GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University softball team will begin Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play this Saturday and Sunday when they take on the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks in 11 a.m. doubleheaders.
The 4-game series will be played at Bloomfield High School in Bloomfield, New Mexico as the Skyhawks' on-campus field in Durango, Colorado is unplayable due to recent snow storms.
Live Stats/Streaming
FLC will have live statistics throughout the series at:
https://goskyhawks.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary throughout the series.
A simple live stream with no play-by-play commentary can also be found on the RMAC Network, but is subject to cancelation if weather conditions do not permit.
Because of the location change, FLC will not be charging admission throughout the series.
Daily recaps will be posted on
www.cmumavericks.com.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks were off last weekend after beginning their season with a 2-4 record in regional games at the D-II First Pitch Invitational in Conroe, Texas, played Feb. 2-4.
The Mavs started the season with a 4-3 extra-inning win over Midwestern State and also claimed a Sunday win by a 5-4 score of Texas A&M International in their fifth game of the tournament. They lost to Texas Woman's and Angelo State on Friday and Sunday, respectively, and lost to nationally-ranked Rogers State and tournament host UT Tyler in their two Saturday games.
Junior
Myah Arrieta, who missed the second half of last season due to injury, returned to lead the Maverick attack. She recorded eight hits, including four for extra bases, and hit .400 while scoring five runs throughout the weekend.
Freshman
Jackie Oster also hit .400, going 4-for-10 at the plate while playing in right field.
Sophomore
Marisa Nehm led the Maverick pitching staff during the tournament, posting a 1.80 ERA and a 1-0 record in four relief appearances spanning 11 2/3 innings.
Complete Recaps of all three days of action can be seen at the links below:
Freshman Bombers
Oster and fellow freshman and
Cailynn Parsons both hit their first career home runs in the sixth inning of the Angelo State game on Feb. 4. Those home runs highlighted a 5-inning Maverick inning as CMU came from 7-1 down to pull within a single run at 7-6, a rally that ultimately fell just short.
Coach vs. Coach
Maverick head coach
Mercedes Bohte (Lovato), who also doubles as the Mavs' pitching coach, will have the opportunity to face off with one of the top pitchers she has ever guided this week, when the Mavs take on Fort Lewis. The Skyhawks' head coach is Paige Adair, who earned two RMAC Pitcher of the Year awards in 2021 and 2022 while playing for the Mavs.
Adair also set the school-record for ERA (1.30) and was the Mavs' first ever D2CCA South Central Region Pitcher of the Year as a senior in 2022.
Following her graduation, Adair went to FLC as the Skyhawks' assistant coach for the 2023 season before being promoted to the head coaching role for this 2024 season last summer following the departure of Dwight Sanders, who moved on to the head coaching position at UCCS.
Adair won her first game as a head coach against UT Permian Basin on Feb. 2.
Former Teammates
Four current Maverick players were also teammates with Paige Adair in 2022 and in some cases earlier seasons. One of those in redshirt junior catcher
Ally Distler was her battery mate and has the extra special pitcher/catcher relationship between them during both the 2021 and 2022 seasons, which saw the Mavericks win RMAC regular season titles in both years.
Senior first baseman
Ava Fugate, junior middle infielder
Myah Arrieta and redshirt senior
Iliana Mendoza also played alongside Adair in 2022. Fugate did in 2021 as well.
In the Polls
The Mavericks were recently picked third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Preseason Poll, which was released last month (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 is also the RMAC's lone representative in the first in-season
NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches poll, which was released on Tuesday. The Cougars were ranked 14
th after sitting 21
st in the preseason poll. The Mavs have already faced two other opponents who are ranked in the top ten of this week's poll.
UT Tyler was ranked eighth in the preseason poll and moved up two spots to sixth in this week's poll Meanwhile, Rogers State surged from the No. 19 spot of the preseason poll all the way to eighth in the initial regular season.
Another Maverick opponent in Angelo State is receiving votes in the latest poll, which now includes four top-25 teams from the South Central Region in new No. 3 West Texas A&M, UT Tyler, Rogers State and No. 21 Oklahoma Christian, which had been ranked 16
th in the preseason.
Angelo State and Texas A&M-Kingsville are two of the seven teams in the receiving votes category that are just outside of the top 25.
A look at the schedule
The Mavs begin their marathon 44-game RMAC slate on the road this weekend.
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.
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.
The Boss
Head Coach Mercedes Bohte (Lovato), a member of the Maverick coaching staff since 2013, is now in her fourth season in charge of the program and currently has a 118-41 (.742) career record and 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.
About the Skyhawks
The Skyhawks have gotten off to a 2-7 start playing against mostly Lone Star Conference opposition in two early-season tournaments. They went 2-3 a the South Central Regional Crossover played Feb. 2-4 in Los Lunas, New Mexico ending the tournament on a high note with a win over then No. 4 and now third-ranked West Texas A&M.
The Skyhawks then played the Buffs again last weekend at the West Texas A&M Invitational, where they went 0-4 before seeing their last scheduled game be canceled due to weather. The Skyhawks are 1-1 against West Texas A&M and 0-2 against both Eastern New Mexico and Texas A&M-Kingsville this season. They have also defeated UT Permian Basin but lost to Western New Mexico. Their only non-LSC opponent has been Simon Fraser from Canada, who they lost to.
Kayla Stone has been on a early-season tear for coach Paige Adair. She is leading the RMAC with a .542 batting average (13-24) and also paces the conference in on-base percentage (.593), RBIs (10) and doubles (5).
Catheryn Rodman, who has four doubles and seven RBIs, and Hannah Rutherford, who had two doubles and eight RBIs, have also been providing some offensive firepower. Rodman is hitting .360 while Rutherford is at .286. Three other Skyhawk regulars are also hitting over .300, including Ashley Burriel, who has a .400 batting average and .500 on-base percentage thanks to her 10 hits and five walks.
As a team, the Skyhawks have hit .301 as a team but have managed just one home run. They have been out-scored 63-40.
The Skyhawk pitching has struggled a bit as Amiee Shanks and Halie Mann have split time in the circle. Shanks is 2-3 with a 5.05 ERA in six appearances, including five complete game starts. She also has 20 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings of work. Mann has a 0-4 record and 12.44 ERA in her four appearances totaling 18 innings.
Their 7.58 team ERA puts the Skyhawks ninth in the RMAC. Their batting average is second best behind only Colorado Christian.
Series History
The Mavericks won 29 consecutive games against the Skyhawks until the last game of a 4-game home series against them last season, which FLC won 6-4. However, the Mavs still won the overall series on Feb. 19-20, 2023, three games to one and have dominated the recent rivalry.
Twelve of the last 17 games played between the teams since 2018 have been Maverick run run-rule victories. All of those games have been played in Grand Junction.
They did not play in 2020, nor 2021 due to COVID issues.
The Mavs are 87-23 against the Skyhawks since 1994.
Maverick Head Coach Mercedes Bohte is 8-1 against the Skyhawks as a head coach and will coach against a former player for the first time as a head coach.
Up Next
The Mavericks will return home for their first four of 20 scheduled home games when they will host the Colorado School of Mines next weekend on Feb. 24 and 25. The Orediggers went 3-3 in their non-conference trip to Florida last weekend and will host Chadron State in their RMAC opening series this weekend.
