DENVER— Late-inning heroics from multiple directions and ten RBIs from sophomore Makayla Westmoreland were enough for the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks to sweep a wild Monday Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference softball doubleheader and the 4-game Sunday/Monday series at host Regis University.
 
The Mavericks scored five runs in the seventh inning of their 11-6 first game win on Monday and then came from 13-6 down to win the series finale by a 17-14 score in eight innings.  They scored four runs in the sixth inning of that game, four more to go ahead in the seventh before tallying three in the extra frame after the Rangers had tied the game at 14 in the bottom of the seventh.
 
In the process, the Mavericks banged out 26 hits throughout the doubleheader while extending their winning streak to 29 games.  They also moved back into a tie for first place in the RMAC standings after fellow co-leader Colorado Christian wrapped up its series at Black Hills State on Sunday.
 
With four games to go, both the Mavericks and Cougars are now 37-3 in RMAC play as the title chase will come down to the final week.
 
The Mavericks, 39-7 overall, will wrap up the regular season at home against CSU Pueblo on Friday and Saturday.  CCU (45-4) has won 24 straight games and will host third place MSU Denver in a Thursday/Friday series in Lakewood.
 
Both CCU and CMU are assured of first round byes in next week's RMAC Tournament, which one will host.  The Cougars would win the hosting rights tie-breaker if both teams end up even in the standings.
 
Regis has now been swept by the two co-leaders over the past nine days and fell to 26-22 overall and to 22-16 in RMAC play after the Monday contests.  However, they are still in fourth place in the RMAC standings and lead fifth place Colorado School of Mines by a game.
 
MSU Denver is 31-9 in RMAC play and will be the No. 3 seed in the tournament after winning three of four games against Mines on Sunday and Monday.
 
CSU Pueblo is 20-20 in conference play and has the inside track for the sixth and final spot in the RMAC Tournament with a chance to move up to as high as the No. 4 seed but will also have to fend off Fort Lewis (15-21 RMAC), which will be at eighth place UCCS for a 4-game set next week.
 
Westmoreland provided many of the Mavericks' highlights on Monday, recording two home runs in the first game before going 4-for-6 with the go-ahead hit in the seventh inning of Game 2.  She finished each game with a career-high five RBIs and went 6-for-10 throughout the doubleheader sweep.

Ava Fugate, who had a go-ahead grand slam on Sunday, and Ally Distler also homered on back-to-back at bats in the first game of Monday's doubleheader as the Mavericks increased their season-long home run total to a Division II leading 107, seven more than the former program record of 100, set in 2022.
 
The RMAC record is 112 while the national record is 114.
 
Distler now has 19 home runs while Fugate has nine.  Westmoreland has now hit eight this season.
 
The Mavs came from 3-1 down in the first game, taking a 4-3 lead in the top of the third as Fugate and Distler hit their back-to-back shots.  Westmoreland then added a 2-run shot in the fourth inning to extend the Mavs' lead to 6-3 before the Rangers answered back with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.
 
Neither team would cash in on opportunities in the fifth and sixth before the Mavs scored five 2-out runs in the seventh.  The first two came on a Chloe Valdez triple before Iliana Mendoza was hit by a pitch.  Westmoreland then brought both Valdez and Mendoza home with a 3-run homer later in the inning before relief pitcher Hannah Sattler closed out the win in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Five different Maverick hitters had 2-hit games as the Mavericks combined for 12 as a team.
 
Meanwhile, Sattler recorded the win to improve to 11-2 after allowing just one hit in 3 1/3 innings of shutout relief.
 
The second game was even wilder as the Mavericks opened up the game by scoring four runs on just one hit but were aided by five walks in the top of the first.
 
However, the Rangers responded for seven runs in the bottom of the first and extended their lead to 11-4 in the second.
 
The Mavs then clawed two of those runs back in the top of the third thanks to a key single by Myah Arrieta, who extended her hitting streak to 23 straight games.
 
The Rangers would then answer right back with a 2-run homer by Rachel Williams in the bottom of the third to go ahead 13-6 while chasing CMU's third pitcher of the game.
 
Preslee Christensen, who recorded a 2-hit shutout on Sunday before surrendering just one earned run in Monday's first game, then came on as the Mavs' fourth pitcher of the game and got out of the jam.
 
The Mavs were held scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings but recorded a fine 2-out rally in the sixth as Mendoza laced a 2-run single to right center before freshman Jackie Oster plated Westmoreland, who later singled, and Mendoza to cut their deficit to 13-10.
 
Fugate then hit a 1-out double in the seventh and scored on a Miranda Pruitt single after Distler was walked.
 
Westmoreland then hit a 3-run go-ahead single later in the inning as the Mavericks took a 14-13 lead.
 
Regis right fielder Olivia Wick would then answer a lead-off homer in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 14.  The Rangers then left two runners on base later in the inning as the Mavs went to extra innings for just the third time this season.
 
In the extra frame, Arrieta drew a 1-out walk before Fugate hit her second double in as many innings and the 25^th of her season, just two shy of a CMU single-season record.   Distler then hit a go-ahead single to score Arrieta while moving Fugate to third.  Three plays later, the Mavs scored two insurance runs on a Ranger error.
 
Christensen then gave up a walk to begin the bottom of the eighth but retired the next three Ranger batters in order as the Mavericks claimed the wild victory to improve to 3-0 in extra-inning games this season.  She improved to 15-3 while giving up just one run and four hits in six innings of relief while Westmoreland went 4-for-6  to lead the Mavericks to 14 total hits.  They also drew a season-high ten walks and two hit by pitches as the Rangers were pressured throughout the game.
 
Mendoza also went 2-for-3 and drew two walks while scoring four runs while Fugate finished the game with her two doubles, a walk and three runs scored.
 
Six different Regis pitchers worked in the game.