LAKEWOOD, Colo. – With weather pushing the games back to Saturday and Monday, the Western New Mexico University softball team hits the road this week for an RMAC pod against UC-Colorado Springs and Colorado Christian.

The games will be vital for all three teams involved as the trio of teams are tied for fifth right now. Adams State and Fort Lewis are also tied for fifth entering the weekend.

UCCS is 13-14 overall and 11-11 in the RMAC having split this past weekend at home against Chadron State. Stephanie Warhoe leads the Lady Mountain Lions with a .395 batting average. Dani Fonseca is right behind with a .387 average and leads the team in home runs (9) and RBI (29). They have six players currently hitting over .300, as they hit .311 as a team while opponents come in with a .333 average. In the circle, Stephanie Chitkowski leads in almost every category as she has a 4.41 ERA and has six wins in 66.2 innings tossed. Korey Kulpins adds four wins, while Fonseca has three. As a team they have a 6.38 ERA and opponents hold a 4.97 ERA. Last year in Silver City, UCCS took three of four from WNMU.

The Lady Mustangs will also play against Colorado Christian. The Cougars are 15-19 overall on the season and 9-9 in the RMAC. They split a four-game set this past weekend against CSU-Pueblo in Lakewood. Jessica Romine leads the team with a .439 batting average. Sarah Rasmussen leads in home runs (8) and RBI (36). CCU has four players hitting over .300, as they hit .283 as a team while opponents hold a .324 average. In the circle, Tana Feiner leads the team in ERA (2.89), wins (10) and innings pitched (101.2). Mariah Bledsoe has tallied four wins, while Jennie Winston has one. Last year, CCU took three of four from WNMU in Silver City.
WNMU is 15-20 overall on the season and 12-12 in RMAC play. The Lady Mustangs rank high in several RMAC categories including second in batting average (.334), doubles plays per game (.31) and slugging percentage (.503). They are third in doubles per game (1.77) and in scoring (6.26). They are fourth in home runs per game (.77), triples per game (.31) and on-base percentage (.396). Nationally WNMU is 26^th in doubles per game, 31^st in batting average, 35^th in slugging percentage, 44^th in scoring and 49^th in triples per game.

Individually, Mariangela Garcia (Tucson, AZ/Desert View) leads the team with a .442 batting average, she also has four home runs and 24 RBI. Mary Othon (Tucson, AZ/Desert View High School) holds a .405 batting average with six home runs and 31 RBI. Stephanie Higgins (Escondido, CA/Mission Hills High School) is right behind with a .398 batting average, along with leading the team in home runs (7) and RBI (34). Davi Martin (Silver City, NM/Silver City) (.357), Linzy Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) (.339), Thailyza Ramirez (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) (.327) and Samantha Munoz (Peoria, AZ/Centennial) (.300) all are hitting over .300 on the season. WNMU is hitting .334, while opponents are at a .353 clip. In the circle, Mikayla Austin (Florence, AZ/Florence ) and MaryJo Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) almost have identical ERAs with Austin at 6.29 and Granger at 6.30. Austin leads the team in wins (6), complete games (5) and strikeouts (82). MaryJo Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) has five wins, two complete games and 12 games started while leading the team in appearances (29) and innings pitched (100).

Nationally and in the RMAC, several players rank high. Garcia is 80^th in the nation and third in the conference in batting average, Higgins is 61^st in doubles per game (.37) and fifth in the RMAC, 73^rd in home runs and fifth in the RMAC, 45^th in RBI and third in the RMAC, Othon is 75^th in RBI and eighth in the RMAC, Ramirez is 88^th in RBI and ninth in the RMAC, Othon is 60^th in RBI per game (1.15) and second in the RMAC, Ramirez is 20^th in sacrifice flies (3) and fifth in the RMAC, Linzy Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) is 50^th in sacrifice hits per game (.26) and third in the RMAC, and is also 38^th in triples (3) and fourth in the RMAC. In the circle, Austin is 72^nd in strikeouts and third in the RMAC and 77^th in strikeouts per seven innings (7.0) and first in the RMAC. Both Austin and MaryJo Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) are seventh nationally and first in the RMAC in saves with three apiece.

WNMU will face UC-Colorado Springs first on Saturday at 1 p.m. before playing against Colorado Christian at 3 p.m. On Monday, they will face Colorado Christian first at 10 a.m., before concluding the series at noon against UC-Colorado Springs. Live stats will be available here.