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Complete Game Notes vs. Nebraska-Kearney

STARTING PITCHING
Colorado Mesa returns two of their four pitchers in the rotation this season. Tyler Ehlers finished last season as the staff ace while Nick Cardinale saw a majority of his starts from the No. 3 position. Expect returner Matt Allen and newcomers Tyler Day, JR McDermott and Jarrett Bott to vie for the two rotation openings.

HITTING AND DEFENSE
The Mavericks have six positional starters returning this season headlined by All-Region players Kyle Serrano, Bligh Madris, Zach McLeod and All-American Alex Fife. Serrano will DH to start the season while McLeod will man shortstop. Madris and Fife will man two of the three outfield positions.

RMAC PRESEASON POLL
Colorado Mesa was picked to win the RMAC for the fifth consecutive season by the other coaches in the conference. The Mavericks received all seven possible first place votes. Matt Allen was named the preseason pitcher of the year while Alex Fife, Zach McLeod, Nick Cardinale and Tyler Ehlers were all named to the preseason team.

NCBWA PRESEASON POLL
The Mavericks were selected as the South Central Region favorite by the the College Baseball writers in the region. They received eight of the nine first place votes with St. Mary's picking up the other one. Alex Fife was picked a preseason All-American with Kyle Serrano an honorable mention selection. 

RANKINGS
The Mavericks are ranked in the top ten in the four major national rankings outlets to begin the 2016 season. They are as high as No. 3 in the NCBWA rankings and a low of No. 9 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper rankings. 

COACHING
Head coach Chris Hanks is closing in on his 700th victory for the Mavericks. He has spent his entire 17 year coaching career at Colorado Mesa and has won 11 RMAC Championships and two NCAA Regional titles.

PROTECTING THE HOUSE
Suplizio Field has been very kind to the Mavericks for several seasons now. The Mavericks are 101-11 the past four seasons including the 27-5 record last season. They have not been shutout at home in 344 games dating back to the 2004 season (L 0-3 Western Oregon, Feb. 14).

RMAC TOURNAMENT IN 2015
Colorado Mesa claimed their second consecutive RMAC Tournament Championship, defeating MSU Denver 7-6 on a walk-off home run by Alex Fife. It is the the Mavericks 11th RMAC Tournament Championship, most by any school in the conference. 

REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
The Mavericks hosted the NCAA South Central Regional for the second straight season and went 1-2 in the tournament. The Mavericks fell to St. Mary's then went on to defeat St. Edward's before falling to eventual champion Angelo State.

ON DECK
Colorado Mesa will hit the road for a four-game series with Cal Baptist next weekend in Riverside, Calif. The Lancers are coming off a season similar to the Mavericks where they made the regional tournament but could not advance out.