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Complete Game Notes vs. Colorado Christian

COLORADO CHRISTIAN AT A GLANCE
The Cougars haven't had great success in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this season but have taken at least one game in each of their past three conference series. Couple that with a win in the non-conference season against current No. 16 in the country, Nova Southeastern, and this team can pose some problems for teams down the stretch.

On the mound, Colorado Christian features one of the top arms in the RMAC in Ryan Erazo. Erazo has a 3-6 record, one of those wins was Nova Southeastern, with a 4.50 ERA. In his last 15 innings pitched, he has struck out 10 and only allowed two walks. The Cougars also have a solid closer in Mike Marlar who has four saves on the season.

At the plate, the Cougars are led by Brandon Hesselberg with his .370 batting average. They also feature a pair of power bats in the middle of the order in Jerry Gallegos and Pete McWilliams. Gallegos leads CCU in both doubles (9) and triples (3) while McWilliams leads the team in home runs (4) and RBIs (27).

Colorado Mesa has won the last 17 matchups with Colorado Christian dating back to February 28, 2014.

WEEKEND RECAP
Colorado Mesa took three-of-four games from the Regis Rangers at Suplizio Field. The Mavericks batted just .183 in the series but were able outhit Regis who batted just .152. The pitching staff was able to limit the Rangers to just five runs in the series and a 1.12 ERA. They also produced their seventh and eighth shutouts of the season.

ACADEMICS
Mavericks senior right hander Matt Allen was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Academic Player of the Year this week. Ben Chamberlin and Kyle Serrano each joined Allen on the First Team while Garrett Ball, Davis Cantwell, Jake Druce, PJ Gonzalez, Colt Olson and Josh Shapiro were each named to the Honor Roll. Members had to have a 3.3 GPA and be in their second year at their current school.

ONE RUN GAMES
Colorado Mesa has played in 16 one-run games this season, already eclipsing their mark of 15 set all of last season. The Mavericks are 11-5 in those games.

DEFENSE
The Mavericks moved to number one in the country this week in fielding percentage with a .979 percentage. They have committed just 31 errors with 10 of those errors being charged to pitchers. Shortstop Zach McLeod has made just two errors in 143 chances this season.

MAGIC NUMBER
If the Mavericks win six of their final nine games, they will win the RMAC regular season championship, regardless of what Colorado Mines and CSU-Pueblo do in their final nine games.

SHUTOUTS
Colorado Mesa is tied for the nation's lead with eight shutouts this season. The Mavericks picked up two this past weekend against Regis.

COACHING
Head coach Chris Hanks won his 700th game for the Mavericks on February 19 in a 5-4 win over Cal Baptist. 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 119-16 the past four seasons including the 27-5 record last season. They have not been shutout at home in 381 straight 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 be on the road for the final six games of the regular season. Next Friday, they will play a three-game series with MSU Denver before closing out the regular season with a three-game series at Colorado Mines.