GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Sarah Jorissen and Brandi Haller both hit walk-off 2-run home runs to lift the Colorado Mesa University softball team to a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep in thrilling action on Saturday afternoon here at the CMU Softball Stadium.
 
Jorissen's blast to left in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 1 gave the Mavs a 4-2 win over visiting MSU Denver after Myah Arrieta had given the Mavs a 2-1 lead in the third inning with a 2-run homer of her own.
 
Haller did one better as her shot to right center gave the Mavericks an 8-7 win in the bottom of the tenth inning after the Mavs had rallied from 5-1 down.  They had posted a 3-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings.
 
Ava Fugate, who recorded hits to begin both game-winning innings, also drove in the game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh and went 3-for-5 in Game 2 and 4-for-8 at the plate throughout the doubleheader.
 
Arrieta also homered in each game while Miranda Pruitt hit her ninth home run of the season in Game 2.
 
The Mavericks are now 22-11 overall and 20-5 in RMAC play, moving within just a half-game of the Roadrunners (24-11, 20-4 RMAC) for second place in the conference standings.  The teams will play another doubleheader on Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
Game 1
 
The Roadrunners scored the opening run of the game on a Maverick error in the top of the first before Arrieta's first homer of the day with two outs in the bottom of the third gave the Mavericks a 2-1 lead after Iliana Mendoza had been hit by a pitch two plays earlier.
 
The Roadrunners were then able to tie the game in the top of the sixth as they recorded four hits, including a game-tying Jaiden Geist home run.  However, they left two runners on base as the game remained tied.
 
The Roadrunners then left two more runners on base in the top of the seventh while the Mavericks' made a nice defensive play on a Hannah DiFabio bunt to retire Adriana Bueno on a tag at the plate.
 
Taking that momentum into the last half-inning of regulation, Fugate doubled to left center on the opening pitch before Jorissen battled from an 0-2 count drawing two balls before fouling off three consecutive pitches.  She then hit her game-winning blast on the next pitch.
 
After leaving 37 runners on base in their series loss at Chadron State last week, the Mavs left just three runners on in the victory as Hannah Sattler picked up the complete game win in the pitching circle.   Sattler spread seven hits and a pair of walks while striking out four, giving up just one earned run— the Geist homer— and improved to 12-5.
 
Cheyenne Preito (6-2) took the loss for the Roadrunners despite surrendering just five hits.
 
Game 2
 
The Roadrunners led throughout the game until the final pitch as they took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.  The Mavericks did pull one run back in the bottom half as Arrieta hit a solo homer, her seventh of the campaign, with one out.
 
However, the Roadrunners scored three runs on four hits and a Maverick error in the top of the fourth to build a commanding 5-1 advantage.
 
The Mavs did again pull one run back in the bottom of the fourth as Fugate doubled with one out before moving to third on a Rylee Crouch fly out and scoring on a double by Haller.
 
The Mavs then trimmed the deficit to 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth on Pruitt's solo home run before Audrey Burt answered back with a home run of her for the Roadrunners to extend the lead to 6-3.
 
The Mavs then left two runners on in the bottom of the sixth but mounted quite a rally in the seventh as pinch-hitter Bella Aragon drew a lead-off walk before moving to second on a Pruitt single.  Ashley Bradford then delivered a run-scoring hit to chase Roadrunner relief pitcher Maddy Wilson from the circle.
 
Arrieta then delivered a sacrifice fly to right to plate pinch-runner Dakota DiPaola as the Mavs cut the gap to 6-5 with two outs.
 
Fugate then fouled off two potential game-ending pitches in her battle with Burt before tying the game with a single to right.
 
However, Fugate was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on a Rylee Crouch single to right as the game went to extra innings.
 
Neither team scored in the eighth or ninth as the teams left a combined three runners on base.
 
In the top of the tenth, original starting pitcher Jenna Medhus, who had earlier re-entered as the designate player, hit a 2-out homer to put the Roadrunners ahead, 7-6.
 
However, Fugate singled to begin the bottom of the tenth. 
 
After Crouch was retired, Haller delivered a 1-1 pitch from Burt over the fence to give the Mavs the victory.
 
The Mavs finished the game with 12 hits, including five for extra-bases.  Haller was 2-for-5 with three RBIs while she, Arrieta and Pruitt all had two hits.  Fugate was 3-for-5 and scored two runs.
 
Kennedy Vis (6-4) pitched six innings of relief to earn a confidence-building win, giving up just four hits while striking out three.  Marisa Nehm had pitched first four innings.
 
Medhus was 4-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs for the Roadrunners and pitched five innings while giving up just four hits and three runs in the start.  However, Burt (5-6) took the relief loss after coming into the circle in the bottom of the seventh.
 
The Roadrunners had 11 hits and left six runners on base while the Mavs left just four on base.