GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Kenzi Garner threw a complete-game shutout and the Eagle offense scored all six runs with two outs as Chadron State softball rebounded from an 8-0 loss in the opening doubleheader game to end the four-game series with a 6-0 win over Colorado Mesa on the road in Grand Junction. 

Chadron State's statement win over the Mavericks, which dropped from first to second in the RMAC standings with the loss, snapped a slight four-game losing streak for the Eagles, who will finish no worse than their current ninth place in the RMAC standings with the ability to climb higher with the right results. The Eagles were picked 10th in the 2025 preseason poll. 

Garner stymied CMU at every turn to pitch her second shutout of the season. The senior held the Mavericks to just three hits and two walks and only allowed multiple baserunners in one inning while earning her sixth victory of the season. The Eagles scored once in the first and once in the fifth, then broke the game open with a four-run seventh as Garner continued to post zeroes. 

The split day puts Chadron State's record at 18-28 overall and 14-26 in the RMAC heading into the final series of the season next weekend at home against Adams State. Colorado Mesa is now 34-12 overall and 32-8 in league play. 

Game one ended in an 8-0 six-inning run rule, but the final score betrays how close the game was. CMU ace Jessalyn Gallegos and senior Tori Haug dueled for the second straight day, with the game remaining scoreless through three innings. The Mavericks chipped away with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth. 

With a 4-0 lead in the sixth inning, reigning RMAC Player of the Year Myah Arrieta hit a grand slam to right-center field, suddenly moving CMU past the eight-run barrier for the run rule to come into effect. Haug finished the day allowing six earned runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings. The Eagles managed only two hits off Gallegos. 

In game two, however, the Eagles immediately turned things around. Facing Preslee Christensen, who didn't allow a baserunner for 4.2 innings on Friday, the Eagles hit back-to-back singles to open the game. Although a double play grounder put Christensen on the brink of getting out of the inning, Ashland Baca lined a double to right-center to score Jazlyn Arvizo and put CSC on the board. 

The Eagles added another run out of thin air with nobody on and two outs in the fifth, courtesy of a Sydney Loyet single and Elizabeth Thorngren double that saw Loyet tear all the way around from first base. In the seventh, Chadron State had six consecutive two-out singles, with base knocks from Jazlyn Arvizo, J'lyssa Martinez (two) and Lauren Zimmerman scoring runs. 

Garner put together her strongest outing of the year, throwing a shutout for the second straight week after doing so against Fort Lewis last Saturday. Garner only tallied two strikeouts but created contact outs all game long. 

She needed only 82 pitches to face 26 batters, retiring 12 via flyout and six via groundout, including a double play. Colorado Mesa threatened briefly with two outs in the seventh, putting multiple runners on with an error plus a walk, marking the first time in the game with more than one baserunner for the hosts. 

J'lyssa Martinez and Ashland Baca each went 3-for-4 in CSC's winning game four effort, with Baca putting the capper on a sensational series where she went 7-for-12 with two doubles and an RBI across four games. 

Chadron State will conclude the 2025 season with a four-game series at home against Adams State this Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26, with Saturday also serving as Senior Day.