GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After sweeping their last six games of the regular season to claim an outright Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Regular Season title, the Colorado Mesa University Maverick softball team will play host to the RMAC Tournament for the sixth straight time, beginning Thursday at the CMU Softball Stadium.
 
In total, ten or 11 games will be played during the 6-team double-elimination tournament, which will run through Saturday afternoon or evening.
 
The winner will receive the RMAC's automatic berth into the South Central Regional portion of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
Games will be played at 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday.  Saturday's schedule begins with an elimination game at Noon followed by the championship game at 2:30 p.m. and the if-necessary game to follow at 5 p.m.
 
The Mavericks (43-7, 35-3 RMAC) will be the top seed and will receive a first round bye.  They will then open the tournament in Game 4 at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday against the first round winner between No. 4 seed MSU Denver and No. 5 seed UCCS, who will square off in Game 2.
 
Colorado Christian is the No. 2 seed and will face the Game 1 winner of Regis and Fort Lewis in Game 3.
 
The RMAC's tournament webpage, which is also where tickets can be purchased, has the complete bracket as well as links to live stats and live streams on the RMAC Network.

Parking

Due to the ongoing construction projects on campus adjacent to the CMU Softball Stadium, parking is limited.  Fans are encouraged to use lots, CP1, CP3, CP8, CP12 and CP15 found on this parking map.  Parking enforcement in those lots only will be relaxed during the tournament.  Parking in any other lot is at your own risk for ticketing.

Last Time Out

The Mavericks took care of business in their regular season capping series against Chadron State, sweeping the Eagles in a 4-game set last Friday and Saturday at home.  The Mavericks won three of the four games via shutout and the mercy-rule in five innings after taking the opener, 6-2.  The Mavericks out-scored the Eagles, 42-2 throughout the series.
 
About an hour after completing the series sweep, the Mavericks then learned that Colorado Christian dropped their series finale at New Mexico Highlands after run-ruling the last place Cowgirls in the first three games.  That Cougar loss then allowed the Mavericks to win the RMAC title outright.  CMU would have shared the regular season title with Cougars if CCU had been able to complete their series sweep.
 
They honored four players— Paige Adair, Nicole Christensen, Shea Mauser and Lauren Wedman during Senior Day festivities in between games on Sunday's doubleheader.
 
Offensively, the Mavericks recorded 53 hits throughout the series, hitting .505 as a team.  They had 23 extra-base hits, including ten home runs.  Christensen had two home runs in Game 2 of the series and then hit three doubles during her Senior Day doubleheader on Sunday.  She finished the weekend hitting .600 and slugging at a 1.500 clip while driving in nine runs and scoring six. 
 
Reserve catcher Kaley Barker also went 5-for-5 with two doubles and a home run in two starts as one of the nine different Mavericks who recorded a home run and as one of the 15 different Mavs that had at least one hit during the weekend.  All 15 such Mavericks had weekend batting averages of .333 or higher.
 
Meanwhile, the Maverick pitching staff was impressive as all three pitchers recorded a complete game shutout during the series.  Ellie Smith pitched a 1-htter and took a perfect game into the top of the fifth inning of Game 2 of the series.
 
Adair and Mauser then tossed shutouts in Saturday's doubleheader.  Adair also picked up the win in the series opener.
 
The pitching staff conceded just 13 hits and three walks throughout the series.
 
Title Town
 
The Mavericks' 2022 RMAC Championship is  their 13^th in program history, a RMAC record.  The Mavs have now also won each of the last six titles, starting in 2016.  They were also tied for the RMAC lead in 2020 when that year's season was canceled and no title was officially awarded.
 
The Mavericks also won the RMAC Championship in 2014 and had been crowned champions in 1982, 1983, 1989, 2000, 2002 and 2007.
 
The 1982 and 1983 and 2000 championships came in years where the RMAC Tournament winner was declared as the official conference champion.  Additionally, the Mavericks had the best RMAC regular season record in 1987 (tie) and 2001.
 
Dominant Champions
 
With last week's sweep, the Mavericks were able to six-peat as RMAC Champions.  As mentioned in the previous note, the Mavericks had also 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.
 
Since beginning their RMAC title winning streak in 2016, the Mavericks have posted a 277-55 overall record, good for an .834 winning percentage in their 332 games since starting the title-winning streak.
 
The Mavs have been even more impressive in conference play, going a 217-21 in their 238 RMAC games since 2016, good for an .912 winning percentage.  The Mavs have not lost more than four RMAC games in a single season during that 6-year stretch and lost just three out of 38 this year.
 
Tourney Success
 
The Mavericks have also won seven previous RMAC Tournament titles.  They won three straight games on the final day of last year's tournament to win it for the first time since going back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.  CMU also won the RMAC Tournament in 1982, 1983, 1992 and 2000.
 
They had also won their first three games of the 2019 RMAC Tournament before being downed by now Division I Dixie State in the championship and if-necessary game.  They were a perfect 8-0 in RMAC Tournament play during the 2017 and 2018 competitions, combined, after going 2-2 in 2016.
 
In their current stretch of hosting, the Mavericks are a combined 17-5 in RMAC Tournament play.
 
Stat Dominance
 
In looking at the statistics, it is easy to understand why the Mavericks were able to win the RMAC title with an impressive 35-3 conference mark.  The Mavericks hit .385 as a team and held their conference opponents to a .175 batting average, an incredible 210 point difference.  The Mavericks out-scored their RMAC foes by a combined 327-59 margin and had a team ERA of 1.48.
 
Opposing pitchers had  combined 9.01 ERA.
 
The Mavs also hit seven times as many home runs (85) as their RMAC opponents (15) and had an equally gigantic sized difference in doubles (84-14) in their 38 conference games.
 
Four different Mavericks had .350 or higher batting averages during conference play, including Brandi Haller, who hit .427 while slugging a league-best .976 during conference play. 
 
She was one of four Mavericks who had double-digit double home run totals (12) in conference play.  Ally Distler lead the group and the entire RMAC with 15 conference long balls.  Ashley Bradford had 13 while Nicole Christensen, who hit .422 during conference play, had 11.   

Homer Fest and Eye on the Record
 
With their ten home runs off the bats of nine different players last week, the Mavericks raised their season-long home run total to 95, a mark that now leads the NCAA Division II statistics by seven over Augustana.  Colorado Christian is now third in the national statistics with 87.
 
The Mavericks also lead the country in home runs per game (1.90) over Augustana (1.73), Valdosta State (1.62) and Colorado Christian (1.61) as they close in on a potential national statistic title, which would be CMU's fifth for home runs per game in program history.
 
Only three NCAA Division I squads have hit more home runs than the Mavericks.  The heralded Oklahoma Sooners have 116 while Wichita State has hit 109.  Georgia has 96 in 52 games and has a lower per game average (1.85) than the Mavs.
 
George Fox leads NCAA Division III with 64 home runs to date.
 
The Mavericks hit a school-record 98 home runs back in 2001 and could potentially break that record this weekend.  That mark was a national record at the time.  CMU also won the national statistical title for home runs per game in 2000, 2006 and 2007 before RMAC rival MSU Denver won the next three long ball crowns from 2008-2010.
 
CMU was also tied with Regis for the most home runs in the country (83) back in 2006 but has not led the country in total home runs since.
 
The Mavs' current home run total of 95 is tied for the 14^th most in a single season in Division II history.  Only seven squads have ever hit 100 or more.
 
The 2013 Humboldt State squad holds the Division II record of 114 while the 2010 MSU Denver squad holds the RMAC record of 112, which is the second highest Division II total.
 
Valdosta State hit 109 home runs in just 49 games last year en-route to the Division II per game record of 2.22.
 
Record Pitching Pace
 
The Mavericks are also on pace to set a new school-record for ERA.  The Mavs currently have a team ERA of 1.54 this season, well below the current Maverick standard of 2.08, set 20 years ago in 202.
 
Their team ERA ranks them seventh nationally and a top the RMAC by a wide margin.  Colorado Christian is second in the RMAC and 62^nd nationally at 2.78.
 
Nearly un-hit-able
 
Despite giving up nine hits in two complete game victories and 12 innings last weekend, CMU's Paige Adair continues to lead the NCAA Division II statistics in hits allowed per seven innings.
 
She has now conceded just 43 hits in 98 innings pitched, good for a 3.07 per game average.  Biola's Paige Austin, who led the Eagles to the national title series in 2021, is second in the country at 3.33.
 
Adair also now ranks sixth nationally with her 0.74 WHIP (Walks + Hits/Innings Pitched).
 
The redshirt senior from Aztec New Mexico, who was the 2021 RMAC Pitcher of the Year, is also on pace to smash the Maverick record for ERA and opposing batting average.  She has a 1.21 ERA and opposing hitters are hitting just .130 against her.
 
Stacey Dennis (2013) holds the Mavs' ERA mark of 1.62 while Kimbri Herring set the lowest single-season opposing batting average mark of .207 in 2019.

Adair also has a career ERA of 2.16, under the CMU career record of 2.21 held by McKenize Surface. 
 
All three Maverick pitchers could finish under that mark as Ellie Smith is currently holding opponents to a .203 mark while Shea Mauser has a .208 opposing batting average.
 
They stand 1-2-3 in the RMAC with Alexis Hamilton of Colorado Christian having the fourth best mark of .223.
 
In ERA, Adair leads the RMAC while Smith is second at 1.47.  Mauser ranks fourth at 1.95 while Hamilton is third at 1.75.

Smith also has a 3-year career ERA of 1.87, even better than Adair's current 4-year mark.
 
Receiving Votes
 
For the first time since sitting 21^st in the preseason poll, the Mavericks are receiving votes in the NFCA's Division II Coaches' Poll.  The Mavs received four votes and are a pseudo-29^th
 
Colorado Christian had been the lone RMAC school to have been receiving votes in the previous two polls.
 
In the Rankings
 
After sitting seventh last week and despite their weekend sweep, the Mavericks were dropped a spot to eighth in this week's all-important NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings that will eventually determine the at-large selections and seeding for the regional portion of the NCAA Division II Tournament that begins next week.  The latest set of rankings were announced early Wednesday afternoon.
 
They will be updated one more time with results from the conference tournaments this weekend in advance of the NCAA Tournament selection process, that will include eight teams from the region, including the winners of the RMAC and Lone Star Conference Tournaments, who will both receive automatic berths regardless of their ranking.
 
The No. 8 spot is perilous as a non or lower-ranked team could swipe away a potential at-large berth if they were to win the conference tournament.
 
The Mavs are ranked behind seven LSC teams.  Defending national champion West Texas A&M is ranked ninth while Colorado Christian is ranked tenth as the only other RMAC representative in the rankings.
 
Oklahoma Christian and St. Mary's are just ahead of the Mavs.  The Mavs flipped spots with St. Mary's after last week's rankings.
 
Both the Colorado Christian Cougars (46) and Mavericks (43) have more wins than any other team in the region.  The Mavs also have fewer losses than any other team in the region except for top-ranked UT-Tyler (4), but 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 .580 to rank seventh in the region.  CCU's is at .563 and ranked ninth in that category.
 
CMU has a 2-0 record against Lone Star Conference teams in Eastern and Western New Mexico and sports a 42-7 "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 46-7 in "in-region" play.
 
The Mavs do have better numbers in all but one (strength of schedule) of the ranking criteria categories than St. Mary's in the public-facing data, but are still below the Rattlers in the rankings.   
 
Colorado Mesa is also 9-1 while St. Mary's is 6-2 against common opponents.
 
Eye on Texas
 
The Lone Star Conference will begin their 10-team single-elimination tournament on Thursday as well in Tyler, Texas.  Top seed UT Tyler, ranked No. 1 nationally and in the regional rankings, is hosting it.
 
Cameron and St. Edwards are the lowest two seeds and are the only two teams in the LSC Tournament not in the top-10 of this week's regional rankings.
 
Results and info about the LSC Tournament can be found at https://lonestarconference.org/tournaments/?id=58
 
Home Sweet Home
 
After sweeping Chadron State in their final regular season series, the Mavericks improved their home-field record to 21-1 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 155-21 at home since the start of the 2015 season, good for a .881 winning percentage over the seven seasons.  They were a perfect 24-0 at home back in 2017 and have now recorded 20 or more home wins in each of their last five 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- 21-1 (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 82-12 (.884) career winning percentage as the leader of the program.  The Mavericks have won 93.2 percent (69-5) 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.
 
Against the foes
 
The Mavericks are a combined 17-3 against the other teams in the RMAC Tournament this year.
 
They swept series against Fort Lewis and MSU Denver at home and a road series at UCCS.  The Mavs also won three of four home games against Regis and split the away series at Colorado Christian.
 
They defeated Colorado Christian in two of the three RMAC Tournament meetings last year and knocked Regis out of the tournament with an 8-0 mercy-rule win before defeating the Cougars twice to claim the tournament title.
 
They last played MSU Denver in the post-season in 2018, winning 10-2 in five innings en-route to that year's tournament title.
 
They have not faced Fort Lewis in the RMAC Tournament since 2014, when the then No. 8 seed Skyhawks upset the top-seeded Mavericks in the opening round.
 
The last post-season meeting against UCCS was back in 2013, when the Mountain Lions won a 4-1 winner's bracket game in Lakewood.
 
Up Next
 
The RMAC Tournament Champions will see their name called during the NCAA Tournament selection show, which will air on www.ncaa.com at 8 a.m. Mountain Time on Monday (May 9) morning.
 
The Lone Star Conference Tournament Champions will also receive one of the region's eight total spots.
 
Six other teams will be selected at-large based on the updated regional rankings, that will factor in results from this week's conference tournaments.
 
The Mavs are in position to potentially earn their sixth straight and 14^th overall NCAA Tournament bid.

The regional tournaments will begin next Thursday (May 12).