GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Winners of 21 straight games and now in a tie for first place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings, the Colorado Mesa University softball team will head to downtown Denver for one of their most important series of the entire season to play at MSU Denver.
Doubleheaders are slated for Noon on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday at the Roadrunners' Assembly Complex. All four games will be streamed on the RMAC Network
and live statistics can be accessed here.
The Mavericks will enter the series with a 31-7 overall record and are tied with national poll No. 7 Colorado Christian for first place in the conference standings at 29-3. MSU Denver (35-9) is just a game behind the Mavs and Cougars at 28-4 in conference play.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks continued their white hot play, sweeping visiting Chadron State College last weekend. The Mavericks outscored the Eagles, 42-8 throughout the weekend series recording 7-0 and 4-0 shutout wins in the first game of each doubleheader before mercy-ruling the Eagles by 19-5 and 12-3 margins in the nightcaps of the Saturday and Sunday doubleheaders, respectively.
Preslee Christensen recorded shutouts in both of her starts conceding just six hits over 14 innings while six different Mavericks combined for ten home runs to lead the Maverick offensive attack.
The Mavs hit .474 as a team, recording 54 total hits, including 25 for extra-bases.
Miranda Pruitt led the way, hitting .714 (10-14) with five doubles throughout the series while
Myah Arrieta hit two Saturday home runs, one in each game of that day's doubleheader, to match and then break the CMU single-season record for home runs while setting a national record for consecutive games with a home run. More on those later.
Ally Distler also hit three home runs and added two doubles while driving in ten runs and scoring eight herself.
Complete Recaps from both doubleheaders can be seen below.
Alumni Help/Title Chase Update
The Mavericks are currently tied with Colorado Christian for first place in the RMAC standings at 29-3 as both the Mavs and Cougars are currently just one game ahead of MSU Denver (28-4)
in the conference standings.
MSU Denver had led the conference by a game as of a week ago but split a Sunday/Monday series at Fort Lewis as CMU alumnus and now Skyhawk head coach Paige Adair did the Mavs a solid by taking two games off the Roadrunners.
All three of the front-runners have 12 games remaining on the schedule. MSU Denver will play both, facing the Mavericks this week and Colorado Christian on the final week of the regular season.
CCU and CMU also have to still play fourth place Regis, which is 22-8 in the RMAC standings.
The Colorado School of Mines is in fifth place at 15-14 while CSU Pueblo currently occupies the sixth and final RMAC Tournament qualification spot at 14-18, two games ahead of UCCS (12-20) and Black Hills State (11-19).
Move over Kelly
Maverick junior shortstop
Myah Arrieta matched and then broke the Mavericks' 23-year old school record for home runs in a season last Saturday as Arrieta smacked her 21
st and 22
nd blasts of the season in the first and second games of the doubleheader against Chadron State. Those home runs put her past Kelly Adams, who hit 21 home runs in the 2001 campaign. Adams was named as the RMAC All-Century Team's All-Time Top Player during the RMAC Centennial celebration in 2009 and was a NFCA First Team All-American in both of her seasons as a Maverick (2000 and 2001).
National Record
Arrieta's home runs also allowed her to set a NCAA all-division record as she homered for the ninth and tenth consecutive games on Saturday against the Eagles. The former Division II and all-divisions record was eight, set by Rockhurst's Alex Jacobson during the 2014 season.
RMAC Record Watch
With 12 regular season games plus post-season contests still on the schedule, Arrieta is also threatening the RMAC record for home runs. The current mark is 25, co-held UCCS' Crystal Krebs (2005) and MSU Denver's Tara Mickelson (2010). The NCAA Division II record is 32, set in 2018 by Southern Arkansas' Brooke Goad, who played 71 games that year.
UCCS' Jessika Anastos, who hit 24 home runs in 42 games, holds the Division II and RMAC record for home runs per game (0.57). Arrieta currently ranks second in the country for both home runs and her per game average (0.58) behind Valdosta State's Abby Suite, who has hit 24 home runs in 41 games this season through Thursday.
Team Dinger Record Watch
As a team, the Mavericks have hit 94 home runs, a mark that has the Mavs one ahead of Valdosta State for the national lead. The Mavs are also leading the country with their per game average of 2.47 ahead of the Blazers, who have played 41 games, three more than the Mavs, and are averaging 2.27 per game.
The Mavs' program record for home runs in a season is 100, a mark they set two years ago in 2022.
The NCAA Division II record is 114, set by Cal Poly Humboldt in 2013. The 'Jacks broke MSU Denver's still-standing RMAC record of 112 home runs in 2010.
CMU's record of 100 is the tenth highest in Division II history and their home run total of 94 is already tied for 20
th best in Division II history with still four weekends of the season to go.
The Mavs have hit 51 home runs in their last 12 games alone.
Colorado Christian is second in the RMAC with 59 home runs throughout the season.
Top Sluggers
The Mavericks continue to have the top three home run hitters in the conference and are leading the country with a team slugging percentage of .748.
Myah Arrieta has 22 home runs to lead the RMAC while
Miranda Pruitt is second with 17.
Ally Distler has 15 to rank third in the conference while
Chloe Valdez is tied for sixth in the conference with ten.
Arrieta also leads the RMAC and ranks second in the country with her 1.160 slugging percentage while Pruitt is second in the RMAC and eighth nationally with her .971 mark. Distler (.862) and
Iliana Mendoza (.831) also rank amongst the RMAC's leaders, standing fifth and seventh, respectively.
The Mavs' team record for slugging percentage in a season is .653, set back in 2001.
Makayla Kovac holds the individual record of 1.000, set in 2014.
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, which was again the case early this season.
With their series sweep last week, the Mavs have gone a perfect 16-0 at home so far this year and have now won 188 of their 220 home games over the last nearly ten seasons, good for a winning percentage of .855.
They were a perfect 24-0 at home back in 2017 and have recorded 20 or more home wins in six of their last seven full seasons, a streak that was snapped last year, when CMU went 15-9 at home.
CMU has one home series remaining during this regular season and would earn hosting rights for the RMAC Tournament if they are able to win the conference's regular season title.
Here's a look at the Mavericks' home-field records over the last ten seasons.
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- 15-9
2004 (current)- 16-0
The Boss
Head Coach
Mercedes Bohte, a member of the Maverick coaching staff since 2013, is now in her fourth season in charge of the program and currently has a 147-44 (.770) career record and winning percentage as the leader of the program. The Mavericks have also won 84.4 percent (124-23) of their 143 RMAC games under her tutelage. She picked up her 100
th RMAC win in the first game of the series sweep against the Colorado School of Mines on Feb. 23.
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 Roadrunners
The Roadrunners have a prolific offensive attack and solid pitching staff. They are hitting .376 as a team and have cranked out 105 double to lead the Division II statistics in both categories. They also lead the country in total runs scored (360). They also have the third best team ERA in the RMAC at 3.40 and have recorded four shutouts.
Miah Hartvigsen (.496) and Shelby Robb (.493) are both flirting with .500 batting averages to rank second and third behind CMU's
Myah Arrieta. Robb also has hit 22 doubles to stand second in the nation and the RMAC behind only CSU Pueblo's Caitlyn Cole. She also ranks third in the nation for total hits with a conference-leading 71 and is 12
th nationally for batting average. Robb also has 48 RBIs and has stolen 18 of 19 bases.
Hartvigsen is tenth in the country for batting average and ninth for hits (65). She also has recorded 12 doubles and seven home runs and has driven in 44 runs.
Hannah DiFabio is also providing some serious pop in the Roadrunner lineup, hitting .371 with 16 doubles and a team-high eight home runs while driving in 38 runs. She is also 17-for-17 on stolen base attempts.
Kami Grammerstorf has been even speedier, swiping 24 bases without being caught while hitting .364 and scoring a team-high 51 runs, third most in the RMAC.
The high-powered attack has partially overshadowed a solid and balanced pitching staff. Roadrunner Coach Annie Van Wetzinga has used five different pitchers, including four that have thrown over 50 innings. Jenna Hudhus is a perfect 12-0 with a 2.71 ERA in 19 appearances and regularly comes out of the bullpen. However, she has completed four of her seven starts as well.
Natalie Romero is the most used Roadrunner and has an 8-3 record and 3.05 ERA in 25 appearances and 13 starts. She also has three saves and has thrown 78 innings while striking out 47 opponents. Cheyenne Prieto (5-3, 3.30 ERA) and Maddy Wilson (7-1, 3.99 ERA) have also started a combined 20 games.
Series History
The series history with the Roadrunners has been quite competitive and has the Roadrunners with a slight 28-27 lead in all 55 previous meetings since the Roadrunners resumed their program in 2008.
However, the Mavs have won seven out of the last ten and are 11-8 against the Roadrunners in Denver. CMU won three of the four games between the teams in the regular season series in Grand Junction and then claimed a 6-2 win in the RMAC Tournament to advance to the championship game while ending the Roadrunners' season.
In 2022, the Roadrunners eliminated CMU from the RMAC Tournament and ended the Mavs' season with two RMAC Tournament wins after the Mavs swept the regular season series.
Up Next
The Mavericks will return to Denver once again next weekend to face the Regis University Rangers in another weekend series (Apr. 20-21). The Rangers are solidly in fourth place in the RMAC standings and have 26-14 overall and 22-8 RMAC record heading into their weekend series with RMAC co-leading Colorado Christian this weekend.
