History continues to be made by the Colorado Mesa University softball team. After winning the regular season Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship on Saturday, CMU set the RMAC runs record in the middle of completing the four-game sweep of CSU-Pueblo.
The Mavericks took care of business to end the regular season on a high note by defeating the Thunderwolves in both games on Sunday. The first game was a 16-6 route while the second game went the way to nine innings but CMU came out on top 4-3.
The first game brought back the same mantra of how the Mavericks have been winning all season…scoring a lot of runs. CMU started the game by scoring seven unanswered runs highlighted by AnnMarie Torres knocking in three of them with two separate hits in the form of an RBI single in the first and a two-RBI double in the third.
CSU-Pueblo would finally score a run in the third and eventually cut the lead down to four in the fourth, however, CMU would not let the Thunderwolves get another step closer as the former number-one team in the country would go on to score nine more runs in which they scored six runs in the seventh. That is where Bailey Kleespies knocked a three-run homer over the fence to give CMU their 453rd run of the season; the most out of any RMAC team the regular season in conference history.
The defense and pitching had a strong showing as well. There were only two errors for the day and the pitching was split between Kimbri Herring and Brooke Hodgson. The two pitchers, respectively, had six combined strikeouts while allowing six runs off of six hits in the six innings they pitched.
The second game was a harder fought battle of attrition, going nine innings instead of the typical seven and CMU managing to scrape out the win. Torres had an RBI single in the first, taking the lead but marking the last run for the Mavericks until the fifth. In the fifth Hodgson hit an RBI double and then took home during a CSU-P error.
The Thunderwolves tied up the game 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, nearly sweeping the game out from under the Mavericks. The game would go into extra innings in which CMU managed to edge the Thunderwolves in the ninth when Brooke Hodgson reached home plate off of a groundout RBI from AnnMarie Torres
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“The other team played well,” Head coach Ben Garcia said. “Three runs in the seventh inning, we made some mistakes and they had some hits. We didn’t take advantage of some opportunities. We kind of let them in the game. It was good to win and learn some lessons.”
The pitching was done all by McKenzie Surface who ended up getting the win after striking out three batters and allowing nine hits for three runs. Surface pitched all nine innings and remained strong despite the nagging knee injury she suffered two weeks ago against Regis.
CMU will now have their set on the RMAC Tournament in which they will be hosting starting on Thursday, May 3.
“We are really excited about being able to play at home in front of our fans and at our school,” Garcia said. “With finals getting close, it is good for the girls to be able to sleep in their own beds, go to school and not have to worry about some of the things they need to take care of in the classroom.”
CMU will start off their postseason journey against Chadron State who they swept earlier on this season in a four-game series in what was the opening home series for the Mavericks.