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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

4
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 8-31, 7-22 RMAC
2
Colorado Mesa CMU 18-19, 17-12 RMAC
Winner
Fort Lewis FLC
8-31, 7-22 RMAC
4
Final
2
Colorado Mesa CMU
18-19, 17-12 RMAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Fort Lewis FLC 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 6 0
Colorado Mesa CMU 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 7 0

W: Mann, Hailie (5-9) L: Sophia Tassinari (10-10)

7
Fort Lewis FLC 8-32, 7-23 RMAC
10
Winner Colorado Mesa CMU 19-19, 18-12 RMAC
Fort Lewis FLC
8-32, 7-23 RMAC
7
Final
10
Colorado Mesa CMU
19-19, 18-12 RMAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Fort Lewis FLC 0 0 1 2 4 0 0 7 8 0
Colorado Mesa CMU 0 4 1 0 0 5 X 10 10 4

W: Sophia Tassinari (11-10) L: Padilla, Chloe (1-15)

Cali Niccum at Colorado Mesa
Adriana Ballagh, CMU Athletics
Cali Niccum (00) trots home after belting her first grand slam against the Mavericks on the CMU Softball Field (Apr. 11, 2026)

Game Recap: Softball | | Hayden Mangan, Assistant AD-Communications & Fan Engagement

Niccum’s grand salami keys in Saturday split with Mavericks

Fort Lewis snaps 37-game losing streak to Colorado Mesa

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Senior catcher Cali Niccum lifted the Fort Lewis softball team (8-32, 7-23 RMAC) to a 4-2 win in game one on a second-inning grand slam to right field, and Colorado Mesa University (19-19, 18-12 RMAC) stormed back for a 10-7 win in game two to knot up the Skyhawks and Mavericks 1-1 in the two team's four-game Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference series Saturday afternoon at the CMU Softball Field.
 
Game One – Fort Lewis 4, Colorado Mesa 2
Fort Lewis kicked off the series in style with a thrilling two-run victory over Colorado Mesa, snapping a 37-game losing streak to the Mavericks dating back to 2014, with CMU leading the series 132-27 all-time.  
 
Niccum, a Yuba City, California native, put FLC ahead early in the top of the second inning, stepping to the plate to rock her first grand slam, first home run of the 2026 campaign, and the sixth deep ball of her career. Niccum picked up the four runs batted in (RBI) after Skyler Dietz drew a lead-off walk, Carmen Alexander and Stella Romeo singled, and Alyssa Fockler reached on a fielder's choice.
 
Hailie Mann (5-9) took to the rubber and held the Mavericks to just two earned runs despite outhitting Fort Lewis 7-6 while also drawing five walks and a hit-by-pitch as well as one wild pitch from Mann. Colorado Mesa jumped on the board in the bottom of the second after FLC captured the lead, scoring on a sacrifice fly to right field from Cailynn Parsons. Dietz arguably kept CMU from possibly tacking on another as she threw out a Maverick at second base, who was looking to take advantage of the fly ball to right. CMU's final run came an inning later after Molli Magaña singled to set up an RBI double for Kamdyn Hagerty.
 
Sophia Tassinari (10-10), Colorado Mesa's ace, who entered with a 2.94 earned run average (ERA), went the distance for the 10th time this season for the Mavericks, suffering the loss on one swing of the bat despite scattering six total hits and one walk while matching Mann with a strikeout.
 
Game Two – Colorado Mesa 10, Fort Lewis 7
The home squad would not go down easy in Saturday's matinee, roaring back to take an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning with a grand slam of its own off the scorching bat of Magaña. Colorado Mesa extended the lead to 5-1 an inning later via an RBI single from TK Landes.
 
Fort Lewis managed to fight back and scratch together runs in three consecutive innings, first with a solo home run from Mia Cueva, the first of her career, in the top-half of the third, twice more with a solo home run from Makenna Milliman and an RBI single from Izzy Cueva in the fourth, and lastly with a four-run crooked fifth inning. Milliman opened the frame with an RBI fielder's choice before Romeo notched an infield single, and Izzy Cueva picked up another pair of RBIs with a single to right field to put FLC in front, 7-5.
 
Colorado Mesa mounted the comeback an inning later in the home half of the sixth inning, putting up five hits alongside one walk, all with two outs, to jump out in front 10-7. Khloe Kubitschek supplied the spark with a two-RBI single to center field, April Neill followed suit with a two-RBI double down the left field line, and Parsons drove in the final run with an RBI single to center field.
 
Chloe Padilla (1-15) suffered the loss, surrendering 10 earned runs on 10 hits and nine walks in her 11th complete game of the season. Padilla also led all pitchers between both games with five strikeouts. Marisa Nehm (7-6) made the start for the Mavericks, finishing with four earned runs on six hits, three walks, and a wild pitch in 4.1 innings of work. Tassinari, still warm from game one, came in on relief and earned the win with two earned runs on two hits and one strikeout to her name through 2.2 innings.
 
Notes
-Fort Lewis snapped a 37-game winning streak over the Skyhawks for Colorado Mesa dating back to May 1, 2014. The Mavericks still hold the lead 133-27 all-time.
-With the game one win, the Skyhawks are in position to contend for their first series split since April of 2014, or with two wins tomorrow, their first series win over CMU since 2012.
-Cali Niccum's grand slam is not only the sixth home run of her career, but also the first multi-RBI homer of her career, with all five previous homers being solo shots.
-Mia Cueva picked up her first collegiate home run with a solo shot in game two, and Makenna Milliman her first of the year and the fourth of her career.
-Hailie Mann secured her team-leading fifth win in the circle in her 11th complete game of the season.
-Izzy Cueva now leads Fort Lewis with a .307 batting average and 27 hits in 88 at-bats. She also owns the second-most RBIs with 15.
-With Cali Niccum, Mia Cueva, and Makenna Milliman registering their first home runs of the year, eight different Skyhawks have now homered in 2026.
 
Up Next
Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa will cap the thrilling series with another doubleheader tomorrow, Sunday, Apr. 12, with an 11 a.m. start time on the CMU Softball Field.
 
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