GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After winning their 14th consecutive home series over the last three years and three of four games against the team just in front of them in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings last week, the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks will head on the road to Pueblo for a Friday/Saturday Easter weekend set at CSU Pueblo.
 
The Mavericks (23-12, 21-6 RMAC) are still in third place in the RMAC standings, just a half-game behind MSU Denver (21-5 RMAC) after last weekend's series win.  CSU Pueblo, 12-23 overall, will enter the weekend in tenth place out of 12 teams of the conference standings with a 7-19 conference record.
 
This weekend's doubleheaders at the ThunderWolves' Rawlings Softball Complex will be played at noon on Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday.
 
A live stream for all four games can be found on the RMAC Network.  Live statistics will also be accesable at the link above.

Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks hit a pair of walk-off home runs to win the first two games of last weekend's series against MSU Denver and then held on for a Sunday split to win what was a thrilling series with the Roadrunners.
 
The Mavericks hit ten home runs throughout the series, four of which came off the bat of Brandi Haller.
 
Sarah Jorissen hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the seventh of Game 1 of the series lifting the Mavericks to a 4-2 win.
 
In Game 2, the Mavericks battled back from a 5-1 deficit, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh force extras.  The Roadrunners then took a 7-6 lead in the top of the tenth before Haller hit another walk-off 2-run blast to give the Mavericks the win and their only lead of the game in the bottom half of the tenth.
 
The Roadrunners seized early control of Game 3 of the series on Sunday morning and took that one 13-8 despite two Haller home runs before the Mavs built 3-0 and 5-1 leads before hanging for a 5-4 win to finish off the series win.  Haller also hit a home run in that game.
 
Ava Fugate hit two home runs in Game 3 of the series while Myah Arrieta hit in one in each game of Saturday's doubleheader.
 
The Mavericks won the series despite being outscored, 26-25.
 
Player of the Week
 
After going 5-for-11 (.455) with a double and her four home runs while scoring six runs and driving in seven during the series with the Roadrunners, Brandi Haller was named as the RMAC's Player of the Week on Tuesday.  After her heroics in the bottom of the tenth in Game 2, she hit three more home runs and drew four walks during Sunday's doubleheader to finish the weekend with a .600 on-base percentage, 1.636 slugging percentage and 2.236 OPS.
 
Haller is the third different Maverick to earn RMAC Player of the Week honors this season joining Myah Arrieta (Mar. 7) and Ashley Braford (Mar. 14).  Arrieta was also named as the Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week that day before Iliana Mendoza received the Mar. 21 award despite not receiving the RMAC honor.
 
1 & 2
 
With her four home runs last week, Brandi Haller moved into second place on the RMAC home run leaderboard at 11.  The only player she trails is fellow Maverick outfielder Rylee Crouch, who continues to pace the conference and all of NCAA Softball (all divisions) with 19.
 
Two other Mavericks in Miranda Pruitt and Ashley Bradford are also ranked amongst the RMAC's top ten sluggers.  Pruitt has hit nine and is tied for fifth while Bradford is tied for ninth with eight home runs.
 
Driving them in
 
Crouch also continues to lead the Division II statistics with 53 RBIs and continues to pace the RMAC in slugging percentage (1.017) and OPS (1.494) while ranking second with her .440 batting average.  She is now second in the national statistics for slugging percentage.
 
In search of records
 
With still 16 games of the regular season plus any post-season games the Mavericks should qualify for remaining in the season, Crouch is just two home runs shy of the Mavericks' single-season record of 21, set 22 years ago by Kelly Adams, the RMAC's Centennial Celebration All-Time Top Player, in 2001.
 
MSU Denver's Tara Mickelson (2010) and UCCS' Krystal Krebs (2005) share the RMAC record of 25 while UCCS' Jessika Anastos holds the NCAA Division II and RMAC record of home runs per game (0.57).  Crouch is currently averaging 0.54 per game.
 
Southern Arkansas' Brooke Goad set the NCAA Division II record for total home runs (32) in 2018.
 
Top Sluggers
 
As a team, the Mavericks continue to lead the NCAA Division II statistics with their .674 slugging percentage.  The only other NCAA squad with a higher percentage is Division I top-ranked Oklahoma (.704)
 
The Mavs have hit 70 home runs, second only to Valdosta State's 88 in Division II, and are ranked seventh in the national statistics for doubles (71).  The Mavs are also ranked sixth in Division II for total hits (360), seventh in Division II for total runs (273) and are eight for scoring average, putting up 7.80 runs per game.
 
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 302-69 overall record, good for an .814 winning percentage in their 371 games during the stretch.
 
The Mavs have been even more impressive in conference play, going an incredible 238-27 in their 265 RMAC games since 2016, good for an .898 winning percentage.  The Mavs did not lose more than four RMAC games in a single season during that 6-year stretch, but have dropped six this 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. 
 
With their 13-3 home start this season, the Mavs are now 170-26 (.867) in the last nine seasons at home.
 
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, playing Regis next week (Apr. 15-16) and current conference-leading Colorado Christian the week following (Apr. 22-23).
 
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
2023- 13-3 (current)
 
*Pandemic abbreviated season.
 
Century Coach
 
Third-year Maverick Head Coach Mercedes Bohte, a member of the Maverick coaching staff since 2013, recorded her 100^th career victory in the opening game of the Mavs' home series against UCCS on Mar. 18.  She will enter this weekend with a 107-26 record and .805 career winning percentage as the leader of the program.
 
The Mavericks have won 89.1 percent (90-11) of their RMAC games under her tutelage.
 
Bohte is one of just three Maverick coaches to have won more than 100 games and was the fastest to reach the milestone, needing just 122 games to do so.
 
Her former boss Ben Garcia won 169 games in his four seasons with the Mavericks, who went 169-49 (.775) in those years.  He also surpassed the 100-win mark in his third year (2017) but needed 140 total games to reach the milestone.
 
Kris Mort holds the CMU Coaching Record, having won 537 in her 19 years from 1994-2012 but did not reach the 100-win mark until early in her fifth year (1997).
 
More about Bohte
 
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
 
The CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves split their home series with 11^th-place Adams State last week, splitting both doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday.  They will enter the weekend with a 12-23 overall record and are in tenth place in the conference standings with a 7-19 conference record. 
 
The Pack is 7-14 at home this season.
 
They are ranked eighth in the RMAC for team batting average (2.67) but are fifth for runs scored with 167.  Their pitching staff ranks ninth in the conference with a 5.36 ERA and has given up 228 total runs, 173 of which have been earned.
 
Caitlyn Cole leads the team offensively and his hitting .396 and slugging .713.  She also has ten doubles, two triples and six home runs and has driven in a team-leading 20 runs while drawing 11 walks, another team-leading number.  She has been struck out a team-high 16 times as well.
 
Madelyn Huerta (.344) and Ashley Tosh (.311) are also hitting above .300.  Jill Bishop has 19 RBIs to sit second on the team despite being in the starting lineup just 26 times.  Marissa Robertson has four home runs and 18 RBIs and is hitting 2.94 while slugging .541.
 
Lucy Carney leads the pitching staff with a 7-7 record and 4.37 ERA.  She has completed eight of her 14 starts and has throwing 81 2/3 innings over 18 total appearances.  Jacelynn Truijillo is 3-8 with a 5.20 ERA and has thrown 75 1/3 innings.  She also leads the staff with 50 strikeouts.
 
Series History
 
The Mavericks had won 15 straight games against the ThunderWolves but have not played them in more than three years due to previous RMAC scheduling formats where each team had one opponent not on their schedule.  With the expansion to a 44-game conference schedule this year, that quirk is no longer present and will allow the squads to renew their long-standing rivalry that has featured 110 total match-ups since 1994 alone.
 
The Mavericks are 71-39 in that that period and have a 29-18 record against the Pack in Pueblo.
 
The last series between the teams was early in the 2020 season, when the Mavs swept a 4-game set in Pueblo on Feb. 29 and Mar. 1 of that year.
 
The Mavs also won two games over the Pack during a 2019 3-team pod series in Grand Junction before later posting an 11-2 run-rule win over them during the 2019 RMAC Tournament. 
 
CSU Pueblo's last win in the rivalry was on Apr. 30, 2016 by a 6-3 score in Grand Junction and last defeated the Mavericks in Pueblo on Mar. 9, 2015, when they won a 3-1 game as part of a 3-team pod weekend.  Those two wins have been the Pack's only two in the last 22 meetings since 2015.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavs will return home to take on Regis in another key RMAC weekend (Saturday/Sunday) series on Apr. 15-16.  Regis is clearly in fourth place in the RMAC standings with a 18-10 record.  The Rangers are 21-17 overall heading into a home series with New Mexico Highlands this week but and are the only team to claim a win over conference-leading Colorado Christian, ending the Cougars' 34-game winning streak last weekend.