CONROE, Texas – In their final two games of the DII First Pitch Invitational the #21 Colorado Mesa University Softball Team split the day, with them leaving Texas after both a win and a loss this morning.

The Mavericks played two morning games this Sunday with them capturing a 7-2 victory over St. Mary's University to start the day, before coming up short in a 2-0 loss to Texas A&M International.

Concluding their trip the team finished 2-4 in their six total games, with two of their losses coming to other nationally ranked opponents, including #1 in the nation, UT Tyler.

Today also marked the final nonconference games of the season for Colorado Mesa as they will now begin their 44-game conference schedule moving forward.

Below is a short summary of each game:

#21 Colorado Mesa 7, St. Mary's 2

Jumping out to an early 6-0 lead through two innings of play, the Mavs saw a much improved offensive effort in their first game of the day as they totaled 11 hits in their victory over the Rattlers.

The Mavs scored three runs in the first inning thanks to three straight singles to start their day. Chloe Valdez was then hit by a pitch to bring in the first run, with the second run coming on a passed ball and the third coming courtesy of a Brynn Escobar single to left field.

Adding three more runs in the second inning, the Mavs used four more hits to add to their lead. Both Myah Arrieta and Makayla Westmoreland hit RBI triples, with Ally Distler adding a single to drive in the other run.

The Rattlers responded with two runs in the fourth inning with a trio of hits, capped off by a two RBI double by Emily Ayala, but saw their inning end quickly after a double play ended it, with a fly out to right field and the runner leaving second base early on the tag up appeal.

After putting up two zeros in the fifth and sixth innings the Mavs tacked on one final run to solidify the win as Distler hit her second home run of the year with a solo shot in the top of the seventh to make the game 7-2.

Dister led the team going 4-4 with two RBIs with both Arrieta and Westmoreland also having multi-hit games going 2-4 each. Khloe Kubitscheck, Escobar and Jackie Oster each added one hit apiece.

Toeing the rubber, Jessalyn Gallegos got the start for the Mavs and was exceptional in the win as she went a complete game, going seven innings while only giving up four hits, two runs and striking out six en route to her first win of the season. She needed just 86 pitches total in her seven innings of work.

Following the loss, St. Mary's finished their stay at the Invitational going 1-4.

Texas A&M International 2, #21 Colorado Mesa 0

Trying to keep the hot bats going, the Mavericks couldn't seem to find their groove in the second game of the day as they dropped a tight pitching battle in a 2-0 loss to Texas A&M Int'l.

Both teams were strong in the circle but serving as the Mavs' kryptonite was Zakayia Fredrick who pitched a complete game shutout against Colorado Mesa going seven innings with just two hits given up and adding one strikeout.

The Mavs' starter, Sophia Tassinari matched Fredrick for the first five innings as the game stayed at 0-0, but three singles in a row and a sac fly by the Dustdevils in the sixth inning gave them the two runs to push them ahead.

Tassinari went 5.1 innings in the game with only five hits given up and two runs (one earned) to earn the loss. Preslee Christensen pitched the final 1.2 innings in relief of Tassinari.

Having the only two hits in the game for the Mavs were Chloe Valdez and Myah Arrieta who each went 1-3.

Following this weekend the Mavs will now next week off before they return to the diamond on Feb. 15 and 16 for their home opener and start to conference play when they host Regis University at the CMU Softball Field. Both days will consist of double headers with Feb. 15 (Sat.) starting at 12:00 P.M. and Feb. 16 (Sun.) starting at 11:00 A.M. Tickets can be purchased online at cmumavericks.com/tickets