TYLER, Texas— The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks became the top home run hitting team in NCAA Division II history and staved off elimination in two separate elimination game wins at the South Central Regional Tournament here at UT Tyler's Irwin Field.
 
The sixth-seeded Mavericks hit three home runs in a 7-5 thriller over No. 7 seed St. Mary's (Texas) and then used an efficient 3-hit shutout from junior pitcher Christa Zagala, who made her first post-season appearance as Maverick, while getting yet another Miranda Pruitt homer as the Mavs blanked No. 3 seed and big Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference arch-rival Colorado Christian, avenging Thursday's 3-1 opening round loss to the Cougars.
 
The victories also allowed the Mavs to improve to 46-10 overall and to advance to championship Saturday where they will face second-seeded and host UT Tyler, ranked third in the national poll.  First pitch for Saturday is slated for 1 p.m. CDT (Noon Mountain).  If the Mavericks were to win, they would force the if necessary game, which would follow at 3:30 p.m. CDT (2:30 p.m. Mountain).
 
UT Tyler, which is 2-0 in the tournament and 50-8 overall, needs just one win to advance to Tuesday and Wednesday's Super Regional.  The Patriots had knocked off CCU, 12-1 in five innings in the first game of the day, a winner's bracket contest.
 
The Mavericks entered Friday's games with 117 home runs and ended the day with 121, a new NCAA Division II single-season record.  Valdosta State finished the 2024 campaign with 119, which was five more than the record of 114 coming into the season.
 
Pruitt, a native of Joshua, Texas, hit the record-setting home run as part of a wild 5-run fifth inning in the win over the Rattlers and then added another 2-run shot, her 21^st home run of the season, during the shutout of Colorado Christian.  Pruitt's first home run of the day came just two plays after Ava Fugate had hit the Mavs' 119^th home run of the season, a 3-run blast to put CMU in front 5-4 in a back-and-fourth battle with St. Mary's, which saw its season come to an end with a 33-26 record.
 
The Mavs drew first blood, biting the Rattlers in the second inning with a 2-run Makayla Westmoreland homer.
 
However, St. Mary's battled back with a run in the fourth and another with no outs in the fifth, which prompted a pitching change with Preslee Christensen coming in to relieve starter Marisa Nehm.
 
The Rattlers then hit a 2-run home on Christensen's third pitch to go ahead 4-2 before Christensen got three straight outs to get out of the inning.  Westmoreland then registered a bunt single and moved to second on an obstruction call, which allowed Bella Aragon to reach first. 
 
Myah Arrieta then moved both runners over on another sacrifice bunt setting up Fugate for her 3-run go-ahead home run.
 
Ally Distler was then hit by a pitch before Pruitt drilled another home run to put the Mavs ahead 7-4.
 
St. Mary's would pull one of those runs back in the sixth but could do no more as Hannah Sattler came in to earn the save, allowing just two hits in 1 2/3 innings.  Christensen picked up her RMAC-leading 19^th win.
 
The Mavs also feasted in the fifth inning of the Colorado Christian game after both teams were unable to cash in on earlier chances.
 
Iliana Mendoza began the inning with a walk before Westmoreland, who had three hits throughout the day, singled.  Cailynn Parsons then hit a bunt single to load the bases before Aragon hit an RBI fielder's choice to left field as Mendoza scored.
 
Arrieta, who went 3-for-4 in the game with two doubles after going hit-less in the first two games of the tournament, then delivered a 2-run double as the Mavs increased their lead to 3-0, which would ultimately be the difference.
 
Meanwhile, Zagala dominated the normally potent Cougar lineup, which leads the nation in total runs scored.  She needed just 63 pitches to post her third shutout of the year and improved to 8-2.
 
Zagala, a native of Corona, California, had made just two total appearances in the entire month of April and has not pitched in either the RMAC or the regional tournament until getting the nod against the Cougars, a team she did face twice during the regular season series between the teams on Mar. 2-3.
 
After stranding Arrieta and Fugate on base in the first, Zagala and the Mavs retired eight of the first nine Cougars hitters before back-to-back CCU singles gave the Cougars a chance to score, which was wasted on a fly out to right in the bottom of the third.
 
Both teams were then set down in order in the fourth before all three runs came in the fifth
 
Zagala then retired nine more Cougar hitters in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings combined and finished the game by sitting down 13 consecutive Cougar hitters.