GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After two weekends on the road in tournament play, the Colorado Mesa University Maverick softball team has returned home and will begin the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference slate with an 8-game home-stand, beginning with a 4-game series against Fort Lewis College on Sunday and Monday.
 
The series was originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday but was pushed back a day after this week's snowstorm.
 
Sunday's doubleheader will begin at noon while Monday's President's Day twin-bill will get underway at 11 a.m.
 
The Mavericks will enter the series with a 2-6 record and looking to snap a 6-game slide after a 2-0 start.  Fort Lewis is 2-5 and like the Mavs, went 0-3 at last week's West Texas Invitational in Canyon, Texas.
 
All four games will be streamed on the RMAC Network and live statistics will be available here.

Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks played three of what was supposed to be five games at last week's West Texas Invitational in Canyon, Texas.  The Mavericks were downed by just a single run in their first two before dropping an 11-3 decision to the host West Texas A&M Lady Buffs in their last game of the weekend on Saturday.  Earlier, the Mavs dropped a 2-1 decision to West Texas in their lone game on Friday before falling 10-9 to Eastern New Mexico on Saturday morning despite hitting five home runs.
 
The Mavs were also slated to play then sixth-ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville on both Friday and Saturday but learned that the Javelinas pulled out of the tournament on their way to the ballpark on Friday, forcing the cancelation of those games and other modifications to the tournament schedule.
 
Rylee Crouch hit .500 (5-10) throughout the tournament knocking out three home runs in Saturday's game against Eastern New Mexico.  More on that later. 
 
Crouch also drove in five runs and scored four while finishing the weekend with a 1.500 slugging percentage and 2.000 OPS.  Freshman Makayla Westmoreland also had four hits in ten at bats while Aislyn Sharp and Bella Aragon went a combined 5-for-8 at the plate.
 
Hannah Sattler appeared in all three games in the circle and made two starts. She went the distance against West Texas A&M on Friday, allowing just five hits in the complete game effort.
 
Three-Homer Club
 
Rylee Crouch became just the fourth Maverick to ever hit three home runs in a single game when she did so on Saturday morning against Eastern New Mexico.  She joins current teammate Aislyn Sharp, 2-time all-region pick Brooke Doumer and program legend Kelly Adams in that elite club.  Sharp accomplished the feat in the 2021 RMAC Tournament Championship game (May 15) while Doumer had done it earlier that season on Apr. 18 against UCCS.
 
Adams, the RMAC's all-time top player on the 2009 All-Century Team, had three home runs in a Mar. 10, 2001 win over UCCS.
 
Crouch, who has started all eight games this year as a sophomore, leads the Mavericks with four home runs and nine RBIs.  She had two homers and drove in ten runs during 38 at bats as a reserve outfielder in 2022, her freshman campaign.
 
Top Slugger
 
Crouch is now leading the RMAC in slugging percentage with a 1.087 mark, meaning that she is averaging slightly more than a single in every at bat.  She has recorded 25 total bases in 23 at bats this season, hitting one double and one triple in addition to her four home runs.  She also has a .435 batting average and has the second best OPS (on base + slugging percentage) in the RMAC at 1.596.
 
Record Returner
 
The series with Fort Lewis will mark the return of Maverick pitching legend Paige Adair, who is now on the Skyhawks' coaching staff as a volunteer assistant coach.  Adair completed a record-setting season and career with CMU as she posted a single-season record ERA of 1.30 en-route to her second consecutive RMAC Pitcher of the Year honor last season.  She was also named as CMU's first D2CCA South Central Region Pitcher of the Year.
 
Adair is a native of Aztec, New Mexico, just miles and over the border from Durango.
 
Adair was also recently selected to receive a Sportswoman of Colorado Award for her accomplishments at CMU next month.
 
A look back to '22
 
The Mavericks finished the 2022 season with a 45-9 overall record and won a sixth consecutive RMAC title with a 35-3 conference record but were left out of the NCAA Tournament after finishing third in the RMAC Tournament.  Seven Lone Star Conference teams were selected in the NCAA South Central Region while Colorado Christian was the only RMAC representative after winning the conference tournament.  The Cougars finished second behind the Mavs in the conference regular season.
 
The Mavericks, who had the nation's fourth-best winning percentage (.833) had an impressive year and ended up atop all of Division II softball with 100 home runs and their .646 team slugging percentage.  The Mavs also combined for a school-record smashing 1.63 team ERA and allowed just 234 hits in 339 defensive innings, ranking fifth in the country for WHIP (Walks + Hits/Innings Pitched) and sixth for ERA.
 
They also out-hit their opponents .348 to .190 (batting average) throughout the season and went on a 23-game winning streak from Feb. 18-Mar. 26.
 
The Mavs placed six players on the First Team All-RMAC squad, four of whom are on the 2023 roster, and also had two second team selections. 
 
Shortstop Ashley Bradford, who is back for her fifth year in 2023, was named as the RMAC Player of the Year and was later named a Second Team D2CCA All-American.  Paige Adair, who graduated, was named as the RMAC Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season and was later named as the D2CCA Pitcher of the Year.
 
Honored Mavs Back
 
Although the Mavericks have nine new faces on the 2023 roster, they do return ten total players, including four First Team All-RMAC selections in Bradford, catcher Ally Distler, infielder Myah Arrieta and outfielder Brandi Haller.  Braford, Distler, expected to miss the 2023 season due to injury, and Haller also earned D2CCA All-South Central region honors in 2022 with Bradford being named to the first team.  She and Distler were also named to the Second Team NFCA All-South Central Region team.
 
In the Polls
 
The Mavericks were recently picked second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Preseason Poll, which was released on Jan. 18.   The Mavs received 107 points in the polling of the league's head coaches, who ranked their opposition 1-11 without voting for their own squad.  They also received one first place vote.
 
Colorado Christian, which finished 49-10 overall and 34-4 in RMAC play to finish second in the regular season standings, was picked first in the poll with 119 points and ten first place votes.  The Cougars won the RMAC Tournament in 2022.
 
MSU Denver, 38-22 (23-15 RMAC) in 2022 was picked third with 100 points and received the other first place vote.  Regis (95), UCCS (73) and Fort Lewis (69) rounded out the top half of the poll after each qualified for the 6-team RMAC Tournament field last year.
 
Click here to see the whole poll.
 
Full and Favorable slate
 
With the non-conference slate, now complete, the Mavs will begin Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play this weekend under an expanded schedule that added a week and four games to what is now a 44-game conference schedule.  In the new RMAC scheduling philosophy, all 12 teams will face each of their 11 opponents in a full 4-game series, a change from previous years when teams missed out on an opponent or only faced some teams twice during 3-team "pod" weekends.
 
The Mavs will play six of those 11 opponents and 24 of their conference games at home this season and drew a favorable home draw.  They are due to play each of the five other 2022 RMAC Tournament qualifying teams at home and will also host Black Hills State in their other home series. 
 
The Mavs will play 20 RMAC road games, with the toughest challenge, at least according to the RMAC Preseason Poll, coming on the final weekend (Apr. 28-29) at the Colorado School of Mines, picked seventh in the poll.

The Mavs have a pair of 8-game home-stands on the schedule, including the opening stretch, and will be on the road for eight straight RMAC games just once, playing at Adams State and New Mexico Highlands on back-to-back weekends over the first two weeks of March.
 
Powerhouse Program
 
As mentioned above, the Mavericks led Division II in home runs (100) and slugging percentage (.646) last season.  The Mavs were also ranked 11^th in the country for batting average (.348) a year ago.
 
The CMU pitching staff was also quite impressive and finished fifth in the country for WHIP (Walks + Hits/Innings Pitched) at 0.96 and sixth for ERA (1.63) last year.
 
The Mavs also ranked seventh in the country for shutouts (17) and had the fourth best winning percentage (.833) in the entire country last season.
 
Dominant Champions

The Mavericks were able to six-peat as RMAC Champions last year.  The Mavericks had also won the 2016, 2017, 2018, 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.
 
Since beginning their RMAC title winning streak in 2016, the Mavericks have posted a 281-63 overall record, good for an .817 winning percentage in their 344 games during the stretch.
 
The Mavs have been even more impressive in conference play, going an incredible 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 last year.
 
The Mavs have reached the 40-win mark in five of their last six full seasons (excluding the 2020 COVID canceled season) and won 39 games in 2021, a year in which the Mavs only played RMAC regular season games due to continued COVID ramifications.
 
Home Sweet Home
 
The CMU Softball Stadium has proven to be a fortress for the Mavericks and a house of horrors for opposing squads in recent years.
 
The Mavericks have been tough to beat at home and went 23-3 at home last year, raising their home record to 157-23 at home since the start of the 2015 season, good for a .872 winning percentage over those eight 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 six full seasons.
 
They Mavs are slated to play 24 home games during the regular season this year, including this upcoming series with Fort Lewis, who has not been able to win in Grand Junction since 2014.
 
Here's a look at the Mavericks' home-field records over the last eight years.
 
2015- 18-2
2016- 17-5
2017- 24-0
2018- 22-5
2019-24-4
2020*- 6-2
2021-23-2
2022- 23-3
 
*Pandemic abbreviated season.
 
Smoothing sailing at the helm
 
Third-year Maverick Head Coach Mercedes Bohte, a member of the Maverick coaching staff since 2013, now has an 86-20 (.811) 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 of 2021.  Under her direction in that year, the Mavericks went 34-2 in RMAC play to win the RMAC's regular season title.  They also claimed the RMAC Tournament crown and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
In 2022, the Mavericks were just as successful going 45-9 overall and 35-3 in RMAC play, clinching a sixth consecutive RMAC Regular Season title on the final day.
 
That year's team had eight overall All-RMAC picks, including six first team selections.  The Mavericks also laid claim to the RMAC Player of the Year in Ashley Bradford, later named as a Second Team D2CCA All-American, and the RMAC Pitcher of the Year in repeat selection Paige Adair. 
 
The Mavs also won the NCAA statistical titles for home runs (100) and slugging percentage (.646) and set a school-record for team ERA (1.63), the sixth best mark in all of Division II softball.
 
In Bohte's first season (2021), the Mavericks also had seven overall and four First Team All-RMAC honorees.  The Mavs led the country in scoring (8.95 runs per game) that year and had a pair of consensus first team all-Americans in Ellie Smith and Lauren Wedman.
 
In her time on the coaching staff, which goes back to 2013, the Mavericks have won seven 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 seven seasons, including in 2021 and 2022, when she guided 2-time RMAC Pitcher of the Year Paige Adair, who set a new single-season record for individual ERA (1.30).  Adair also became the first Maverick to earn D2CCA South Central Region Pitcher of the Year.

In her time as the Mavs' pitching coach, Bohte has guided pitchers to 14 All-RMAC and 11 all-region honors, a group led by Adair, 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.
 
Know Your Foe
 
Fort Lewis will enter this weekend with a 2-5 overall record.  Like the Mavs, the Skyhawks got out to a 2-0 start but have dropped each of their last five games since.  They played Eastern New Mexico twice and West Texas A&M once last week after going 2-2 with wins over Texas Permian Basin and Western New Mexico at the South Central Regional season-opening tournament in Los Lunas, New Mexico.
 
Alex Tenorio has put up an impressive .550 batting average, which puts her second in the RMAC's early season statistics.  She has recorded 11 hits in 20 at bats thus far.  All but one of those hits,  a double, has been a single.
 
The Skyhawks have hit five home runs as a team thus far with Catheryn Rodman hitting two.  She also has a team-high seven RBIs but has been fanned five times and is hitting just .111 overall.
 
The Skyhawks have been out-scored 40-19 overall and have just two doubles while surrendering 17.
 
Second year Head Coach Dwight Sanders has used three pitchers thus far.  Freshman Labraida Tenorio leads the group with 4.85 ERA and has struck out 11 opponents in 13 innings.  She is 1-2.  Amiee Shanks is 1-0 with a 5.83 ERA in six appearances but has made just one start.  Caydee Farnworth has a 0-3 record and 6.43 ERA and has thrown the most innings (16 1/3) thus far.
 
The Skyhawks went 20-31 overall last year but posted an even-steven 20-20 record in RMAC play to earn a spot in last year's RMAC Tournament, which resulted in an 0-2 mark.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavericks have won 26 consecutive games against the Skyhawks dating back to and including 2015.  The last four and 11 of the last 13 games have been run-rule victories.  The Maverick swept the regular season series between the teams last season on Mar. 12-13, out-scoring the Skyhawks, 45-5.  They then won a 9-1 5-inning RMAC Tournament elimination game on May 6.
 
They did not play in 2020, nor 2021 due to COVID issues.
 
Maverick Head Coach Mercedes Bohte is 5-0 against the Skyhawks as a head coach and is 5-0 against her FLC counterpart Dwight Sanders.
 
The Mavs are 84-22 against the Skyhawks since 1994 and are 46-9 at home against them in that time.    FLC's last win in the series and in Grand Junction came via a 14-9 score on May 1, 2014, during that year's RMAC Tournament.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will remain at home for another RMAC series when they will host Black Hills State for a 4-game set on Saturday, Feb. 25 and Sunday, Feb. 26.
 
The Yellow Jackets are slated to open their season on Sunday and Monday when they play at the Colorado School of Mines in another series pushed back a day to due to the recent weather.  The 'Jackets did not play any non-conference contests.