GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University softball team claimed their sixth consecutive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title and the right to host next week's RMAC Tournament with convincing 16-0 and 9-0 mercy-rule victories over visiting Chadron State College on Saturday here at the CMU Softball Stadium.
 
Both games were completed after 4 ½ innings.
 
The Mavericks hit nine doubles and five home runs throughout the doubleheader while Paige Adair and Shea Mauser both pitched 5-inning shutouts in their Senior Day starts as the Mavericks closed out the regular season with a weekend and a series sweep.
 
The Mavericks' other two Senior Day honorees also contributed in a big way as Nicole Christensen had three doubles while Lauren Wedman recorded two hits, including the go-ahead and game-winning 2-run double in the first game after making a thrilling defensive play, minutes earlier.
 
With the dominating mercy-rule wins, the Mavericks extended their winning streak to six while finishing off the regular season with 43-7 overall and 35-3 RMAC records.
 
They out-scored the Eagles, 42-2 throughout the 4-game series, winning each of the last three by shutout.
 
CSC finished the season with a 11-37 overall and 10-26 RMAC records.
 
Approximately an hour later after clinching at least a share of the RMAC title and the right to host the tournament by taking care of their own business, the Mavericks learned they were the outright conference champions as last place New Mexico Highlands University claimed a 5-4 win in the series finale against Colorado Christian University in Las Vegas, New Mexico. 
 
The Cougars (46-8, 34-4 RMAC) had run-ruled the Cowgirls in the first three games of the series but gave up five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of Game 4 of the weekend set to drop the Cougars out of a first place tie and into second place in the final RMAC standings.
 
Game 1
 
The Mavericks hit seven doubles and three home runs to rout the Eagles in the third game of the Friday/Saturday home series.
 
The Mavs scored two runs in the second inning on Wedman's clutch 2-run double before adding four in the third.  The Mavs then scored ten runs on 12 fourth-inning hits to finish the contest 19-for-31 as a team at the plate.
 
Thirteen different Mavericks recorded hits as Ellie Smith went 3-for-3 with a home run.
 
Freshman Myah Arrieta and pinch-hitter Ava Fugate also homered.
 
Meanwhile, Adair needed just 78 pitches to record a 4-hit shutout.  She also fanned five Eagles without giving up a walk.
 
Christensen and Sarah Jorissen also had two double each while Iliana Mendoza, Wedman and pinch-hitter Rylee Crouch added two-baggers as well.
 
The seven doubles are tied for second most in CMU single-game history.  The team's 19 hits were also a season-high and equal to ninth most for a single-game in program history.
 
Both teams had gone down quietly in the first inning.  The Eagles then put two runners on with just one out in the top of the second before Adair recorded a strikeout.  Chloe Brown then singled to right, but Wedman delivered a laser to the plate to gun down pinch-runner Ramsey Deming for what would have been the Eagles' go-ahead run.
 
Minutes later, Wedman then hit a 2-run gapper to left center as the Mavericks took the early lead in the bottom of the second.
 
They then increased that lead to 6-0 after three as Christensen hit an RBI double before Smith hit a solo homer.  Jorissen and Mendoza then doubled to exchange spots on the bases later in the inning.
 
Things then spiraled from there as the Mavericks put up their highest single-inning score of the season with ten runs on a dozen hits, from 11 different players, in the fourth.
 
Smith had two singles in the inning while Arrieta and Fugate both hit 2-run homers in the score-fest.

Adair (16-2) then retired the Eagles in order in the top of the fifth to record her sixth individual shutout of the campaign.
 
Game 2
 
Following the in-between game Senior Day festivities, the regular season finale started and finished in a similar way.
 
Again, both teams did not score in the first inning.
 
And once again, the Mavericks put up two runs in the second on a Kaley Barker 2-run homer. 
 
Barker, who later had a 2-run double, went 5-for-5 in the series.
 
The Mavs then loaded the bases in the third, thanks to an Ashley Bradford single, Christensen double and Jorissen base on balls.  That set up Smith for an RBI groundout before Barker delivered her 2-run double to give the Mavs a 5-0 cushion.
 
CMU then scored four more runs in the fourth as Wedman hit a 1-out single before stealing second and moving to third on a 2-out wild pitch.  Aislyn Sharp was then plunked before Christensen plated two runs with an RBI single. 
 
Jorissen then delivered a 2-run homer to complete the scoring.
 
Meanwhile, Mauser (12-3) was solid giving up just three hits while needing just 67 pitches to win the 70-minute, run-rule shutout, her fifth individual shutout of the season.
 
CMU, which recorded 17 shutouts during the regular season, finished the game with eight hits, including four for extra-bases.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will host the 6-team, double-elimination RMAC Tournament, beginning on Thursday.  They will have a first round bye before playing either MSU Denver or UCCS in the second round.  Colorado Christian will also have a first round bye and will be the No. 2 seed.  They will play either Regis or Fort Lewis in the second round.
 
Stay tuned to www.cmumavericks.com and www.rmacsports.org for all of the tournament details.