GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa University Softball Team will begin a new phase of their season this week as they now head into the postseason when they head to Lakewood, Colorado to take part in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Softball Championship hosted by Colorado Christian University.

Finishing with a record of 37-13 (35-9 RMAC) the Mavericks earned themselves the #2 seed in the conference tournament with them earning a first-round bye thanks to finishing as a top-two seed. They will play the winner of the #3 vs. #6 seed on Thursday, May 1 at 11 A.M. at All Star Park.

The tournament is four-day long event with action beginning on Wednesday, April 30 and going until Saturday, May 3 for the championship game.

The winner of the RMAC Tournament will receive the conference's automatic qualification spot in to the South Central Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament, which begins next Thursday. The other teams will hope for one of the six at-large spots, which will be determined by the regional rankings.

LAST TIME OUT

Concluding the regular season on a high note, the Mavericks ended their run in conference play by winning their final series of the year this past weekend when they took three out of four at Black Hills State.

This was the Mavs eighth series won on the on the season with them splitting the other three.

After losing a tough battle in game one, the Mavs won the final three games of the series with them outscoring the Yellow Jackets 33-19 over the course of the four games.

In the circle Preslee Christensen flirted with a no-hitter in Game 2 of the series, going into the sixth inning with it, as she picked up the win. In that game, she pitched six inning while allowing just one unearned run and one hit. Christensen also picked up another win in relief during Game 3 of the series, a 6-5, 10-inning thriller, and went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA over the weekend.

She was joined by Marisa Nehm who also recorded a win, scattering five hits in the series finale, a 12-8 Maverick win.

Olivia Litzen went 6-for-15 (.400) at the plate with four doubles and nine RBIs to lead the Maverick offensive attack while being joined by Myah Arrieta who hit .389 (7-18) with three doubles, one triple and three RBIs.

Ava Stephens also recorded her first collegiate home run in the Game 3 victory.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The Mavs have advanced to Day 3 of the RMAC Tournament in three of the previous four seasons under Head Coach Mercedes Bohte, posting a combined 11-7 RMAC Tournament record in those four runs.

The Mavs have won at least one RMAC Tournament game every year since 2015, after going 0-2 in 2014.

They went 1-2 in last year's tournament while serving as the host team with the #1 seed, falling in their third game after dropping the first game to eventual tournament champions Regis and then going 1-1 in day two. They beat CSU Pueblo in their lone win of the tournament before falling to MSU Denver. In 2023 they finished second in the tournament going 4-2 while dropping the championship game. They finished third in the 2022 tournament going 2-2 after winning the tournament with a 4-1 record in 2021.

They also went 3-2 in 2019 falling in both the championship and if-necessary games of that year and won the 2017 and 2018 tournaments with an unblemished 4-0 record.

This year's tournament at Colorado Christian is the second time the Cougars are hosting the tournament in the last three years with them serving as hosts in 2023 as well. Colorado Mesa has hosted every other year since 2016, excluding the 2020 COVID-shortened season.

LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

Upon the conclusion of the regular season the Mavs finished batting .316 as a team with them totaling 54 home runs. They slugged .512 and had an on base percentage of .397 with both being in the top five of the conference. Their 54 home runs came up second in the conference behind MSU Denver at 57, with each team being in the top 20 of the nation.

Myah Arrieta serves as the team's top batter hitting .417 this spring while totaling 15 home runs, 13 doubles and three triples. In addition she has accumulated 57 RBIs all while batting in the team's leadoff position.

Makayla Westmoreland comes in as the team's second highest batter at .342 while having 13 doubles.

Chloe Valdez and Ally Distler round out the team's top hitters batting .313 and .312 respectively. Distler has recorded 15 home runs this season to tie Arrieta for the lead while Valdez is third best on the team with seven long balls.

Cailynn Parsons (.403), Bella Aragon (.349) and Olivia Litzen (.327) have all made significant contributions to the offensive output of the Mavs lately as well.

On the pitching end, Jessalyn Gallegos finished the regular season with an outstanding 17-3 record in her redshirt freshman year as she was the team's top arm. She holds an ERA of 2.14 to this point while totaling 150.1 innings with 150 strikeouts.

Preslee Christensen was the team's other main arm to be utilized this season as she went 10-4 in 21 appearances while owning an ERA of 2.13. Christensen led the team with two shutouts while finishing with 82 innings pitched.

Sophia Tassinari, Marisa Nehm and Kamdyn Hagerty resemble the final three arms on the staff with the trio combining for a 10-6 record and 38 appearances.

As a team the Mavs held opponents to batting just .249 against them with the team ERA sitting at 2.73.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

Day One

Game 1 11 AM: #5 UCCS vs. #4 CSU Pueblo         

Game 2 1:30 PM: #6 Black Hills State vs. #3 MSU Denver                                                               

Game 3 4 PM: Winner Game 1 vs. #1 Colorado Christian                                            

Day Two

Game 4 11 AM: Winner Game 2 vs. #2 Colorado Mesa                                                 

Game 5 1:30 PM: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3 (Elimination game)                               

Game 6 4 PM: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4 (Elimination game)                           

Day Three

Game 7 11 AM: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4                                                      

Game 8 1:30 PM: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 (Elimination game)                

Game 9 4 PM: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7                      

Day Four

Game 10 11 AM: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9 (Championship Game 1)

Game 11: Repeat of Game 10 (Championship Game 2), if necessary        

ABOUT POTENTIAL OPPONENTS

Playing the winner of the #3 vs. #6 seed game, the Mavs have the potential to play two very different teams depending on how Wednesday shakes up.

Coming in as the #3 seed is MSU Denver who finished the regular season with a record of 39-13 with an RMAC record of 34-9. They fell to just half a game back of Colorado Mesa in the standings with them having one less conference game played during the regular season due to weather cancellation. They have proven to be a top team in the conference in years past.

Last time the two teams met the pair played to a split back in February with Colorado Mesa winning both games on the first day and then dropping the final two on the second day. Similar to the Mavs, the Roadrunners also won eight conference series during their season.

Relying on the longball and ability to slug, the Roadrunners have totaled 58 home runs this season with them leading the conference in both categories. They have sat as a top offense in the country throughout the spring with them hitting .348 as a squad.

Three players have hit 10 home runs or more for the team with Jenna Medhus and Alexia Boring both having 12. Jaiden Geist has also been another force to reckon with on the team as she leads the RMAC in batting average at .453. Medhus follows closely behind in second at .440.

The pitching staff for the Roadrunners have also been in the top three this season with the team holding a 3.33 ERA and totaling seven shutouts on the year.

Natalie Romero serves as the team's ace going 19-3 with a 1.79 ERA. Cheyenne Prieto and Medhus have also seen time in the circle combining for a 15-8 record and 142.2 innings.

Serving as the #6 seed and the Mavs' other potential opponent is Black Hills State University who finished their year with a 27-25 record and a 25-19 mark in RMAC play.

This was the best year in the program's history since joining the RMAC in 2012 with this also being their first year to qualify for the conference tournament.

They are the most recent team to play Colorado Mesa with the two concluding the regular season against each other and the Mavs winning three out of four. The Yellow Jackets won six of their conference series on the year.

In addition to MSU Denver the Yellow Jackets are a top five team in the conference in both offense and pitching with them hitting .321 and owning an ERA of 4.56.

Bolstering the team's offense has been Ashlynn Pauwels who's hitting .420 this season with 14 home runs. She's joined by Tyler Whitlock who's batting .369 for second best on the team with 23 stolen bases. In total there are seven players who are hitting .300 or better.

Laci Peskey is the team's leading pitcher with her being a top contender for the RMAC Pitcher of the Year award this spring, going 23-6 with a 2.07 ERA. She has struck out 236 batters to lead the conference with her also top 10 nationally in innings pitched at 189.1. Caitlyn Hoff and Paige Goodell have combined for the teams other four wins.

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN

Streaming for the event will no longer be free due to it being a post-season game. All RMAC Championship events, including all 10/11 softball championship games, will be broadcast pay-per-view on the RMAC Network.

For in person spectators a championship pass for every game of the tournament is available for $20 while day passes, which allow access to all the games on that day, are available for $9.99.