SERIES AT A GLANCE
Colorado Mesa is fresh off their third appearance in the NCAA Division II College World Series, making it to the National Semifinals before falling to eventual champion West Chester. They will open the season with a pair of opponents from the Golden State in fellow NCAA CWS participant #7 UC-San Diego and Concordia-Irvine from the PacWest Conference.

The Tritons are led by their big first baseman Tyler Durna who is a returning All-West Region player while the Eagles have a pair of players who are already batting .500 for the season in Haloa Dudoit and Davis Tominaga.

SEASON OPENERS
The Mavericks have won their past four season openers but are just 6-4 in their last 10 season openers. Last season, the Mavericks opened the season with a 10-8, 12 inning victory over Dixie State in St. George, Utah.
 
FRIENDLY FOE
Colorado Mesa will open the season with fellow NCAA National Semifinalist UC-San Diego for the first time since the 2015 season. The two teams are split 7-7 in the all-time series but the Tritons own a 6-3 mark at Triton Ballpark. The first meeting between the two teams occured in 2007 at the NCAA West Region Tournament in Los Angeles, a 5-4 Maverick win.

FIRST TIME
Colorado Mesa will be taking on Concordia-Irvine in La Jolla this weekend along with the Tritons. It is the first meeting between the Mavericks and Eagles, a member of the PacWest Conference. This will be the third season that Concordia-Irvine has played an NCAA schedule. 

THE LINEUP
The Mavericks lost a number of key peices to the batting order but return the likes of Zach McLeod, the preseason RMAC player of the year, and JJ Carr who maned the hot corner. The outfield remains somewhat of a mystery with four players competing for the three spots. Redshirt junior Tyler Sandoval looks to handle a majority of the catching duties with newcomer Dominic DeMarco looking like the lone newcomer in the lineup. Nick Borowski and Will Dixon will platoon at first base with Borowski facing a majority of the righties and Dixon the lefties.

THE STAFF
Colorado Mesa has a bevy of qualified starters but will go with veterans to open the season. All-American Kyle Leahy is slated to throw game one, followed by JR McDermott, Tanner Herdt and Chris Ramirez. Leahy led the nation in wins while McDermott was amongst the national leaders in strikeouts. 

50
The Mavericks set a program record a year ago by going 50-12 during the 2017 campaign. The 50 wins was a program first and ending up leading the nation in wins. The 50th win may not have come against a grander opponent in top ranked Delta State in the NCAA Division II World Series.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Mavericks are ranked in the top five in all of the major publications. They are ranked No. 4 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, No. 5 by amateur baseball website Perfect Game, and No. 3 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association. D2Baseballnews.com has yet to release their preseason poll.

THE SKIPPER
Head coach Chris Hanks enters his 20th season guiding the Mavericks and has an impressive 788-328 record, most in program history. In 2017, he guided the Mavericks to their third NCAA Division II World Series and their ninth straight NCAA Tournament. The feat earned him ABCA South Central Region Coach of the year, an honor he has earned three times now.

UP NEXT
Colorado Mesa will host West Region rival and 2019 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference member Dixie State in their home opener as a part of Leadoff Weekend at Suplizio Field. The Trailblazers qualified for the NCAA West Region Tournament hosted in Glendora, Calif. The home opener is scheduled for Friday at 2:30pm.