GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University team will play a key set of regional games right out of the shoot as the Mavericks head to Conroe, Texas north of Houston for this weekend's DII First Pitch Invitational at the Scrap Yard Sports complex.
 
The Mavericks will begin the 2024 campaign, playing six "in-region" games over three days from Friday-Sunday (Feb. 2-4) at the 18-team tournament, which will be played on the set of four "Iron" fields at the complex.  Five of those will be against South Central Regional foes from the Lone Star Conference and the state of Texas and could have a major impact on the at-large selection and seeding process for the regional tournament at the end of the season.
 
CMU will also play Central Regional power Rogers State of Claremore, Oklahoma, a game that will also count as an "in-region" contest due to the contiguous state portion of the NCAA Division II's regionalization philosophy.  The HIllcats are ranked 19^th in the NFCA Division II Preseason Poll and will be CMU's third opponent of the weekend on Saturday at 10 a.m. CST (9 a.m. Mountain).
 
CMU will also play eighth-ranked and tournament host UT-Tyler later that day at 12:15 p.m. CST (11:15 a.m. Mountain) on the middle day of the tournament.  The Patriots were NCAA Division II national semifinalists in each of the past two years.
 
On Friday, the Mavs will open the season with match-ups against Midwestern State and Texas Woman's.  They will play Texas A&M-International and Angelo State on Sunday.
 
Tournament info
 
Information about the tournament can be found on the tournament webpage, which includes links to each of the 18 team's rosters and a complete tournament schedule.
 
All six of the Mavericks' games will have live statistics at the links above but no games will be streamed.
 
Tickets are $10 per day for those attending in person.
 
Daily recaps will be posted on www.cmumavericks.com as well.
 
A look back to Last Year
 
The Mavericks finished the 2023 season with a 32-23 overall record, a campaign that saw the Mavs advance to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game against host and eventual champion Colorado Christian.  CMU went 26-15 in RMAC play during the regular season to earn the No. 4 seed for the tournament and were 4-2 in their impressive tournament run.
 
The Mavs, who had won the previous six RMAC titles since 2016, had seven All-RMAC selections, two of whom will return to the 2024 roster.
 
A look at who's back
 
Offensively, Second Team All-RMAC outfielder Iliana Mendoza will return for her fifth and final season of collegiate eligibility after taking advantage of the NCAA's COVID-related waiver which dates back to 2020, when she was a sophomore at Eastern New Mexico.  The Tucson, Arizona native recorded a .315 batting average and .405 on-base percentage and patrolled center-field in 50 of the Mav's 55 games a year ago.
 
The Mavs also return several other regular starters in the batting lineup, a group led by graduate student Miranda Pruitt, who hit .282 with 14 home runs and 31 RBs in 49 games and 40 starts as a catcher and designated player last season.
 
Second baseman Myah Arrieta also returns for her junior campaign in the middle infield after hitting .392 in the first 31 games before suffering a season-ending injury.  She earned First Team All-RMAC honors as a freshman in 2022.
 
Ally Distler, who missed the entire 2023 campaign due to injury, is also back for her redshirt junior campaign, exciting news for the Maverick coaching staff and fans alike.  Distler earned First Team All-RMAC and Second Team All-South Central honors after leading the RMAC in home runs with 18 back in 2022.  She is expected to split time as a catcher and designated player with Pruitt and could see significant time at third base as well.
 
Ava Fugate, who started 35 games last season, is expected to be the Mavs' primary first baseman after hitting .345 with eight home runs last year.
 
Four other sophomores in Bella Aragon, Dakota DiPaola, Olivia Litzen and Makayla Westmoreland all return as well after making a combined 81 starts as freshman.
 
The Mavs also return their two top pitchers from last season.
 
Now senior Hannah Sattler earned Honorable Mention All-RMAC honors in 2023 after emerging as the Mavs' ace in her first season at CMU after transferring from Southern Nazarene.  She went 17-11 with a 3.25 ERA and completed 18 of her 29 starts while throwing 181 total innings over appearances.
 
Sophomore Marisa Nehm also emerged as a solid No. 2 and went 7-3 with a 3.61 ERA over 32 appearances and 13 starts.  She also had three saves in her freshman campaign.
 
Transfers
 
The Mavs added four transfers to their 2024 roster last summer, including two that have previous NCAA softball experience and two other standouts from Eastern Arizona College.
 
Junior middle infielder Chloe Valdez played 32 games as a freshman at NCAA Division I College of Charleston before seeing her playing time limited to seven games last year and is expected to team with Arrieta in the heart of the Maverick defense.
 
Preslee Christensen also played in seven games as a freshman at Division II MSU Billings in 2022 and then went on to earn Second Team NJCAA All-Region 18 honors at Utah State-Eastern last year.
 
Hard-throwing Christa Zagala is one of the two new Mavs from Eastern Arizona.  She went 15-9 with a 3.99 ERA last year helping lead the Gila Monsters to the Region 1 title and NJCAA World Series appearance.  The Corona, California fanned 165 hitters in 144 innings, good for an impressive 8.02 strikeout per seven innings rate, last season.
 
Her junior college teammate Emma Roach also adds a potent left-handed bat to the Maverick lineup. The Redding, California product hit .368 with 20 doubles, 53 runs and 36 RBIs last year for the Gila Monsters.
 
Freshmen
 
The Mavs also added six freshman from the Southwestern portion of the United States to their 2024 roster.  Catcher and first baseman Allison Lindsay (Surprise), outfielder Jackie Oster (Chandler) and third baseman Cailynn Parsons (Gilbert) will represent Arizona while Jessalyn Gallegos (Anaheim) and middle infielder Jenna Salcido (Fullerton) hail from Southern California.
 
Macy Magdaleno of Henderson, Nevada will also give the Mavs additional options at first base.
 
Gallegos is expected to redshirt this season due to injury.
 
In the Polls
 
The Mavericks were recently picked third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Preseason Poll, which was released last Wednesday (Jan. 24).  The Mavs received two first place votes and 107 points in the polling of the league's head coaches, who ranked their opposition 1-11 without voting for their own squad.
 
Colorado Christian was picked first with 117 points and eight first place votes after winning the RMAC regular season and tournament titles last year.  MSU Denver edged the Mavs by one point for the second pot in the poll with 108 points and received two first place votes.

Regis (92), the Colorado School of Mines (80) and UCCS (61) rounded out the top half of the poll, which can be seen here.
 
Colorado Christian was the RMAC's lone representative in the NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches poll, which was also released last week.  The Cougars were picked 21^st and will be one of three currently nationally-ranked foes the Mavs are scheduled to face this year.  The other two of those opponents will square off on Saturday when CMU takes on No. 19 Rogers State and No. 8 UT-Tyler.
 
Two other South Central Region teams in No. 4 West Texas A&M and No. 16 Oklahoma Christian are also included in the poll
 
A look at the full schedule
 
The Mavericks are slated to play 50 regular season games with their only non-conference games coming this weekend.  The Mavs will then have a week off before beginning a 44-game RMAC slate on the road at Fort Lewis on Feb. 17 and 18.
 
The conference schedule once again calls for each of the 12 conference teams to play a 4-game series with each of their 11 opponents.
 
CMU is due to host its home-opening series against the Colorado School of Mines on Feb. 24 and 25 before beginning an 8-game stretch on the road at No. 21 Colorado Christian on Mar. 2, a stretch that continues a week later at UCCS.
 
CMU will also host Adams State (Mar. 16-17), New Mexico Highlands (Mar. 28-29), Chadron State (Apr. 6-7) and will close out the regular season at home against CSU Pueblo on Apr. 26-27.  The Mavs are also due to make trips to Spearfish, South Dakota to play Black Hills State (Mar. 23-24) and will be in Denver for back-to-back weekends against MSU Denver and Regis from Apr. 13-22.
 
The RMAC Tournament will feature the top six teams in the regular season and will be hosted by the No. 1 see from May 2-4.
 
Powerhouse Numbers
 
After leading the country in both home runs (100) and slugging percentage (.646) in 2022, the Mavericks continued to post some impressive power numbers last year, when they hit 90 home runs to rank third in the country.  They were also second in the Division II statistics for home runs per game (1.64) and ranked fourth in the country for slugging percentage (.592), partially fueled by a .331 team batting average, which was 19^th best in the country.  CMU also had the 19^th best on-base percentage (.407) last year.
 
Fourth Year Maverick Coach
 
Head Coach Mercedes Bohte (Lovato), a member of the Maverick coaching staff since 2013, is entering her fourth season in charge of the program and currently has a 116-37 (.758) career winning percentage as the leader of the program.  The Mavericks have also won 82.6 percent (95-20) of their 115 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 of the regular season.
 
They then went 32-23 overall and 26-15 in RMAC play last year while advancing to the RMAC Tournament final for the second time in Bohte's three years.
 
Maverick players have combined to win 22 All-RMAC honors in Bohte's three previous years, including 12 first team picks.  Seven of those honors came in 2023.
 
She has also guided players to a combined five all-America honors from the NFCA and D2CCA.  The Mavs have combined to garner 19 all-region honors from those two organizations in her three previous years.
 
Bohte's 2022 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 seven straight seasons from 2016-22, 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) in 2023.  Adair, now the head coach at Fort Lewis, also became the first Maverick to earn D2CCA South Central Region Pitcher of the Year plaudits.

In her time as the Mavs' pitching coach, Bohte has guided pitchers to 15 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.
 
Providing the Assistance
 
Bohte also returns two of her assistant coaches to the Maverick staff in 2024.  Former Maverick standout baseball player Willie Hinojosa is back for his third year as Bohte's primary and full-time assistant.
 
Long-time Grand Junction resident Eddie Mort is also returning.
 
About the Opponents
 
As mentioned above, the Mavericks will play six games against regional opponents this weekend, five of which hail from the state of Texas and the Lone Star Conference.  A summary of each team along with the time and field of this weekend's game can be found below.
 
Midwestern State (Friday, Feb. 2- 10 a.m. CST/9 a.m. MST)- Field #1
 
The Mustangs struggled to a 12-39 overall record last year and went 11-31 in Lone Star Conference play in their first season under coach Brittanie Talley.
 
They were picked 13^th out of 15 team LSC Teams in the league's preseason poll, announced last week.  Junior infielder Myranda Jimenez is the team's LSC Player to Watch while freshman Addison Lindemann was tabbed as the program's Pitcher to Watch. 
 
Jimenez was an Honorable Mention All-Kansas College Athletic Conference pick at Bethany (Kan.) last year at the NAIA level a year ago.  She hit .313 and was the KCAC Gold Glove Award winner at first base.  Lindemann hails from Holliday, Texas.
 
Texas Woman's (Friday, Feb. 2- 2:30 p.m. CST/1:30 p.m. MST)- Field #3
 
The Pioneers were tabbed tenth in the LSC Preseason Poll and are coming off a 25-28 season.  They were 11^th in the LSC standings with a 17-25 record.
 
Senior Alyssa Leblanc was named as the LSC's Preseason Pitcher of the Year after topping the conference's strikeout count with 294 last year, including a LSC single-game record of 23.  She also led LSC hitters with a .851 slugging percentage on the offensive side of the plate and was a First Team NFCA All-American while garnering her third straight first team all-conference honor.
 
Junior outfielder Vivica Hernandez is also a LSC Player to Watch after transferring in from Division I Northwestern State, where she played for the past two season.
 
#19 Rogers State (Sat., Feb. 3- 10 a.m. MST/9 a.m. MST)- Field #3
 
The Hillcats went 45-14 last year and went 2-2 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament before qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, where they again went 2-2 advancing to a regional final for the second straight year.
 
They were picked second out of 14 teams in this year's MIAA Preseason Poll, garnering a pair of first place votes to finish behind defending champion Central Oklahoma.
 
They were also picked 19^th in the NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll after finishing the 2023 season ranked 20^th.
 
Veteran Coach Andrea Vaughan added four transfers, three of whom played at NCAA Division I schools last year and return senior catcher Callie Yellin, who hit .348 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs en-route to NFCA and D2CCA all-region honors last season.
 
#8 UT Tyler (Sat., Feb. 3- 12:15 p.m. MST/11:15 a.m. MST)- Stadium Field
 
The Patriots have been picked first in the Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll after advancing to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II World Series for the second straight season in 2023.  They were an impressive 62-6 last season and won a third straight conference title with a 39-2 conference record.
 
Courtney Plocheck has been named as the LSC Preseason Player of the Year after leading the conference with a .400 batting average last year.  She also earned second team all-America honors.  Fellow all-American JT Smith and all-region selections Michelle Arias and Audrey Escamilla also return to what should be another potent lineup that outscored opponents 435-119 last season in 68 games.
 
Opponents will be glad that Tatum Goff, who went 42-0 en-route to National Pitcher of the Year Honors last year, has departed the program.
 
Texas A&M International (Sun., Feb. 4- 12:15 p.m. CST/11:15 a.m. MST)- Field #1
 
The TAMUI Dustdevils were picked 12^th in the LSC Preseason Poll and are coming off a 19-34 2023 season.  They were 15-27 in LSC play a year ago.
 
Sophomore third baseman Kennedy Griego and senior right-hander Carla Arellano have been named as the program's LSC Player and Pitchers to Watch, respectively.  Griego started all 53 games and hit .260 last year while Arellano posted a 3.16 ERA in 22 starts and 23 appearances while stricking out 70 in a team-high 133 innings.
 
Angelo State (Sun., Feb. 4- 2:30 p.m. CST/1:30 p.m. MST)- Field #3
 
Head Coach Travis Scott returns nine players from last year's squad that went 29-25 overall and 21-21 in LSC play. 

The Rambelles were picked seventh out of 15 teams in the conference preseason poll, which featured senior catcher Keilei Garcia and junior Cheyenne Floyd as their player and pitcher to watch.
 
Garcia, a fifth-year player, battled injuries to hit a career-high 11 home runs last year while Floyd led the team with 36 appearances, a 2.43 ERA and 114 strikeouts last year.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavs are facing some relatively new faces this weekend but do have a combined 4-10 against their six opponents in program history.
 
They are 0-1 against Midwestern State, having last played the Mustangs early in 2015.  They are 1-4 against Texas Woman's, a team they have not faced since 2015 as well.  Their lone win against the Pioneers came back in 1997.
 
The Mavs are 1-0 all-time against Rogers State, having defeating the Hillcats 10-2 in a mercy-rule decision in both team's first game of the 2018 NCAA Division II Tournament, which CMU hosted.
 
CMU has never faced UT Tyler nor TAMUI. 
 
CMU is 2-5 all-time against Angelo State and have won the last two meetings, including a 2018 early season encounter and a 2021 NCAA Tournament game.  The Rambelles, a perennial NCAA Division II power, had won the previous five meetings, including two in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, which they hosted in San Angelo, Texas.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will have a weekend off before beginning RMAC play on Feb. 17 and 18 with a 4-game series at Fort Lewis in Durango.  The Skyhawks' new head coach is Paige Adair, CMU's 2022 RMAC Pitcher of the Year.  Adair was the Skyhawks' assistant last season after completing her illustrious playing career with the Mavs.