GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa University softball team faces off in Grand Junction one last time this coming weekend as they host Black Hills State University in their final home games of the 2026 season.
The Mavericks, who are currently in fifth place in the conference standings, are still vying for one of the remaining three seeds into the conference tournament as they need two wins to solidify their position.
They can still potentially make it with zero or one win as well but will need help around the conference for that scenario with tie breakers also coming into play. They can finish anywhere from third to seventh in the standings depending on how the regular season ends.
For the games this weekend, this series will be bumped up one day earlier as the conference tournament begins next week on Wednesday with games against the Yellow Jackets will be on Friday and Saturday instead. Friday will begin at noon while Saturday will start at 11 a.m.
Saturday's games will also be part of the Mavs' Senior Day with the three seniors of TK Landes, Marisa Nehm and Makayla Westmoreland all being honored in between the doubleheader.
LAST TIME OUT
The Mavs claimed a dominant 3-1 series win over Chadron State College this past weekend as they unloaded offensively for 54-run showing in what was their best offensive series of the season.
The Mavs outscored the Eagles by 31 runs in the series with them winning by run-rule twice and hitting a staggering 17 home runs.
The two teams split the day one action with Colorado Mesa winning game one 9-5 before falling in game two, 13-10.
The final doubleheader then featured the Mavs winning in five innings two times with the scores being 23-3 and 12-2.
The 23-3 win was the second most runs ever scored in a game in program history.
In addition, Khloe Kubitschek finished that game going 4-for-5 with 10 RBIs with that being the most RBIs in a single game in program history.
Kubitschek finished the weekend batting 7-for-14 (.500) with 14 RBIs total while recording three home runs herself.
Cailynn Parsons joined her hitting three home runs as well and going 9-for-13 (.692) at the plate.
The only player to hit more home runs than those two was Molli Magaña as the freshman hit five en route to a 6-for-12 (.500) weekend with 11 RBIs and a 1.750 slugging percentage.
She was named as the RMAC's Player of the Week on Tuesday thanks to performance.
Paige Pierce, Lacie Rodabaugh, Allison Lindsay, TK Landes, and Makayla Westmoreland would all add home runs in the series as well.
Marisa Nehm went 3-0 in the circle to bolster the defense while appearing in all four games and pitching to two complete games.
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
With just four games remaining to play on the year, the Mavs are hitting .318 as a team while owning an on base percentage of .396 and a slugging percentage of .521.
They currently rank as the second-best offense in the conference with that batting average while also hitting the second most home runs.
There have now been over 400 base hits to this point with them owning 407 to average just under 8 ½ per game. Of those hit 136 of them have been for extra bases with 57 of them being home runs and 70 of them being doubles.
In addition, their 1.19 home runs per game ranks in the top 25 of the nation for division II.
Individually, six players are now hitting .300 or better for the team as well with one of them hitting over .400.
Cailynn Parsons leads that group with her batting .412 this year and being top 10 in the RMAC for batting average.
She is joined by Molli Magaña (.341), Makayla Westmoreland (.341), Brynn Escobar (.326), Khloe Kubitschek (.302) and TK Landes (.302) as the team's other top offensive forces.
Allison Lindsay, April Neill, Olivia Litzen, Kamdyn Hagerty and Paige Pierce have also recorded notable at bats with each of them batting above .300 as well.
Magaña is the Mavs' home run leader with 13 herself while Khloe Kubitschek follows up closely behind her with 10. Magaña ranks second in the RMAC with that amount while Kubitschek ties for sixth most.
Of the team's 70 doubles, both Escobar and Kubitschek lead that group with each of them having 10.
Landes adds three triples to lead the three-bagger department.
On the pitching end, the Mavs have a team ERA of 4.99 and hold opponents to a .321 batting average against.
They are one of just six teams to own an ERA below five.
Through 301.2 innings, they have only walked 130 batters which is third fewest of any team in the league.
Sophia Tassinari has been the Mavs' top arm having while pitching 148 innings this spring and going 12-13 over 39 total appearances. Her 3.83 ERA leads the team while also ranking in the top 10 of the RAMC
Tassinari currently ranks second in innings pitched in the conference as well while her 12 wins are tied for sixth most.
Marisa Nehm has complimented Tassinari as the team's number two pitcher, appearing 33 times in the circle herself and owning an 11-7 record through 123 innings.
Tassinari and Nehm have combined for 42 of the team's starts while appearing 72 times over 48 games.
Kamdyn Hagerty adds a 6.07 ERA through 15 innings pitched while Lacie Rodabaugh has seen the circle five times as well.
The staff owns a WHIP of 1.76 and have pitched two shutouts this spring.
Defensively the Mavs also have turned the most double plays in the nation this season with 33 while averaging .69 per game.
THE COACHES
Returning to coach the girls this season is Mercedes Bohte who enters her sixth season at the helm of Maverick Softball after taking over as the Interim Head Coach in the 2021 season and then officially being hired as the Head Coach in June of 2021. In total she has been with the Mavs for 14 seasons with her being an assistant coach for the first eight.
Coming into this season Bohte holds a 202-65 record while leading the team to five consecutive 30-plus wins season, including three of them having 40 or more wins. In addition, she is responsible for claiming three of the last five RMAC regular season champions with one RMAC Tournament Championship. She was named as the RMAC Coach of the Year in 2021 and 2024.
Since taking over the reins of the program in 2021, Bohte has totaled eight all-Americans, 21 all-region selections and 35 all-conference picks.
Additionally, she has amassed three RMAC Players of the Year, four RMAC Pitchers of the Year, one D2CCA Region Player of the Year, one D2CCA Region Pitcher of the Year and one NFCA DII Freshman of the Year Finalist.
Joining her once again this season to aid her coaching efforts are the pair of Willie Hinojosa and Eddie Mort as her assistants. Former softball standout and all-American Myah Arrieta joins the staff as well as another assistant coach after finishing her playing career in 2025.
IN THE POLLS
The Mavs were picked to finish second in this year's RMAC Preseason Poll with them being voted as a top three conference team after finishing second in the 2025 season.
They earned 109 points in this year's preseason voting with them claiming three first-place votes, five second-place votes and two third-place votes.
They were just eight points behind Colorado Christian who was picked to win the conference with them earning seven first-place and four-second place votes en route to a total of 117 points.
Both schools, and MSU Denver, all made the NCAA Regionals last season as the RMAC's only representatives.
In addition to being selected second in the conference, the Mavs also had two picks to the Preseason RMAC Team that was released with the poll. Jessalyn Gallegos and Makayla Westmoreland were the two Mavs to be selected with the duo being the only returning All-RMAC performers for the team.
ABOUT BLACK HILLS STATE
The Yellow Jackets are currently in sixth place of the conference standings with them sitting at 24-27 overall and 21-19 in the RMAC.
They too will look to clinch their spot into the conference tournament this weekend with them needing to win all four games against the Mavs to make that happen. If they happen to make the tournament that would be just the second time in school history.
This past weekend they went 2-2 against Fort Lewis College with the two schools meeting at a neutral site in Fort Collins, Colo. after weather across the state led to a new location.
The Yellow Jackets split both double headers of that series with them winning games one and three and losing games two and four. They narrowly outscored the Skyhawks 21-20 with three of the games being decided by five runs or less.
In the series history, Colorado Mesa owns a 40-5 advantage over Black Hills with the Mavs winning the last three matchups, including a 12-8 win in the second round of the conference tournament last season.
All time the Yellow Jackets have never won a series against the Mavs.
The team's top bats feature Carli Maley (.358), Sammie Kaufman-Warner (.355), Carly Reyes Mims (.350) and Desi Hernandez (.350) with the quartet being the only batters to hit above .300.
Kaufman-Warner has hit 14 doubles to lead the group with Reyes Mims adding 10 doubles as well.
As a team the Yellow Jackets have hit 42 home runs to rank in the top five of the RMAC.
In the circle, they rank seventh in the conference for ERA at 5.37 while striking out 230 batters in 329.2 innings pitched.
Kaitlyn Geschwill has been the top arm going 14-10 through 32 appearances while owning a 4.71 ERA. Sophia Honse, Paige Goodell and Dakota Poag all join her with 20 appearances or more each.
RMAC NETWORK NEWS
The RMAC Network has moved to a pay-per-view model for the 2025-26 season. This season, all RMAC athletic events broadcast by its 15 full-member institutions and associate members will only be available for purchase via a single-game pass or a monthly or annual subscription. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their programs.
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them with access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours.
Additionally, a discounted annual subscription price will be available to students, faculty, and staff of each member institution throughout the year. Purchasing options and pricing for individual RMAC Championships will be announced closer to each event.
UP NEXT
Following where the Mavs end up in the conference standings, they will have a chance head to Colorado Christian University next week when the Cougars host the 2026 RMAC Conference Tournament. The Tournament will run from May 7 (Thu) through May 9 (Sat) with all games taking place at All Star Park in Lakewood, Colo.
Colorado Mesa will find out their seeding and who they face following this weekend.
