GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks will begin a hopeful post-season run on Thursday at 9 a.m. when they will open up the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament against the Colorado School of Mines, the team the Mavericks last played in the regular season.
 
The Mavericks, 28-21 overall, are the No. 4 seed for the 6-team double-elimination tournament to be played at All-Star Park in Lakewood after finishing fourth in the RMAC standings with a 26-15 conference record.  Mines (25-14, 24-16) is the No. 5 seed.
 
Regular Season RMAC Champion Colorado Christian is the top seed and tournament host and will play the winner of CMU/Mines game in the next round on Thursday afternoon in Game 3 at 2 p.m.
 
MSU Denver is the second seed and will await the winner from the Regis/Chadron State Game 2 match-up in Game 4.
 
The tournament will then run through Saturday, with Sunday reserved as a rain day.
 
Tickets and RMAC merchandise can be purchased through the RMAC Championship page, which also includes the complete tournament schedule and bracket.
 
A live stream for all four games can be found on the RMAC Network.  Live statistics will also be accessible here.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks completed the regular season on a high note rallying from three runs down with a 4-run seventh inning to split Saturday's RMAC doubleheader at Mines' Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field in Golden.  The Mavericks trailed 5-2 heading into the final inning but scored four runs in their final at-bat before retiring the Orediggers in order in the bottom half of the inning to complete the comeback.
 
Mines had won the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, 3-0 as Sadriena Rodriguez fanned 11 Mavericks while allowing just one hit.
 
The teams were also scheduled to play a doubleheader on Friday, but that twin-bill was wiped out due to unplayable field conditions.
 
A full recap of last week's doubleheader can be seen here.
 
Tournament History
 
The Mavericks have won seven previous RMAC Tournaments, winning crowns in 1982, 1983, 1992, 2000, 2017, 2018 and 2021.
 
The Mavs have hosted each of the last six after winning each of the RMAC Regular Season Championships since 2016 (there was no title awarded nor RMAC Tournament in 2020 due to COVID) but will be on the road for RMAC Tournament play for the first time since 2015 this week.
 
Current Maverick fifth-year senior Ashley Bradford is the most experienced CMU player having played in three previous RMAC Tournaments (2019, 2021, 2022). 
 
The Mavs went 3-2 in her 2019 freshman season advancing to the championship game before falling to Dixie State twice on the final day.   Bradford played in three of CMU's five RMAC Tournament games that year.
 
She and the Mavs then turned the table two years later when the Mavs won three straight games on the final day to claim the title while going 4-1 throughout the tournament.

CMU was 2-2 in last year's tournament, finishing third.
 
Bradford has started all nine of those RMAC Tournament games over the previous two years.
 
Wins & Losses
 
The Mavericks have at least one win and at least one loss against each of the other five teams in this week's RMAC Tournament field this season, making this weekend's tournament very unpredictable.  In total, the Mavericks went 7-11 against the RMAC Tournament during the regular season.
 
The went 3-1 against MSU Denver but were 1-3 against Colorado Christian, Regis and Chadron State before splitting last week's doubleheader with Mines.
 
NCAA bid on the line
 
The winner of this week's RMAC Tournament will receive the conference's automatic qualifier spot into the South Central Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament.  The Lone Star Conference' tournament champion will also receive an automatic bid while the other six teams will be selected at-large via the regional rankings.
 
Colorado Christian is likely safe to earn one of those at-large berths even if they are unable to win the RMAC Tournament.  The Cougars were ranked third in last week's regional rankings.  MSU Denver, ranked tenth, was the only other RMAC team in the rankings, and will need at least a good showing and more likely the title to qualify.
 
New rankings are due out Wednesday afternoon and will be able to be accessed here.
 
All-Conference
 
The Mavericks had two first team and seven total selections to the All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams which were announced by the conference on Wednesday morning.
 
Fifth-year senior shortstop Ashley Bradford, last year's RMAC Player of the Year, was picked to the first team for the second consecutive year and was joined on the top unit by sophomore outfielder Rylee Crouch.
 
Fellow outfielder Iliana Mendoza was named to the second team while outfielder Brandi Haller was an honorable mention selection alongside Sarah Jorissen, Hannah Sattler and Aislyn Sharp.
 
Haller is also receiving her second total selection after having earned First Team team honors in 2022.  The Mavs' other five selections are all first-time picks although Sharp was named to the 2021 All-RMAC Tournament Team.
 
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 112-35 record and .762 career winning percentage as the leader of the program.
 
The Mavericks have won 82.6 percent (95-20) of their RMAC regular season games under her tutelage.  They are 6-3 in the RMAC Tournament with Bohte in charge of the previous two years.
 
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).
 
Know Your Foe
 
The Orediggers finished the regular season with a 25-24 overall record and went 24-16 in RMAC play after splitting or winning each of their final six RMAC series.
 
They rank fifth out of 12 teams in the RMAC for team batting average (.297) but have hit just six home runs all season, the fewest in the conference.
 
Kendall Aragon leads the team in hitting with a .389 batting average and is one of four Orediggers with double-digit stolen bases to her credit this season.  She has ten and also places the Orediggers with 19 walks but has just four extra-base hits.
 
Sidney Wilson and Kayleigh Krueger have put up better power numbers.  Wilson is hitting .344 with 12 doubles and 26 RBIs while Krueger is hitting .323 but has a .445 slugging percentage.  She has 13 doubles, two triples and a home run to her credit and paces the squad with 35 RBIs.
 
Renata Boyd, hitting .322, and Lauren Decker, swinging the bat at a .299 clip have combined to steal 41 bases.  Boyd was a Second Team All-RMAC pick while Aragon, Decker and Krueger were all Honorable Mention All-RMAC selections.
 
Catcher Aubree Karraker was also named to the RMAC Gold Glove Team.
 
The Orediggers have a solid pitching staff, led by Second Team All-RMAC selection Sadriena Rodriguez.  The senior has a 14-2 record and a 1.90 ERA, third best in the RMAC.  She has completed 14 of her 23 starts and has posted five shutouts, including last Saturday's against the Mavs, while striking out 141 hitters in 136 1/3 innings.  She has a solid WHIP (walks + hits/innings pitched) of just 1.02 and is holding opposing hitters to a .195 batting average, the second best mark in the conference.
 
Allison Westbrook has also been solid and holds a 5-2 record and 2.88 ERA in 16 appearances totaling 51 innings.  She has made just six starts and got the nod, but no decision, in Saturday's second game against the Mavs.
 
Series History
 
The Mavs have dominated the all-time series against Mines, winning 95 of the 110 games played between the teams since 1994.  Prior to last weekend's split, the Mavs had also won nine straight games since Mar. 8, 2020 after dropping both games of a doubleheader the day before.

The Mavs and Orediggers last met in the RMAC Tournament in 2021 when the Mavs posted a 2-1 win over the Orediggers in what was CMU's first game of their title-winning run.
 
The Mavs also defeated Mines during the 2019 Tournament.
 
Up Next
 
If the Mavericks win the RMAC Tournament, they will learn their travel plans and opposition for the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament on Monday morning's NCAA selection show, which will air on NCAA.com at 8 a.m. Mountain time.
 
If the Mavs are unable to win the tournament, their season will come to an end upon their second loss of the weekend.