GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University softball team will close out the regular season in hopes of capturing at least a share of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title and potentially the rights for hosting next week's RMAC Championships when they host CSU Pueblo in a 4-game series at the CMU Softball Stadium.
The Mavericks have won 29 straight games and are currently 39-7 overall and 37-3 in RMAC play. They are tied with Colorado Christian for first place in the RMAC standings heading into the week.
CSU Pueblo is 22-29 overall and 20-20 in RMAC contests and will be looking to lock up the sixth spot in the RMAC Tournament.
The series will begin with a doubleheader at Noon on Friday and another doubleheader on 11 a.m. on Saturday. The Mavericks will also recognize four of their veterans during Senior Day festivities, which will be held between games on Saturday.
All four games will be streamed on the
RMAC Network and live statistics can be accessed through the link above.
Tickets are available for purchase at
www.cmumavericks.com/tickets.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks extended their winning streak to 29, recording a series sweep on the road at Regis University. Due to weather forecasts, the series was pushed back a day and played on Sunday and Monday in Denver.
The Mavericks blanked the Rangers, 10-0 in six innings during the first game as
Preslee Christensen tossed a 2-hit shutout. The Mavs then won the second game 8-4.
On Monday, the Mavs relied on late-inning heroics, scoring five runs in the top of the seventh to win 11-6 in the third game of the series. They then trailed 7-4 and 13-6 in a wild series finale before rallying to win 17-14 in eight innings.
Makayla Westmoreland, who would go on to be named as the RMAC Player of the Week on Tuesday, led the Mavericks offensively, recording ten of her 11 weekend RBIs on Monday while going 9-for-16 (.563) at the plate throughout the series. She,
Ava Fugate and
Ally Distler all hit two home runs during the series.
Miranda Pruitt also hit .500 (6-12) and joined Westmoreland with a 1.000 slugging percentage.
Christensen went 2-0 with a 1.34 ERA to lead the CMU pitching staff, surrendering just 13 hits during 15 2/3 innings over three appearances and two starts.
Complete recaps of both doubleheaders can be found below.
Title Scenarios
The scenarios for the RMAC title chase are fairly simple during the final week of the regular season, which will feature CMU's Friday/Saturday series against the ThunderWolves as well as a Thursday/Friday series in Lakewood between Colorado Christian and MSU Denver.
Assuming both CMU and Colorado Christian play the same number of games, which is never guaranteed with Colorado spring weather, the team that wins more game in their respective series would win the RMAC title. If the Mavs and Cougars win the same number of games, they would share the title. If they play an uneven number of games, the title would be determined by winning percentage in conference games,
However, CCU does have the inside track to the No. 1 seed and hosting rights for next week's RMAC Tournament. The Cougars won a tight early-season series three games to one back on Mar. 2-3 and thus holds the head-to-head seeding tiebreaker. Thus, the Mavericks will need to get at least some help from MSU Denver, which is third in the RMAC standings at 31-9.
All three of CMU's conference losses have come to Colorado Christian. The Mavericks have swept the other nine RMAC teams they have played thus far. Colorado Christian lost once to the Mavericks and split a 4-game series against the Colorado School of Mines in the week following. They have won 24 straight games since.
Regardless of this week's results, the Mavericks and Cougars are locked into the top two seeds and will both receive a first round bye in next week's RMAC Tournament. MSU Denver is locked into the No. 3 seed.
Regis is still in fourth place at 22-16 and leads Mines (21-17) by one game in the battle for 4 and 5 seeds and home batting status in the first round match-up. The Rangers and Orediggers have both clinched a RMAC Tournament spot.
Meanwhile, CSU Pueblo (20-20) will be looking to lock up a RMAC Tournament spot in the series against the Mavs and could potentially move up to as high as fourth if Regis and Mines both slip up in their series against New Mexico Highlands and Adams State, respectively.
The ThunderWolves will also have to fend off Fort Lewis to qualify for the RMAC Tournament. The Skyhawks are 15-21 (.417) in RMAC play heading into a series at eighth place UCCS, which has been eliminated from RMAC Tournament contention after a series split at CSU Pueblo last week.
Fort Lewis has played four fewer RMAC games than CSU Pueblo this season and thus that battle for the sixth and seventh spots will be determined
Rankings and Rankings
The Mavericks received some love in both sets of rankings this week. They moved into the
NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll for the first time this season, claiming the No. 25 spot in the national poll after being atop the "others receiving votes" category last week. The top 25 ranking is the first for the Mavs since the 2021 preseason poll.
Although the national ranking is certainly a feather in their cap, the regional rankings are more important for post-season purposes.
Those rankings were released in numerical order for the first time on Wednesday and see the Mavericks slotted sixth in the South Central Region, made up of the Rocky Mountain Athletic and Lone Star Conferences.
CMU had also been included in the top 10 of the alphabetized rankings last week. The rankings will again be updated next Wednesday before the final NCAA Tournament selections will be made following the RMAC and LSC Tournaments.
Eight teams from the region will be selected with the RMAC and LSC Tournament winners receiving automatic bids. The other six teams will be selected at-large.
West Texas A&M, ranked No. 1 in the NFCA Poll, leads the regional rankings ahead of UT Tyler and No. Colorado Christian, who also sit in the top 10 of the NFCA poll in the fourth and sixth spots.
Angelo State, ranked 22nd in the national poll, is fourth in the regional rankings while Oklahoma Christian is ranked fifth.
St. Mary's, Lubbock Christian, Texas A&M-Kingsville and MSU Denver are behind the Mavs in the regional rankings.
New Homer Record
The Mavericks combined to hit eight home runs in the Sunday/Monday series at Regis and have now hit 107 this season, zooming past the former program record of 100, which had been set two years ago in 2022. They hit four home runs in both doubleheaders.
Myah Arrieta tied the record with her 3-run home run in the second inning of the series opener before
Miranda Pruitt hit the record-breaking home run to lead off the third inning of that game.
The Mavericks, who now rank fifth in Division II history with their 2024 home run total are now in search of the RMAC and NCAA Division II national records. The RMAC record is 112, set in 2010 by MSU Denver. That total was the former national record and is still the second best in Division II history, trailing only the current D-II record of 114, set by Cal Poly Humboldt in 2013. Valdosta State hit 109 home runs in both 2021 and 2023 to rank third and fourth in D-II history. The Blazers have also smashed 102 home runs this year to sit second behind the Mavs in this year's national statistical title chase.
CMU's former record of 100 home runs was the tenth best total in D-II history coming into the season but has now been dropped to 12
th thanks to the Mavericks and Blazers' power-hitting exploits.
The Mavs have hit 64 home runs in their last 20 games alone, more than ten of the other 11 RMAC teams have hit all season.
Colorado Christian is second in the RMAC with 70 home runs throughout the season.
The Mavs also lead the national statistics with their 2.33 per game average, which is also on pace to set the national record. That mark is currently 2.22, a mark set by Valdosta State in 2021, when the Blazers played 49 games. The Mavericks hold the RMAC per game average record of 1.93, when they hit 83 in 43 games during the 2006 season.
MSU Denver's 2010 team averaged 1.90 home runs per game, when the Roadrunners played 59 games.
Home run leaders
The Mavericks continue to have the RMAC's top three home run hitters as
Myah Arrieta added her school-record extending 24
th of the season in the series-opener against Regis, moving to within just one of the RMAC record co-held by 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 sits second in the country with her 0.52 per game average and is second in the country for total home runs, trailing Valdosta State's Abby Suite, by just one. Suite also just ahead of Arrieta in the per game average rankings at 0.53.
Meanwhile,
Ally Distler is second in the RMAC and tied for fourth nationally with 19 home runs.
Miranda Pruitt is third in the RMAC and tied for sixth in the country with 18 home runs.
Multi-Category Leader
Arrieta also continues to leads the RMAC with her .510 batting average, 1.087 slugging percentage, .588 on-base percentage, 1.675 OPS, and 74 runs scored and is certainly a leading candidate for RMAC Player of the Year honors. She ranks third in the nation with the batting average and on-base percentage and leads the country in runs per game (1.60).
Already having set the Mavs' home runs record, she is also contending to break the school records for batting average (.514), slugging percentage (1.000) and on-base percentage (.587). Her 74 runs scored also already have her third for CMU single-season history and are just nine shy of the school record of 83, set by Maggie Manwarren in 2018.
Doubling the Fun
Maverick senior
Ava Fugate hit two more doubles in the final game of the Regis series. She now has 25 on the season, second most in the country. The national leader will also be in Grand Junction this weekend as CSU Pueblo's Caitlyn Cole leads the country and the RMAC with 29 doubles.
Fugate now ranks second in program history with her 25 doubles, a mark that is just two shy of Brooke Hodgson's 2018 record of 27.
Scoring
Scoring 46 runs in the Regis series, the Mavericks have now taken over the NCAA Division II statistical lead for scoring, averaging 8.93 runs per game. They Mavs have tallied 411 total runs, which is the second highest stotal. Colorado Christian has scored a national-leading 423 in 49 games played to rank third in the country for scoring average (8.63). Seton Hill is second in per game average at 8.74, having scored 402 times in 46 games.
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.
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 155-44 (.778) career record and winning percentage as the leader of the program. She will coach her 200
th game on Friday.
The Mavericks have also won 85.2 percent (132-23) of their 155 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 ThunderWolves
The ThunderWolves will enter the weekend with a 22-29 overall record, including an even 20-20 RMAC record. They split a home series and both doubleheaders with UCCS last Friday and Saturday after sweeping a series at Adams State the weekend before. They have won or split each of their last four series since being swept at Colorado Christian on Mar. 22-23.
The ThunderWolves are hitting .294 as a team but have four regulars who are hitting .333 or higher. Caitlyn Cole leads that bunch at .469 and has also a lion's share of the Pack's power numbers. She leads the country with 29 doubles and has hit 11 home runs while driving in 50 runs. The rest of the Pack lineup has just 15 home runs.
Cole ranks third in the conference in batting average, slugging percentage (.881) and sits second behind only CMU's
Myah Arrieta in on-base percentage (.588) and OPS (1.426). She is also third in the RMAC for runs scored (57) and tied for seventh in RBIs.
Madelyn Huerta (.368), Emma Case (.355) and Ashley Toss (.333) are also faring well at the plate. Tosh also has 15 doubles while Case has recorded 12.
Marissa Robertson leads the Pack pitching staff. She is 10-8 overall and has a 3.59 ERA. She has completed ten games and has recorded three shutouts. She has also struck out 69 opponents in 117 innings.
McKenna James has thrown a team-leading 129 2/3 innings and has posted an 8-15 record and 5.56 ERA. She has 63 strikeouts and has completed 12 of her 23 starts.
Series History
The Mavericks lead the series with CSU Pueblo by a 73-41 margin since and including 1994. The two teams split last year's series in Pueblo but the Mavs had won 15 straight and 19 of the previous 20 games between the teams.
The Mavericks are 34-19 at home against the Pack, who will be making their first trip to Grand Junction since 2019 this weekend. CMU has won seven straight home games in the rivalry. CSU Pueblo's last win in Grand Junction was on Apr. 30, 2016 during the RMAC Tournament.
Up Next
The Mavericks will begin the RMAC Tournament next Thursday as either the No. 1 seed in Grand Junction or the No. 2 seed at Colorado Christian. The 6-team, double-elimination tournament will determine the conference's automatic qualification spot to the NCAA Tournament.
