GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa University Softball Team heads south this coming weekend as they begin their spring break with a 4-game conference series against Adams State University.
The Mavericks, who enter this week riding an eight-game winning streak, are 14-8 overall while going 12-4 in the RMAC to sit in solo fourth place. The Mavs are tied for being the hottest team in the conference with UCCS as they are the only two teams with winning streaks greater than one.
The series this weekend will begin with a Saturday doubleheader at noon and then finish when the two teams square off in another doubleheader on Sunday starting at 11 A.M.
LAST TIME OUT
Repeating the same results from the prior week, the Mavs played to another series sweep this last weekend as they defeated the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls in all four games.
Over the course of the weekend the Mavs scored a collective 41 runs against the Cowgirls as they only conceded nine in return. Colorado Mesa was also able to win the final two games by eight-run mercy rule with those scores being 10-1 and 18-1 and each finishing in just five innings.
The 18-run game was the most runs the team had scored in a game this season and is also the second highest amount any team has put up in the conference.
Jessalyn Gallegos led all pitchers going 2-0 in the circle to compliment two complete games with a 1.75 ERA. She had 19 strikeouts in 12 innings, including 12 in the Game 1 victory on Saturday.
The Maverick pitching staff held the Cowgirls to a .211 team batting average and conceded just eight earned runs.
Myah Arrieta hit .667 (8-12) with three home runs and six RBIs throughout the series as she slugged 1.417 and had a .733 on-base percentage. Khloe Kubitschek went 8-for-13 (.615) at the plate to add six RBIs and total two doubles. Chloe Valdez also added six RBIs while batting .500 over the weekend.
The Mavs hit .431 as a team while ending the series with 44 hits over 20 offensive innings.
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
Sliding into the conference's five spot for offenses, Colorado Mesa is hitting .316 this season while having a slugging percentage of .524 and an on-base percentage of .393.
They have hit 22 home runs so far which ties them for second in the conference as well.
Serving as large factors to the team's success lately have been the quartet of Myah Arrieta, Makayla Westmoreland, Ally Distler and Chloe Valdez as each of the upperclassmen are hitting over .300 this season. Arrieta leads the team with a .443 average and is joined by Westmoreland who is hitting .415 as the only two Mavericks to hit 400 plus. Distler and Valdez accompany the two batting .358 and .328.
Of the team's 22 home runs, Distler currently has the most with seven while Arrieta has six to rank second.
Seven different players have hit home runs this season with five of them having two or more.
Distler is also the team's leader in RBIs totaling 23 this year. Valdez has added 18 with Arrieta chipping in 16 as well.
On the pitching side, five different arms have been utilized this year with all five of them having at least one win apiece.
Jessalyn Gallegos leads the bunch going 6-1 this season with a 1.70 ERA. She currently ranks second in the conference in ERA as she leads the Mavericks in almost every single pitching category. The redshirt freshman has totaled 61.2 innings this year while striking out 65.
Sophia Tassinari has been another leading pitcher for the team with her being the only other member to record double digit appearances to this point. The sophomore currently owns a 3.53 ERA while going 3-2 this season through 33.2 innings pitched.
Preslee Christensen has started six games to compliment the two with the Senior sitting at 2-3 through eight appearances and owning a 5.17 ERA.
Rounding out the bullpen have been the combo of Marisa Nehm and Kamdyn Hagerty with the duo combining for 10 appearances and 25.2 innings.
The staff as a whole has pitched to a 3.14 ERA this season to rank second in the conference with opponents hitting just .261 against them.
ABOUT ADAMS STATE
Roughly halfway through the season, the Grizzlies enter this week with a 4-24 record while playing to 2-14 in the RMAC so far through four weeks.
This past weekend the Grizzlies lost three out of four games against CSU Pueblo with their only win being a 7-5 decision in game three of the series as the team has yet to win a series on the season.
Prior to hosting the Mavs this weekend, the Grizzlies also took on Fort Hays State this week for a pair of midweek games as they dropped both on Wednesday losing 0-8 and 6-12.
In the series history, Colorado Mesa holds a record of 82-33 against the Grizzlies with the Mavs currently on a 30-game win streak. Last time the two met was this same weekend last year on March 16 and 17.
The Grizzlies are hitting .249 this season with three different players averaging above .300 to this point. Kaylee Eyl leads the team with a .354 batting average and is joined by Emily Sauvageau (.329) and Sydney Rodriguez (.327) as the two others.
Sauvageau leads the team in RBIs at 17 with Eyl adding 12 herself. Grace Hendrickson has 11 to rank third with her also being the team leader in homeruns at three.
In the circle only three pitchers have been used by the Grizzlies this year. Aubree Davis leads the team with a 4-10 record and a 7.91 ERA as she owns all four of the team's wins. Celie Page and Brooklyn Burgess are the team's other two pitchers and have combined to go 0-13 through 27 appearances. Opponents are hitting .430 off the Grizzlies pitching staff as they own a collective 10.30 ERA.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
All four games this weekend will be streamed on the RMAC Network free of charge and have live stats available to follow along with.
