DENVER — Hannah Sattler flirted with perfection Saturday (April 13) in Colorado Mesa's doubleheader sweep of MSU Denver, keeping the Mavericks tied atop the RMAC softball standings.
Colorado Christian rallied twice to sweep Regis and remain tied with the Mavericks at 31-3 in conference play with 10 games remaining in the regular season.
Sattler was perfect through five innings in the Mavs' 7-2 win in the second game of the day, issuing a leadoff walk in the sixth on a pitch just off the plate. CMU, now 33-7 and riding a 23-game winning streak, claimed a 6-2 win in the opener.
The no-hitter was broken up by the next batter, when Jaiden Geist reached on a bunt single back to the pitching circle. Sattler attempted to throw Geist out at first, but no one was covering the bag, allowing Lexi Gephart, who had walked, to score on a throwing error back across the diamond.
The Roadrunners (35-11, 28-6 RMAC) added another run in the inning, but Sattler (8-2) retired the side in order in the seventh, punctuating it with a called third strike to end the game.
She finished with a seven-strikeout performance, allowing two runs on three hits, with one walk. Only four Roadrunners reached base, all in the sixth inning.
Jackie Oster led off the third with the sixth home run of her career, and Chloe Valdez went deep to lead off the fourth. Mesa added another run after Iliana Mendoza doubled Makayla Westmoreland singled, with a throwing error allowing Mendoza to score.
Allison Lindsay followed with an RBI double, and with one out, Myah Arrieta beat out one of her three infield singles in the game. With two out and two on, Ally Distler lined a home run deep to left-center, her 16th of the season, putting the Mavs up 7-0.
Distler's defensive gem snuffed out any momentum the Roadrunners were trying to build in the opener.
With a runner on first and the Mavs holding a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning, MSU Denver attempted to bunt the runner into scoring position. Kami Grammerstorf popped up a rise ball offering from Preslee Christensen just above the head of Distler. The redshirt junior catcher made a bare-handed catch and snapped a throw to first to double the runner off the bag. CMU added a pair of runs in the top of the sixth on a two-run single by Miranda Pruitt.
Arrieta added to her program record with her 23rd home run of the season to break a scoreless tie in the third inning. She's now two away from tying the RMAC single-season record of 25.
Ava Fugate followed with a double, Distler was hit by a pitch, and with one out, Valdez loaded the bases with a single to shallow right. Mendoza coaxed a bases-loaded walk to put CMU up 2-0 before the Roadrunners got out of the jam.
A two-run home run by Shelby Robb tied the game in the third, but the Mavericks responded in the fourth. With one out, Arrieta singled, Fugate doubled and Distler lifted a sacrifice fly to right to get Arrieta home.
Westmoreland added an RBI single in the fifth for a 4-2 lead and Christensen handled it from there. The junior right-hander boosted her record to 12-3 by allowing two runs on eight hits, striking out seven and walking only one.
Arrieta went 7 for 8 on the day, 4 for 4 to lead the Mavericks' 11-hit attack, boosting her league-leading batting average to .528. Distler drove in four runs on only two hits, with two walks and a sacrifice fly. CMU's four home runs give the Mavericks a nation-leading 98 on the season, two off the program record.
CMU faces the Roadrunners again Sunday in a doubleheader, with the first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m. at Assembly Athletic Complex.
