GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Battling through the conditions of rain, snow and wind on a typical Colorado spring day, the Colorado Mesa University Softball Team prevailed through them this afternoon as they won the first two games of their 4-game series with the Chadron State Eagles at CMU Softball Field.
Winning by scores of 5-2 and 6-1, the Mavericks were led in large part by a pair of strong pitching performances today thanks to the efforts of Jessalyn Gallegos and Preslee Christensen.
With the pair of wins the Mavs are now 33-11 (31-7 RMAC) on the season and are just half a game back of first place in the conference standings behind MSU Denver. Chadron State falls to 17-27 (13-25 RMAC) with the losses and remains in ninth place.
The series will conclude tomorrow with the final two games being played in a doubleheader starting at 11 A.M. In between games there will also be the team's Senior ceremony with the Mavs' four seniors being recognized at that time. Tickets for both games can be purchased in person or online at cmumavericks.com/tickets with live streaming to occur on the RMAC Network.
Below is a short recap of each game:
GAME 1 (CMU 5, CSC 2):
Beginning the series on a strong note, the Mavericks won game one in a 5-2 decision to start their day as they relied on consistent hitting to back up a pitching performance that allowed just five hits.
Scoring in the first, second, third and fifth innings of the game, the Mavs used a balanced attack of multiple hits and some defensive miscues by the Eagles to score their runs as they only trailed once in the second inning.
In the first inning they tallied on their initial run as Chloe Valdez drove in Makayla Westmoreland who doubled earlier in the inning.
Leading 1-0, the Mavs battled off a two-run home run in the second inning to limit the Eagle offense as they then added more runs to follow.
In the bottom of the second, both Jackie Oster and Myah Arrieta each had singles to drive in a run with them retaking the lead to make the game 3-2.
Ally Distler followed with a solo shot home run in the third inning to make it 4-2.
Distler is now at 15 home runs in the season, while sitting at 59 in her career. She is just three home runs away from tying the school record.
Adding one more run for the offense in the fifth inning was Olivia Litzen who scored Khloe Kubitschek on an error by the third baseman. Kubitschek had also reached one batter prior in the inning on an error by the Eagle defense as well.
Leading by three and needing just six outs left to secure the victory, the Mavs did just that as they cruised their way to the win.
Shining in circle and keeping the Eagle batters at bay was Jessalyn Gallegos for Colorado Mesa who earned her 16th win of the season. Gallegos allowed only five hits and two runs of offense in her outing while striking out 12 batters in her 86-pitch performance.
Bolstering the offense for the Mavs was Distler and Cailynn Parsons who each finished 2-3 on the day. The team totaled nine hits in the game with seven different players having at least one.
GAME 2 (CMU 6, CCU 1):
Following the same trend as game one in the day, the Mavs continued their clutch hitting in game two of the series as they used a pair of multi run innings to back up Preslee Christensen who flirted with a no hitter.
Through the first three and a half innings of the contest there was only one hit to show for both teams as Colorado Mesa's only hit was by Myah Arrieta in the first.
Seeming to be a pitching battle, the Mavs then took the initiative to back up their pitcher in the fourth inning as they scored four runs while having five batters reach base.
Leading off with a pair of singles from Ally Distler and Chloe Valdez the Mavs were able to get their first run aboard that inning when Cailynn Parsons hit a ground ball into play allowing for Valdez to score and everyone to be safe.
Following that run, Olivia Litzen then hit a sacrifice fly to drive in another run.
Adding two more runs after that was Khloe Kubitschek and Ava Stephens with Kubitschek scoring one on an error by the Eagles centerfielder and Stephens then driving in Kubitschek on a single up the middle.
Leading 4-0, the Eagles were able to break up the no-hitter in the top of the fifth inning with them scoring one on a solo home run and tacking a couple more hits to follow, but Christensen remained calm as she ended the small rally shortly after.
With the game now only a three-run differential the Mavs added two insurance runs in the sixth inning thanks to a double by Arrieta. On her double she would score both Litzen and Kubitschek who both reached earlier in the inning on walks.
Sitting at a five-run difference now, Christensen was able to close the game out strongly with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
In her outing, Christensen allowed just four hits and one run to the Eagles while striking out three and walking one. With the win she is now 8-3 this season with an ERA of 2.63.
Arrieta led all hitters on offense going 2-4 in the game with two RBIS while four others had one hit apiece. Parsons, Litzen and Stephens each had the other RBIs for the team.
