SILVER CITY, N.M. – Following eight straight games on the road, the Western New Mexico University softball team returns home this weekend to host Colorado Mesa University in RMAC action.

The Lady Mavericks are 18-13 on the season and 14-5 in the RMAC. They play a doubleheader at Dixie State later today. CMU is currently third in the RMAC. In their last two series they have taken three of four against New Mexico Highlands and Adams State, both at home.

Zoe Pakes leads the offense with a .413 batting average, while seven other players are hitting over .300. Makayla Kovac leads in home runs with five, while Brooke Hodgson leads in RBI with 33. As a team they are hitting .322, while opponents are at a .343 clip.

In the circle, Hodgson leads the way in almost every category including ERA (4.22), wins (13), complete games (8), and innings pitched (117.2). Joslynn Lopez (three wins) and Rochelle Talamantes (two wins) have also tallied victories in the circle.

Following their four-game sweep against Black Hills State, WNMU is now 14-17 overall and 11-9 in the RMAC, good for sixth in the conference. It will be a matchup of the top two scoring teams in the conference with CMU leading at 6.45 runs per game and WNMU second at 6.39. As a team in terms of NCAA national rankings are 37^th in batting average (.332), good for second in the conference, 52^nd in home runs per game (0.81), third in the RMAC, 56^th in on-base percentage (.396), 35^th in scoring (6.39), 39^th in slugging percentage (.502), second in the RMAC and 36^th in triples per game (.35), fourth in the RMAC.

Individually, Mariangela Garcia (Tucson, AZ/Desert View) leads the team with a .434 batting average, which is 101^st in the nation and third in the RMAC. She also adds six doubles, a triple, three home runs and 22 RBI. Mary Othon (Tucson, AZ/Desert View High School) holds a .406 batting average, five doubles, a triple, five home runs and 28 RBI. Stephanie Higgins (Escondido, CA/Mission Hills High School) is the third Lady Mustang averaging at least a .400 batting average hitting right at .400. She leads the team in doubles (11), hits (40), home runs (7) and RBI (34), while also adding a triple. Higgins ranks 96^th nationally in doubles per game (.35), fifth in the RMAC, 133^rd in home runs per game (.23), seventh in the RMAC, 56^th in total home runs, third in the RMAC, 25^th in RBI, second in the RMAC, 79^th in RBI per game (1.10), fourth in the RMAC and 99^th in slugging percentage (.740) and fifth in the RMAC.

Four Lady Mustangs are hitting over .300, led by a .354 average from Linzy Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad), as she leads the team in triples with three, good for 32^nd in the nation and third in the RMAC. She also ranks nationally in sacrifice hits per game (.23), which is 88^th nationally and sixth in the RMAC and is 121^st in the nation in toughest to strikeout and fifth in the RMAC. She also adds two home runs, 15 RBI and four steals. Davi Martin (Silver City, NM/Silver City) is hitting .341, which includes 16 runs scored, a double, three RBI and two steals. Thailyza Ramirez (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) is hitting .340 with nine doubles, two triples, two home runs and 27 RBI. Nationally she is 85^th in RBI, sixth in the RMAC, 61^st in sacrifice flies (2), eighth in the RMAC and 92^nd in triples with two, tied for ninth in the RMAC. Alicia Enriquez (Gilbert, AZ/Mesquite) has a .302 average with 30 runs scored, six doubles, a home run and 19 RBI, along with two steals. Samantha Munoz (Peoria, AZ/Centennial) and MaryJo Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) are close to batting .300 with Munoz holding a .289 average with four doubles, four home runs and 15 RBI, while MaryJo Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) is at .292, with three RBI.

In the circle, MaryJo Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) and Mikayla Austin (Florence, AZ/Florence ) are both tied for the team lead in wins with five. They each also have three saves this season which ranks them third in the nation and first in the RMAC. MaryJo Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) has a 6.07 ERA in 27 appearances, 10 starts, two complete games and 90 innings pitched. Austin has a 6.74 ERA in 20 appearances, 10 starts, three complete games and 63.1 innings pitched. Austin is 82^nd in the nation and first in the RMAC in strikeouts per seven innings (7). Breanna Aker (El Mirage, AZ/Apollo) has added a win, while Chantel Purcella (Albuquerque, NM/Albuquerque) has three.

Other players ranking high in RMAC categories include Lacy Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) tied for ninth in triples with two and Enriquez fifth in runs per game (.97), which is also tied with Linzy Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad).

WNMU and CMU will open their four-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at noon. Live stats will be available for all games.