The opening game to the of RMAC play started off strong for the Maverick softball team but coasting may have cost them a chance at sweeping both series. The Mavericks went 2-2 against Regis University over Valentine’s Day weekend and Metropolitan State University-Denver (MSU-D) the following week.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) softball is now sitting at 6-8 on the season and 4-4 in RMAC play.
The Regis Rangers are the reigning RMAC tournament champions, but just couldn’t keep up in game one. Despite opening with a three-run lead, the game ended in favor of CMU at 7-3. Redshirt senior catcher Ally Distler, sophomore outfielder Jackie Oster and senior middle infielder Chloe Valdez all came to the plate with their bats on fire, scoring six runs in the first three innings.
“It’s a whole different team, they got a whole new coach, very different dynamics,” said head coach Mercedez Bohte. “We remember those losses and those wins that we had against them last year.”
Senior pitcher Preslee Christensen started game one in the circle and the reigning RMAC Pitcher of the Year was able to secure her first win of the season, but she wouldn’t be in the circle again until game two against MSU-Denver.
Redshirt freshman Jessalyn Gallegos relieved Christensen in the fifth inning and earned her second save of the season. She tried to keep Regis and MSU-Denver from gaining too much momentum by keeping the batters guessing.
“Being out, I got to watch a lot of amazing seniors play last year,” said Gallegos. Her earned run average (ERA) is fifth in the conference at 1.96.
Game two started off strong, however, the Mavs let the Rangers get away from them. Despite the electric game one, CMU suffered a loss at 4-6.
“[The] RMAC is a battle. Teams always come here and play us a little bit harder,” said Bohte. “We’re the team to beat.”
Bohte switched pitchers three times trying to find a groove against Regis but came up short. A rare call in the fifth inning caused an unexpected out after a bunt went awry and the bat hit the ball twice.
The bats fell asleep after the second inning when the Mavericks scored the last of their 4 runs and didn’t wake back up until game four the following day.
“[We] got out to a 4-0 start and did well there and kind of just started coasting,” said Distler. “[We] let them creep back in and just couldn’t get the bats going again.”
In game three, the Rangers offense was too much for the Mavs. They kept their defense up but couldn’t complete their plays. It ended up in a disappointing 0-3 loss. Regis was just able to hit more balls, tripling the Mavs’ hits.
The Mavericks tightened up for game four, digging into their energy reserves to pull out an 8-3 win. They had to shake off the miscommunication from the previous two games after Regis pulled out two runs in the first inning. Distler jacked a three-run homer to take the lead followed by Gallegos and Valdez sacrifice hits to widen the gap.
Freshman pitcher and infielder Kamdyn Hagerty had her first pitching appearance and earned her first win.
The series the following weekend against MSU-Denver was another split. Day one, the Mavericks swept both games racking up 28 hits against the Roadrunners. In game one, Valdez hit an runs batted in (RBI) single and it snowballed from there.
The Roadrunners tried to respond by gaining two runss but wouldn’t score again until the seventh inning. The Mavs were up by seven at that point and the gap just couldn’t be closed in time.
Gallegos pitched all seven innings of game one with zero earned runs and claimed another win for her season. Senior middle infielder Myah Arrieta and Distler led the team with three hits each. The Mavericks crushed the Roadrunners 9-2.
They dominated again with an 8-3 win in game two of the series. This game saw runs from the Mavericks in every single inning except the first and they scored in five of them. Hagerty went the distance by scoring both the first and last runs of the game, with Arietta and junior utility player Makayla Westmoreland leading the team’s 14 total hits for the game.
The Mavericks followed their same pattern from their series against Regis and let off the gas on the second day after a solid victory and MSU-Denver won both games. The Mavs didn’t go down without a fight, finishing game three at 5-6 and game four at 5-7.
The Mavs will now head back home this weekend to take on the Colorado School of Mines for another four game stint. The series begins Saturday, March 1 at noon.
