GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Two of the hottest teams in all of collegiate softball will collide with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's regular season title likely on the line when the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks head to Lakewood and All-Star Park for a 4-game weekend series with conference co-leading Colorado Christian University.
 
Both teams will enter the series with identical 29-1 RMAC records.  The Cougars have won 27 straight games and are 41-5 overall.  The Mavs are 37-5 overall and have won 13 straight and 36 of their last 37 games.
 
The two teams will meet in a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, both of which will begin earlier than normal at 9:30 a.m.  All four games will be streamed live on the RMAC Network and live statistics for each can be found at the link above.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks continued to roll as they claimed their third straight series sweep on the road at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs to do their part to set up this week's showdown.
 
The Mavericks hit 12 more home runs and scored 28 runs in total while giving up just eight to the Mountain Lions in the 4-game series played last Friday and Saturday in Colorado Springs.
 
Brandi Haller hit four home runs and registered 11 RBIs in Friday's doubleheader alone.  The Mavs won those games 10-4 and 9-1, taking the second via the mercy rule.  The Mavs then claimed Saturday's contests by 4-1 and 5-2 scores, taking the last game of the series in extra-innings as Ava Fugate and Ali Distler both hit home runs in the top of the eighth to lift the Mavs to victory.
 
Nicole Christensen also had a 2-home run game in the series-opener while freshman Myah Arrieta hit two throughout the weekend.
 
The Maverick pitching staff was strong once again, conceding just 16 hits and five earned runs while striking out 36 Mountain Lions.  Paige Adair started the first game of each doubleheader and posted a 0.78 combined ERA in nine innings while fanning 13.  Shea Mauser recorded 18 total strikeouts in a pair of complete game victories the second game of each doubleheader while Ellie Smith registered her first two saves of the season in relief of Adair.
 
CCU swept a 4-game road series at Adams State on Friday and Saturday.
 
Title Scenarios
 
Assuming all four games are played, either CMU or CCU would clinch at least a share of the RMAC title and the right to host the RMAC Tournament with a series sweep.  The winning team would then just need one more victory or a loss by the other on the final weekend of the RMAC season to win the title outright.
 
CMU will host ninth place Chadron State on Apr. 29-30 while CCU will head to Las Vegas, New Mexico to face last place New Mexico Highlands on the same days.
 
If either the Mavericks or Cougars, were to win three games this weekend, they would reduce their magic number (the combination of their wins  or losses by the other team) to three to claim an outright title  heading into the final weekend.  The magic number to clinch a share of the crown and the right to host the RMAC Tournament would be just two in this scenario.
 
If the Mavs and Cougars were to split the series evenly, the title chase would then come down to the final weekend and would go to the team that fares better in their final series.
 
If both then fared the same on that final weekend, they would share the RMAC title and the right to host the RMAC Tournament would go to the RMAC's performance indicator tie-breaker.

Standings Check
 
The Mavericks and Cougars have both clinched spots in the RMAC Tournament and can finish no lower than the No. 3 seed for the 6-team affair, to be played May 5-7 and hosted by the No. 1 seed.
 
Both are well ahead of Regis (23-9), which currently occupies the No. 3 spot in the standings.  The Cougars and Mavericks need just one more win to assure themselves of at least a No. 2 seed and a first round bye.
 
With two weeks remaining, MSU Denver is fourth in the RMAC standings at 19-11 while UCCS is fifth at 17-15.  CSU Pueblo and Fort Lewis are currently tied for the sixth and final spot in the RMAC Tournament at 14-18 (.438).  Both are just percentage points ahead of the Colorado School of Mines (13-17), who currently sits eighth but very much part of the RMAC Tournament qualification picture.
 
Chadron State (9-21), Black Hills State (8-24), Adams State (6-24) are still mathematically alive for a spot but will need a lot of wins and help from others.  New Mexico Highlands (5-27) can not make the tournament.
 
Hitter vs Pitcher of the Week
 
This weekend's series will have the sub-plot of the reigning RMAC Player and Pitcher of the Week facing off against each other.
 
Maverick redshirt junior left fielder Brandi Haller hit four home runs in last Friday's doubleheader against UCCS and was named as the RMAC's Player of the Week.  She drove in 11 runs during the twin-bill.
 
CCU's Alexis Hamilton was named as the RMAC Pitcher of the Week after tossing a no-hitter while striking out 11 in a Friday game over Adams State.
 
Nearly un-hit-able
 
Maverick redshirt senior pitcher Paige Adair continues to lead the NCAA Division II statistics in hits allowed per seven innings and has now taken over the lead in WHIP (Walks + Hits/Innings Pitched).
 
In nine innings pitched during two wins last weekend against UCCS, Adair gave up just four hits and four walks and a single earned run.
 
She has now conceded just 29 hits in 76 innings, good for a 2.67 per seven inning average that is nearly a full point lower than the second-ranked pitcher in the country (Kenzee Smith-UIndy; 3.58).
 
Adair has also conceded just 21 walks and has a 0.66 WHIP.  Andrea Morales of Rogers State is second in the country at 0.70 giving up 103 hits and walks in 147 innings pitched.
 
Adair has also lowered her ERA to 0.83, which is the fourth best mark in the country.    Adair has given up just nine earned runs (11 total) and has held opponents to a miniscule .116 batting average.
 
Her ERA mark has her well on pace to smash the single-season CMU of 1.62, currently held by Stacy Dennis since 2013.
 
Homer-Fest
 
If purely looking at the statistics, fans should expect a lot of home runs and offense in general this weekend.  The Mavericks lead the country with 78 total home runs while Colorado Christian is second in the country with 77.  The Mavs also lead the country with their per-game average of 1.80.  The Cougars are third in the country with their per game average of 1.67.
 
The two teams also rank first and second in the country for slugging percentage.  The Cougars have a mark of .677 while the Mavericks are second at .648.
 
CCU's team batting average of .372 is the third best mark in the national statistics.  The Mavs have a mark of .348, which is 12^th highest in Division II and second in the RMAC.
 
Stingy Staff
 
Despite those impressive offensive numbers, neither the Mavericks or Cougars have had to face a pitching staff like the two teams have in conference play.
 
The Mavericks appear to have an edge having given up just eight total earned runs during the current 13-game winning streak.  In the process, they have lowered their team ERA to 1.39.  That marks leads the RMAC by a considerable margin and puts the Mavs sixth in the national statistics.
 
Colorado Christian is ranked 51^st nationally and second in the RMAC with a 2.58 team ERA.
 
This year's Maverick pitching staff is on pace to shatter their program-record for team ERA, which currently stands at 2.08.  That mark was set 20 years ago in 2002.
 
A deeper dive into the pitching stats
 
Each of the five's top pitchers, at least in terms of ERA are likely to feature in this weekend's showdown.
 
The Mavericks have the No. 1 (Paige Adair), No. 2 (Ellie Smith) and No. 4 (Shea Mauser) ranked pitchers while Colorado Christian has the No. 3 (Alexis Hamilton) and No. 5 (Abrie Castillo) ranked hurlers.

Adair also leads the conference in opposing batting average (.116) and is third in the RMAC for total strikeouts with 104 despite throwing far fewer innings than most of her counterparts due to missing nearly a month of the season with an injury.
 
Meanwhile, Smith has an ERA of 1.37 while ranking fourth in the conference with her .215 opposing batting average.  Both Adair and Smith are tied for fourth in the RMAC with 13 victories.  Smith also registered two saves last week and is now third in the conference.
 
Mauser sports a 1.87 ERA and ranks second in the RMAC with her .202 opposing batting average.  She also leads the RMAC with 42 looking strikeouts.  Mauser is also tied for fourth in the RMAC with 101 total strikeouts and is sixth in the RMAC with 13 wins.
 
Hamilton is third in the RMAC with her 1.67 ERA and ranks third in the RMAC for opposing batting average at .212.  She is second in the RMAC for total innings pitched (121.1) and leads the conference with 17 victories.  Hamilton is also second in the RMAC for total strikeouts with 113. 
 
Castillo also ranks fifth in opposing batting average (.252) for the Cougars and is third in the RMAC for wins (16).  She is third in the RMAC for innings pitched at 117.
 
CCU's Sydney Rawlings also has a strong 5-0 record and 2.26 ERA in 31 innings pitched over 13 appearances and five starts, for the Cougars but has thrown just one inning this month in limited time. Three other Cougars have also throwing 19 combined innings while the Mavericks have exclusively used their 3-woman staff.
 
In the Rankings
 
The Cougars have now been listed in the "others receiving votes" of the NFCA's NCAA Division II Coaches' Poll for the last two weeks.
 
Despite their respective successes, the Cougars nor Mavs were shown only limited respect in the official NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings, which were released for the first time on Wednesday.
 
CMU was ranked ninth in the region behind eight Lone Star Conference teams.  The Cougars were ranked tenth.
 
Those rankings will be updated on each of the next two Wednesdays leading into the official tournament selection announcement, which will include just eight teams from the region, including the conference tournament champions from both conferences, who will receive automatic bids.
 
Both the Cougars (41) and Mavericks (37) have more wins than any other team in the region.  They both have fewer losses (4) than every other team except for top-ranked UT Tyler (32-4), which also holds down the top spot in the NFCA Poll.
 
However, the Cougars and Mavericks are being weighed down by the RMAC's lower relative strength  and thus in the strength of schedule and RPI categories.
 
The Mavericks have an region RPI of .574 to rank ninth in the region.  CCU's is .567 and tenth best.
 
CMU has a 2-0 record against Lone Star Conference teams in Eastern and Western New Mexico and sports a 36-5 "in-region" record.  The Cougars went 6-2 against LSC foes during the early portion of the season but lost their only game against a regionally-ranked squad West Texas A&M.  They are 41-4 in "in-region" play.
 
Homer Streak
 
For the second consecutive weekend, the Mavericks hit 12 home runs against UCCS.  They matched a season-high by hitting five in the first game of the Easter weekend series against the Mountain Lions.
 
The Mavs have now hit at least one home run in 18 consecutive games and in all but two of their 30 RMAC games this season.
 
Thirteen different Mavericks have combined for their total of 78, which is the Maverick's fourth highest single-season total in program history.  The 2001 squad had 98 to hold the record.
 
Four different Mavericks are in double figures and amongst the RMAC's top ten sluggers.  Ally Distler co-leads the RMAC with 15 alongside CCU's Kenzie Middleton.
 
Brandi Haller is tied for fifth with 12 while Ashley Bradford is tied for eighth with 11.  Ellie Smith is also in the top-10 with ten.
 
The Cougars hit five home runs in their series at Adams State last week after exploding for 18 in their last home series against the Colorado School of Mines.
 
Middleton, Piper Lujan (13) and Taylor Olsen (11) are all in double-figures for the Cougars while Sami Edwards is just one away from joining that club with nine dingers to date.
 
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 also hold a share of the RMAC lead with their 29-1 conference record this year.
 
Since beginning their RMAC title winning streak in 2016, the Mavericks have posted a 271-53 overall record, good for an .836 winning percentage in their 324 games since starting the title-winning streak.
 
The Mavs have been even more impressive in conference play, going a 211-19 in their 230 RMAC games since 2016, good for an .917 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 sweeping Black Hills State in their last home series, the Mavericks improved their home-field record to 17-1 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 151-21 at home since the start of the 2015 season, good for a .878 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- 17-1 (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 76-10 (.884) career winning percentage as the leader of the program.  The Mavericks have won 95.5 percent (63-3) 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.
 
Series History
 
The Mavs and Cougars have played a lot of meaningful games against each other in recent years.
 
They faced seven times in 2021, including in three games during last year's RMAC Tournament.  The Cougars won a winner's bracket game before the Mavericks came back to win both the championship and "if necessary" game to claim the tournament title in Grand Junction.  The Mavericks had also swept the regular season series on Apr. 24 and 25 to take control of the RMAC regular season title chase.
 
The Mavericks and Cougars did not play each other during the abbreviated 2020 season.
 
In 2019, the Mavericks clinched the RMAC with a victory over the Cougars in Lakewood.
 
CMU also won the 2018 RMAC Tournament title, defeating the Cougars in the final.
 
In the overall series, the Mavericks have won 29 of the 40 games played between the teams, including nine of the last ten. 
 
They are 10-2 against the Cougars in Lakewood, having last played there in 2019 when the Mavs won two games during a 3-team RMAC pod that also included Colorado Christian.
 
Up Next
 
After this weekend's series, the Mavericks will close out the regular season with a Friday-Saturday (Apr. 29-30) home series against Chadron State.  The Friday doubleheader will begin at Noon while the Saturday twin-bill, which include Senior Day festivities, is slated for noon.  The Eagles are currently 10-32 overall and 9-21 in RMAC play and will need to win, if not sweep, their home series against the Colorado School of Mines to have any chance of getting into the RMAC Tournament, which will begin on Thursday, May 5.