LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa University Softball Team played a total of 18 innings this afternoon over the course of two games as they played to a split against the Colorado Christian University Cougars in the opening double header of their 4-game series this weekend at All Star Park.
Taking both a win and a loss, the Mavericks were able to capture the first decision of the day in their favor as they won 2-1 in seven innings with game two then going the distance and ending oppositely as the Cougars walked off the Mavs to win 3-2 in 11 innings.
Despite the game two loss the Mavs are now 30-10 this season while improving to 28-6 in the RMAC. They still sit in first place of the conference with them owning a half game battle above MSU Denver. In addition, this is now the team's 10th straight year reaching 30 wins in a season which dates back to 2015, excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
CCU moves to 31-13 (27-7 RMAC) following today with the Cougars still in third place.
The series between the two teams will wrap up tomorrow with another doubleheader to take place starting at 11 A.M. at All Star Park. Streaming can be found on the RMAC Network with live stats also available to follow along with.
Below is a short recap of each game:
GAME 1 (CMU 2, CCU 1):
Riding a 4-hitter from Jessalyn Gallegos, the Mavericks narrowly took the game one victory in the series as they used a two-run third inning to top the Cougars in a one-run affair.
Over the total of 42 outs recorded in the game, only two inning featured runs as the Mavs scored both their runs in the third inning with the Cougars getting their only run back in sixth.
Playing a large factor into the small amount of offense in the game was the intense pitching battle that took place with both CMU's Gallegos and CCU's Elyse McMullin each pitching complete games. Gallegos emerged as the winner of the battle with her allowing just four hits and one run to the Cougars while striking out five. McMullin closely matched her allowing just five hits to the Mavs while striking out three and walking five to accompany two earned runs. Gallegos improved to 15-1 with the decision while McMullin moved 10-8.
In the two-scoring innings of the contest, the Mavs scored both their runs in the third inning thanks to successfully having multiple players do their job.
In that inning, Bella Aragon led off with a double to left field before being sequenced by Myah Arrieta who bunted her over to third and then had Makayla Westmoreland drive her in on a sacrifice fly.
Following that run the Mavs then scored their second and final run of the game when Ally Distler singled to get on base and was brought in on a double from Chloe Valdez.
In retaliation, the Cougars got their one run back in the sixth inning on a pair of singles. McMullin hit her way on to start with Danae Lopez then driving her in to follow to make the game just 2-1.
While a just a one-run game past the sixth inning both pitchers were still cruising with Gallegos ending the game on a 1-2-3 inning.
Leading the Mavs offensively was Westmoreland and Valdez with both having the only two RBIs. Distler finished 1-2 with two walks to be the only player to be walked multiple times.
GAME 2 (CMU 2, CCU 3; 11 inn.):
Following a stellar pitching outing by both teams in game one, the second game did just the same and more as a total of 11 innings was played which ultimately resulted in the Mavs falling short in a walk off loss.
Scoring only happened in four innings of this game to be sparse like the first game of the day with the Mavs putting up their only two runs in the fifth inning and the Cougars using three one-run innings in the third, sixth and 11th.
The Cougars got their first run in the third inning from an Elyse McMullin single to drive in Camryn Quilling.
Trailing 1-0, the Mavs then scored two runs back in the fifth inning to take the lead as they used a misplay from the Cougars second baseman to bring in two runs off the bat of Makayla Westmoreland.
The lead didn't last long however as soon after in the sixth inning the Cougars tied it back up at two thanks to a pair of errors from the Mavs.
Holding now at a tie, the game went past the seventh inning and into extras as four innings were held scoreless from the seventh to the 10th.
During that stretch both teams challenged to end the game early as every single inning featured at least one runner reaching base. A miraculous double play by Myah Arrieta in the bottom ninth also extended the game as she turned two thanks to a deflected ball by Chloe Valdez.
It was finally in the 11th inning that the game saw its climatic conclusion when the Cougars hit two singles and reached base on a walk to use a sacrifice fly right field to drive in the winning run.
This was just the second extra inning game the Mavs have played this season with last time also going 11 innings as well.
In the circle both team's used stellar pitching again in this game to make it go for a total of 65 outs with this time CCU's pitcher being the victorious one.
Emma Duncan went all 11 innings for the Cougars as she earned her 14th win with the decision. Duncan limited the Mavs to just four hits and two runs of offense while walking five and striking out four.
Preslee Christensen started for the Mavs as her counterpart going seven inning while allowing only four hits, two runs and striking out one. She was relieved by Marisa Nehm who went 3.2 innings in relief during the extended the game. Nehm allowed five hits and one run to the Cougars while picking up the tough loss to move to 2-2 on the season.
Of the Mavs' offense, only four players recorded hits for the team with the group of Westmoreland, Valdez, Cailynn Parsons and Bella Aragon each having one.
