GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Extending their season beyond the RMAC Softball Championship and making their way into the NCAA Softball Championships, the Colorado Mesa University Softball Team travels to Texas this week as they look to take part in their second straight appearance regional appearance.
Finishing with a season record of 39-15 (35-9 RMAC) and falling just short in the RMAC Tournament Championship game, the Mavericks earned a bid into this year's regional appearance as they enter as the #6 seed with them traveling to West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.
The Mavs will take on Angelo State University in the first round of the regional this week as they earned the #3 seed. West Texas A&M is the #2 seed and is serving as the host of this regional site while Lubbock Christian University is the final team as the #7 seed.
Colorado Mesa takes on Angelo State at 5 P.M. CDT (4 P.M. Mountain) on Thursday with West Texas and Lubbock Christian facing off prior to their game at 2:30 P.M. CDT (1:30 Mountain).
The Game 1 and 2 winners will then match-up in Game 3 on Friday at Noon CDT (11 A.M. Mountain) before the opening round losers will play in Game 4 to follow at 2:30 p.m. CDT (1:30 P.M. Mountain) on Friday. Another elimination game will then be played between the two teams with 1-1 records that evening at 5 P.M. CDT (4 P.M. Mountain).
Saturday's championship game will then be played at 2:30 P.M. CDT (1:30 P.M. Mountain) with the if necessary, game to follow at 5 P.M. (4 P.M. Mountain).
The tournament winner will then play against the winner of the other South Central Regional hosted by UT Tyler in next Thursday and Friday's Super Regional, a best-of-three series with the right to move on to the NCAA Division II Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee at stake. UT Tyler is the No. 1 seed in the region and will host No. 4 Oklahoma Christian, No. 5 Colorado Christian and No. 8 seed MSU Denver in Tyler, Texas.
LAST TIME OUT
Playing in the RMAC Championship Tournament over the weekend in Lakewood, Colorado the Mavericks took a second-place finish in the field with them defeating MSU Denver and UCCS while falling to top-seeded and champion Colorado Christian twice.
This was the Mavs' third time reaching the championship game in the last five seasons with three teams from the tournament earning bids into the NCAA Regionals this week in Colorado Christian, Colorado Mesa, and MSU Denver.
In their four-game stay in Lakewood the Mavs won their two games by a combined six runs with the first game victory coming in an extra-innings thriller.
Khloe Kubitschek hit a walk-off home run in the 11th inning to lift the Mavs to a 5-4 win over MSU Denver in the quarterfinals on Thursday while Colorado Mesa then beat UCCS 7-2 on Friday to advance to the championship.
Myah Arrietta hit two home runs in the first game and three on the weekend, raising her season total to 18 and her career total to 58, which puts her third in CMU history, one behind teammate Ally Distler (59), who ranks second.
Pitcher Preslee Christensen also threw 15 2/3 innings while appearing in all four of the Mavs' games. She allowed just four earned runs and 12 hits while going 1-1.
Kubitschek, Arrieta, Distler and Christensen were all selected to the All-Tournament Team following the conclusion of the championship game.
REGIONALS HISTORY
Returning this year to the NCAA Regionals the Mavs have now made 15 all-time appearances while compiling an 18-28 record in their previous 14 appearances. The Mavs have won the regional on two occasions (2000, 2009) and advanced to the NCAA Division II World Series in 2000.
The Mavs faired a 2-2 record in last year's appearance when they traveled to UT Tyler as they earned the #6 seed. In their stay they beat both St. Mary's (Texas) and Colorado Christian while also falling to Colorado Christian in their first game and dropping the championship game to eventual national champion UT Tyler.
Prior to last season's appearance the Mavs last appeared in the regionals in 2021 where they went 1-2.
The Mavs have won at least one game in 11 of their previous 14 NCAA Tournament runs.
Head Coach Mercedes Bohte will be coaching in her seventh regional as a member of the Maverick coaching staff after making four straight appearances from 2016-19 before guiding the Mavs to the 2021 as the program's interim head coach.
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
Playing 54 games to this point the Mavs are hitting .309 on the season, with them sitting at 59 home runs and totaling 84 doubles.
They currently average 6.3 runs per game on the year while limiting opponents to 3.1.
Myah Arrieta is the team's leading bat hitting .408 in all 54 games started with her raking up 61 RBIs and 18 home runs to lead the team in both categories. In addition, she has also hit 14 doubles and owns an OPS of 1.312.
Two other players are also hitting above .300 this season as Makayla Westmoreland is batting .341 to accompany 13 doubles and 10 stolen bags while Ally Distler is batting .309 with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs.
Chloe Valdez and Khloe Kubitschek have also served as main starters all season with the pair each hitting .284 or more and combining for 11 home runs and 19 doubles.
The trio of Cailyn Parsons, Bella Aragon and Olivia Litzen are other contributors to the offense with each of them batting .300-plus in 25 or more games played.
Moving to the circle, the Mavs own a 2.77 ERA this year as they have struck out 278 batters while only walking 102. Opponents haven't fared well against their pitching either as the team holds a .254 opponent batting average.
Serving as the team's top two arms are the pair of Jessalyn Gallegos and Preslee Christensen with each of them owning sub-three ERAs. Gallegos is 18-4 this season with a 2.30 ERA while completing 16 games and totaling 164.1 innings pitched. Christensen is 11-5 in her year as she owns a 2.08 ERA with her recording two shutouts and sitting at just under 100 innings pitched.
Sophia Tassinari, Marisa Nehm and Kamdyn Hagerty have combined for the rest of the team's innings with the trio owning a 10-6 record and 101.1 innings pitched.
REGIONAL FORMAT
Day One
Game 1: #2 West Texas A&M vs. #7 Lubbock Christian 1:30 PM
Game 2: #3 Angelo State vs. #6 Colorado Mesa 4 PM
Day Two
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 11 PM
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (Elimination game) 1:30 PM
Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 (Elimination game) 4 PM
Day Three
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 1:30 PM
Game 7: Repeat of Game 6 if necessary 4 PM
*All times are Mountain Standard Time
ABOUT THE FIELD
In region site two of the South Central region, the Mavs are grouped up with three other Texas schools this year as only one of them is a familiar opponent from this season.
Facing off with Angelo State in game one, the Mavs previously faced off with the Rambelles earlier this year as they both met in the beginning of the season at the DII First Pitch Invitational in Houston, Texas. Angelo State came out victorious in the meeting with a 6-1 decision.
Currently ranked #8 in the nation the Rambelles own a 44-12 (34-10 LSC) record while reaching as far as the semifinals in the Lone Star Conference Tournament this past weekend.
Five different players were named to All-Conference for the team with the quartet of Cheyenne Floyd, Laylonna Applin, Tatiana Trotter and Averie Gunther all being named to the First Team squad. Floyd is also the former LSC Pitcher of the Year in 2024.
This season the Rambelles are hitting .313 while owning 155 extra base hits and a staggering 122 stolen bases.
Applin is the team's leading bat hitting .436 while racking up 18 doubles and 14 home runs. She is joined by Trotter and Gunther who are hitting .325 and .347 respectively. The pair have also added 10 doubles each while Trotter has 13 home runs to rank second on the team.
In the circle the Rambelles' hold a 2.48 ERA while striking out 268 batters and limiting opponents to batting just .239 against them.
Floyd was one of the conference's top pitchers for a second year in a row going 25-6 this spring with 1.69 ERA through 33 appearances. She struck out 179 batters in 161.2 innings pitched. Amelia Hatthorn has been another reliable arm for the team going 12-4 with a 3.38 ERA in 100 plus innings.
Serving as the other two teams at the regional site are #2 seed West Texas A&M and #7 seed Lubbock Christian University with the Mavs having potential to play either team after Thursday's results.
West Texas A&M is currently the #3 ranked team in the nation while going 52-5 (40-4 LSC) this season. They were the runner up team in the Lone Star Conference Tournament after falling to UT Tyler in the championship.
The Lady Buffs are hitting .373 this year while totaling 91 home runs and 99 stolen bases. They are also a top pitching team owning a 2.07 ERA with 319 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .219 batting average. Emilee Boyer is the team's leading pitcher and hitter with her named as the LSC Player of the Year in 2025.
Lubbock Christian is receiving votes in the top 25 poll while owning a record of 36-20 (26-18 LSC). They fell in the semifinals of the LSC tournament in addition to Angelo State with West Texas A&M being the ones who defeated them.
The Chaps are hitting .321 with 112 doubles and 192 walks as five players are hitting over .300. On the pitching side they own a 3.60 ERA seven shutouts and opponent's batting .266 against them.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
Fans can purchase tickets for this event through the West Texas A&M Athletics webpage with options also available in person. Tickets at the games can be purchased at the ticket booths located on the left field and home plate entrances starting at $10 for general admission. A link to tickets can be found above.
Tickets count as a day pass, one ticket is good for the whole day.
The Athletic Communications Department from West Texas A&M will provide live stats and a web stream for all games during the South Central Region with links available on the CMU Mavericks website. Fans can watch the action through FloSports as well with a paid subscription.
