Colorado Mesa University Athletics

Serving on the Colorado Mesa University softball coaching staff since 2013, Mercedes Bohte (Lovato) is now in now starting her fifth season as the Mavericks’ head coach.  She was officially named to the position in June, 2021, after stepping in to the role of interim head coach right before the 2021 campaign.
 
As the interim head coach In 2021, Bohte led the Mavericks to a 39-5 overall record and a sweep of both the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles.  The Mavericks, who had the best winning percentage in Division II (.886) and qualified for their fifth consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament and went 34-2 in conference play.
 
The Mavs then again won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title in 2022, going 45-9 overall and 35-3 in RMAC play.  They also had a solid 32-23 2023 season while advancing to the RMAC Tournament Championship game.
 
The Mavs then returned to title-winning ways in 2024, claiming the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title before late advancing to the championship game of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament while finishing the season with a 46-11 record.
 
She has compiled a 162-48 record and .771 winning percentage in her four previous seasons in charge of the Maverick program, including an even more impressive 136-23 (.855) record in RMAC play.

Bohte has twice been named as the RMAC Coach of the Year (2021, 2024)
 
Now in her 13th year on the Maverick coaching staff, Bohte has helped the Mavericks win eight RMAC Championships, including three in her time as the head coach, and qualify for six NCAA Tournaments. 
 
As the team’s pitching coach, her staff has led the RMAC in ERA seven times, most recently in 2022, when Paige Adair set CMU’s single-season record for ERA (1.30) while becoming the first Maverick to ever claim Regional Pitcher of the Year honors while claiming her second straight RMAC Pitcher of the Year honor.
 
She then guided Preslee Christensen to RMAC Pitcher of the Year honors in 2024 after working with RMAC Pitchers of the Years Jessica Severinson (2014), McKenzie Surface (2017) and Kimbri Herring (2019) while serving as an assistant coach.
 
The Mavs have also had the RMAC Player of the Year in three of Bohte’s four previous seasons as the CMU Head Coach with Ellie Smith (2021), Ashley Bradford (2022) and Myah Arrieta (2024) earning those accolades. 
 
In 2024, the Mavericks set a NCAA Division II record by hitting 123 home runs thanks in part to Arrieta’s RMAC and school-record smashing total of 28.
 
In her time as the Mavs’ pitching coach, Bohte has guided 14 All-RMAC pitchers, 11 of whom have also earned all-region honors.
 
The Mavericks have also combined for ten total All-America honors (7 D2CCA, 3 NFCA) in her time as a head coach.
 
Bohte had come to CMU in 2013 after assisting at Division III California Lutheran University for one year.  In 2008, Bohte coached at Moorpark College as the Raiders became Western State Conference Champions. She was also named on the WSC Conference Coaching Staff of the Year.

She also had an extensive professional softball career abroad. In the summer of 2011 she played for the Catano Lancheras in San Juan, Puerto Rico where she threw a perfect game. She also played in the Netherlands for Utrecht Centrals in 2008 and Terrasvogels in 2011. Bohte played and coached in Austria in 2009 and 2010 for the St. Poelten Pee Wees. She was named MVP of the Austrian Softball league in 2009 and Golden Glove Short Stop in 2010. 

As an undergraduate student-athlete, Bohte played for CSU Northridge (2007-2008), and the University of Illinois-Chicago (2005-2006).  In her two seasons at CSUN, she went 34-27 with 235 strikeouts as their top pitcher and helped lead the Matadors to a NCAA Division I Tournament appearance in 2007. As a senior in 2018, she appeared in 42 of the Matadors’ 47 games. Bohte, an All-Big West Conference selection both years is still tied for fifth in CSUN history with three career no-hitters.

Bohte is native of Simi Valley, California, earned her B.A. in Communication Studies from CSU Northridge in 2008. She earned her M.A. in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia Irvine in 2015.

She and her husband Jeff were married in 2020 and celebrated the birth of their daughter Ivy in 2021 and son Maximus in 2023.  The family lives in Grand Junction with their huskies Shayla and Ruby.