DENVER — The winning streak swelled to 25 games for the Colorado Mesa softball team with a 10-1, 8-0 doubleheader sweep of MSU Denver on Sunday (April 14) at Assembly Athletic Complex.
The RMAC's top power-hitting team had only three extra-base hits on the day, two doubles and one home run out of 25 total hits.
The home run, a third-inning solo shot by Ally Distler in the final game of the series, was No. 99 on the season for the Mavericks, one off the program record, 13 off the RMAC record and 15 shy of the Division II mark.
Colorado Mesa (35-7, 33-3 RMAC) remain tied with Colorado Christian in first place of the RMAC, but the Cougars hold the head-to-head tiebreaker after handing CMU its only three losses of the conference. Both teams have eight games remaining in the regular season. The Mavs are back in Denver to face Regis this coming weekend, then close out the regular season April 26-27 against CSU Pueblo at home. The Cougars travel to Black Hills State before hosting MSU Denver the final week of conference play.
Mesa's bats were anything but silent, stringing together base hits and putting pressure on the Roadrunners' defense, which committed three errors in the first game and two more in the second.
The first error led to four runs when catcher's interference was called on a groundout by Iliana Mendoza, which would have ended the first inning. Instead, Distler scored on the error and Makayla Westmoreland singled off the pitcher to get two runs home when the ball caromed between first and second.
Westmoreland stole second, with the throw glancing off her helmet and into the outfield, allowing Mendoza to score.
Mendoza added a two-run double in the fifth after the Roadrunners scored their only run of the day in the second inning. Mendoza, Ava Fugate, Chloe Valdez and Westmoreland each had two RBI, with Mendoza's double the only extra-base hit for CMU in the six-inning, run-rule decision.
Pitching ruled the day for the Mavericks, with Preslee Christensen improving to 13-3, scattering seven hits, walking one and striking out two. She had the Roadrunners hitting routine fly balls for 13 outs, with three groundouts.
In the second game, Hannah Sattler had yet another outstanding outing with a two-hit shutout, striking out six and walking three. A bunt single in the fourth gave MSU Denver a chance to get back in the game despite being down 7-0. A pair of walks loaded the bases with two out, but Sattler came back to strike out the next batter.
The Roadrunners' second base hit didn't come until the bottom of the seventh, a harmless single to center. With one out, Sattler recorded back-to-back strikeouts to improve to 9-2. In her two complete games on the weekend, Sattler struck out 13, walked only four, and allowed two runs. She had a 1.29 ERA. Christensen was just as effective, with a 1.38 ERA, nine strikeouts and two walks, allowing three runs, two earned.
Up 3-0 in the fourth, the Mavericks sent 10 batters to the plate and scored four runs on four hits and one error. Bella Aragon and Miranda Pruitt hit RBI singles, Distler drew a bases-loaded walk and Valdez got another run home with a sacrifice fly. The Mavericks added one more run in the seventh on a wild pitch.
Myah Arrieta extended her hitting streak to 19 games, with multiple hits in 14 of those games. After going 11 of 15 in the four games (.733) and scoring five runs, Arrieta is hitting a league-leading .530.
Distler has hit safely in 12 straight games and drove in six runs on the weekend with a pair of home runs, giving her 17 on the season, tied with Pruitt for second on the team and the conference behind Arrieta's 23. Distler is tied for the conference lead with 61 RBI.
The series sweep pulled CMU ahead of the Roadrunners in the all-time series, 31-28 since MSU Denver reinstated its program in 2008, and the Mavs have won 11 of the past 14 meetings.
