GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa University softball team begins the postseason phase of their spring this week as they head to Lakewood, Colorado to take part in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Softball Championship hosted by Colorado Christian University.
The Mavericks, who have now reached the conference tournament for the 14th time in a row and earned the No. 4 seed in this year's tournament, will face off with No. 5 seed University of Colorado Colorado Springs in the first round with this year's tournament featuring a single-elimination format and taking place over three days.
All games will be played at All Star Park in Lakewood, Colo. with two games taking place on Thursday for the Quarterfinals, two games taking place on Friday for the Semifinals and the Championship occurring on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
Concluding the regular season on a high note, the Mavs ended their run in conference play by winning their final series of the year this past weekend when they swept Black Hills State University.
This was the Mavs' eighth series won on the on the season with them finishing the regular season on a six-game winning streak which is the longest active one in the conference.
In the four games played, the Mavs won by just one run in three of them with then winning game four with a three-run cushion.
They swept the Friday doubleheader by scores of 2-1 and 10-9 to secure their spot in the postseason before winning both again on Saturday 6-5 and 4-1.
In all three one-run games the Mavs had to rally back to take the lead with them winning via walk off in the 6-5 victory as well.
Cailynn Parsons led all players going 7-for-14 (.500) at the plate while collecting two doubles and one home run as she accumulated a team-leading 12 total bases.
April Neill would go 6-for-13 (.462) to help boost the offense with Makayla Westmoreland hitting .417 and totaling seven RBIs.
Sophia Tassinari earned three wins in the circle to accompany a 1.91 ERA while appearing three times on the weekend and recording two complete game efforts.
The Mavs also made program history following the two games on Friday as they recorded their 36th double play for the most ever in a single season.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Mavs have advanced to Day 3 of the RMAC Tournament in four of the previous five seasons under Head Coach Mercedes Bohte, posting a combined 13-9 record in those five runs.
The Mavs have won at least one RMAC Tournament game every year since 2015 as well, after going 0-2 in 2014.
They went 2-2 in last year's tournament after earning the #2 seed and reaching as far the championship game with them ultimately falling to #1 seed Colorado Christian on the final day. They beat both MSU Denver and UCCS en route the championship game with both losses coming to the Cougars.
They went 1-2 in the 2024 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 third time the Cougars are hosting the tournament in the last four years with them serving as hosts in both 2025 and 2023 as well. Colorado Mesa has hosted every other year since 2016, excluding the 2020 COVID-shortened season.
A previously mentioned, this year's tournament is different and will feature a single-elimination instead with only two games being played on days one and two and just the championship game happening on day three.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
Thursday, May 7:
Game 1: No. 4 Colorado Mesa vs. No. 5 UCCS - 12 p.m.
Game 2: No.3 MSU Denver vs. No. 6 Colorado School of Mines - 2:30 p.m.
Friday, May 8:
Game 3: No. 1 Colorado Christian vs. Winner Game 1 - 12 p.m.
Game 4: No. 2 CSU Pueblo vs. Winner Game 2 - 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 9:
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 - 12 p.m.
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
The Mavs concluded the regular season this year with a 28-24 record overall with this being the 13th year in a row the team has had over 25 wins in a season excluding the 2020 COVID-shortened season.
They finished hitting .321 as a team while owning an on-base percentage of .398 and a slugging percentage of .520.
Their offense ranked for sixth best in the conference with that batting average with the Mavs also hitting the second most home runs.
There was a total of 446 base hits recorded with them averaging just over 8 ½ per game. Of those hits 148 of them were for extra bases with 60 of them being home runs and 79 of them being doubles.
In addition, they averaged 1.15 home runs per game which ranked in the top 10 of all division II.
Individually, the Mavs have five players who are batting .300 or better as well.
Cailynn Parsons leads that group with her batting .423 to bolster the Mavs and rank in the top 10 of the conference.
She is joined by Makayla Westmoreland (.348), Molli Magaña (.340), Brynn Escobar (.324) and Khloe Kubitschek (.302) as the team's other top offensive players.
April Neill, Olivia Litzen, Allison Lindsay and Kamdyn Hagerty have also recorded notable at bats this season 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 finished tied for second in the RMAC with that amount while Kubitschek tied for eighth most.
Only nine total players in the RMAC finished with double digit home runs.
Of the team's 79 doubles, Parsons had 11 to once again lead the squad with both Escobar and Kubitschek each having 10 to tie for second most.
Landes added three triples on the year to lead the three-bagger department.
On the pitching end, the Mavs recorded a team ERA of 4.82 while limiting opponents to a batting average against of .319.
They were one of just six teams to own an ERA below five in the RMAC while only walking 138 batters for third fewest of any team in the league.
Sophia Tassinari has served as the Mavs' top arm this spring pitching 166.1 innings and going 15-13 over 42 total appearances. Her 3.62 ERA led the team while also ranking in the top 10 of the RMAC
Tassinari finished ranked second in innings pitched in the conference as well while her 15 wins were third most.
Marisa Nehm complimented Tassinari as the team's number two pitcher, appearing 35 times in the circle herself and owning an 12-7 record through 132.2 innings.
Tassinari and Nehm combined for 46 of the team's starts while appearing 77 times.
Kamdyn Hagerty added a 6.07 ERA through 15 innings pitched while Lacie Rodabaugh also saw the circle five times in her freshman season.
The staff pitched to a WHIP of 1.74 this year and recorded two shutout performances.
Defensively the Mavs also recorded the most double plays in the nation this season with 36 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.
ABOUT UCCS AND THE FIELD
UCCS finished the regular season with an overall record of 32-21 (26-18 RMAC) while coming in as the fifth seed in the tournament.
They were voted to finish fourth in the conference in the preseason poll with them finishing fifth in the RMAC last season and now having the same result this year.
UCCS and CMU will face off for the fifth time this season in the opening game of the tournament with Colorado Mesa looking to get some revenge after they lost the regular season series, 3-1.
The Mountain Lions won by scores of 1-0, 4-1 and 13-3 in the series with the Mavs scrapping game four, 9-8 in eight innings.
That was just the fifth time in program history that UCCS has beaten Colorado Mesa in a regular season series with the Mavs owning the all-time advantage of 97-38.
Upon the conclusion of the regular season, the Mountain Lions finished ranked in the top five of both batting and pitching in the conference with their team batting average of .357 being the second best and their team ERA of 4.70 being fifth best.
Jennavieve Goldsworth (.460) and Alyssa Gutierrez (.440) anchor the offense with each of them being the only players to bat above .400 on the team and have 30-plus stolen bags.
Autumn Kunze is the main arm in the circle to back the pitching efforts going 13-5 with a 2.60 ERA while leading the team with 126.2 innings pitched.
Following the quarter final round against the Mountain Lions, the Mavs will then have an opportunity to face off with No. 1 seed of the tournament, Colorado Christian University, in the semifinal round with the Cougars earning a first round bye.
The Cougars are 52-4 (42-2 RMAC) while being just one of two teams in the entire nation to have 50-plus wins.
They rank No. 1 in the regional rankings as well with their trip to the NCAA Regionals practically guaranteed through an at-large bid.
If the Mavs make it to the championship game on Saturday they will then have an opportunity to face off with any of the other three teams in the tournament which include No. 2 CSU Pueblo, No. 3 MSU Denver or No. 6 Colorado School of Mines.
CSUP concluded the regular season with a 38-16 (34-10 RMAC) record while MSU Denver went 35-19 (28-16 RMAC). Colorado School of Mines just barely squeaked into the tournament at 27-30 (22-22 RMAC).
HOW TO WATCH
All RMAC Championship events, including all five 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 roughly $40 while day passes, which allow access to all the games on that day, are available for $21.
Purchase options for the championship are available at RMACSports.org/buyRMACtv and RMACSports.org/Tickets.
