pitcher and 2017 RMAC Co-Pitcher of the Year, 2019 RMAC Pitcher of the Year Kimbri Herring and Adair, who also picked up Second Team All-South Central Region accolades from both the NFCA and D2CCA.
 
The Mavericks also had seven overall and four First Team All-RMAC honorees in 2021 under Bohte.
 
Scouting the Rangers
 
The Rangers will enter the weekend with a 20-11 overall record.  They are in third place in the RMAC standings with a 14-2 conference mark and .875 conference winning percentage, having won the same number of conference games as the RMAC-leading Mavericks.  They have swept three of their four conference series to date and split the other at fourth-place UCCS on Mar. 12-13.
 
The Rangers then split a non-conference doubleheader against Regis last Tuesday (Mar. 15) before out-scoring Chadron State 29-5 in a home RMAC series sweep last weekend.
 
The Rangers have scored a RMAC-leading 207 runs thus far and rank third in the RMAC with their 6.68 run per game average.  They are hitting .318 as a team to rank fourth in the conference and rank third in the RMAC with their 3.55 team ERA.
 
They lead Division II with 21 triples as a team.
 
They have also hit 30 home runs, 27 of which have come from their top four hitters, who all have .346 or higher batting averages.
 
Allisha Martinez has a .425 batting average to rank fifth in the RMAC.  She also ranks fourth in slugging percentage at .851 and has 19 extra-base hits, including seven home runs to her credit.  She also co-leads the country with five sacrifice flies an has driven in 28 runs.
 
Katherine Raper is hitting .381 with six home runs and 29 RBIs while Jessi Case has hit ten home runs to rank second in the RMAC and tied for seventh nationally.  Case also has a RMAC-leading 30 RBIs, is hitting .354 and like Martinez and Raper, has eight doubles.  She has also stolen a league-most 24 bases without being caught.
 
Rachel Williams has also been impressive.  She is hitting .346 with four doubles, four triples and four home runs.  She has also drawn 26 walks.
 
Third-year head coach Nicole Thompson has called upon six different pitchers this season, three of which have made starts.  Kylie Harpman has been the work-horse.  She has completed eight of her 15 starts and has a 10-4 record and 2.57 ERA over 84 1/3 innings.  Harpman has also posted three individual shutouts and was named as the RMAC Pitcher of the Week on three straight occasions from Mar. 1-15.  She has recorded 91 strikeouts and has held opposing hitters to a .247 batting average.
 
Abby Covington, who has made four starts, is 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 39 2/3 innings worth of work.  She also has 40 strikeouts.  Megan Loveland has started the other 12 games and has a 4-6 record and 5.84 ERA in 44 1/3 innings.
 
Series History
 
The Mavericks hold a 67-39 lead over the Rangers in the series since 1994.  They have been even more dominant as of late winning seven of the last eight and 11 of the last 13 games between the teams.  The Mavs are also 16-3 against the Rangers since 2016.
 
The Mavericks won four of the five games between the teams last season, taking three out of four in a Mar. 28-29 regular season series in Denver before scoring an 8-0 win over the Rangers on the final day of the RMAC Tournament (May 15).
 
The Mavs are 30-17 against the Rangers at home since 1994 and have won four straight since the Rangers claimed a 4-1 decision on Apr. 15, 2018, snapping CMU's 37-game winning streak at the time.
 
Up Next
 
After this weekend's series, the Mavericks will head out of the state for the final time in the regular season playing a 4-game set at New Mexico Highlands in Las Vegas, New Mexico on Apr. 2 and 3.  The Cowgirls are currently 5-21 overall and 3-13 in RMAC play heading into a 4-game away series at Chadron State this weekend.