GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa University softball team dropped all four games of their weekend series to No. 7 Colorado Christian University this afternoon as they suffered a series sweep at CMU Softball Field.
The Mavericks were defeated by the scores of 6-4 and 11-0 in today's doubleheader with the final game going only six innings and ending early via mercy rule. Over the course of the entire weekend, three of the games were decided by run-rule.
This is the second time this season the Mavs have been swept in a series with it also being just the second time since 2011 that they have been swept at all.
Colorado Mesa moves to 21-23 (20-16 RMAC) while Colorado Christian improves their winning streak to 42 and moves to 46-2 (36-0 RMAC).
Below is a short recap of each game:
GAME 1 (CCU 6, CMU 4):
The Mavs played to their closest battle of the weekend in game three of the series as they narrowly fell in a two-run decision after the Cougars were able to battle off a CMU rally late.
Both teams opened with scoring in the first inning as the Cougars tacked on two to begin the game while Colorado Mesa countered with one themselves.
CCU took advantage of three hits and two walks to score their two runs with CMU getting their run scored on an RBI single from April Neill.
The Cougars later added to their lead with one run in the third and one in the fifth to make it a 4-2 game as they featured a solo home run and a trio of singles to score the pair.
They then added another run in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI single, but the Mavs were able to respond shortly after as Neill came up big for the team again launching a three-run home run to left field.
Neill drove in both Molli Magaña and Makayla Westmoreland on her nuke as the duo previously reached on back-to-back singles to begin the frame.
The game sat at 5-4 now with Colorado Mesa threatening to creep back into it more, but Cougar pitching halted further damage after the bomb with them striking out the next two batters.
CCU added their final sixth run of the day in the top of the seventh to lead by two going into the bottom of the frame as they then retired the Mavs in order to win the game and series.
The Cougars owned a 13-8 hit advantage in the game with both teams having one home run.
Neill led the Mavs with two hits and all four RBIs herself as she was joined by fellow Freshman, Magaña, as the only other player with multiple hits.
Sophia Tassinari went the complete game in the circle for the 12th time this season as she was charged with the loss to move to 12-13. She limited the Cougars to just five earned runs over the 13 hits while striking out one.
GAME 2 (CCU 11, CMU 0, 6 inn.):
Falling for the final time this weekend in game four, the Mavs suffered their third run-rule loss to the end the day as they once again fell victim to a strong offensive showing from the Cougars.
CCU scored in just three innings of the game but featured crooked numbers in all of them as they scored four runs in the third, two runs in the fourth and five runs in the sixth.
They needed just nine hits to help do the damage while also using three sacrifice flies and taking advantage of two CMU errors.
Colorado Mesa looked to breakup the shutout in the bottom of the sixth on a Molli Magaña double to centerfield but a perfect relay to home to nab the runner would keep the Mavs off the board.
This was just the sixth time this season the Mavs have been shutout.
The Mavs were limited to four hits in the loss with four different players having one hit apiece as Magaña owned the lone extra base hit.
Marisa Nehm pitched a complete game in this contest as well for her third time this season.
UP NEXT:
The Mavs will now take to the road for their final away series this season when they trek to Nebraska this next weekend to face off with Chadron State. Games are set for April 25 (Sat.) and 26 (Sun.) with Saturday beginning at 2 pm.
