Colorado Mesa will take on their long standing Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rivals this weekend when they travel to South Central Colorado for a four-game series with the CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves. The Mavericks own a 113-58 all-time mark against the Pack and are 19-5 in the last four seasons against CSUP.

The ThunderWolves feature three solid bats that all currently rank among the top ten in the RMAC in offensive categories. Mason Krueger (32) and Dakota Popham (30) are amongst the top ten in the RMAC in total hits while Zach Hoffman leads the RMAC in triples with five. As a team, CSU-Pueblo is hitting at a 289 clip, good enough for sixth in the conference.

As a pitching staff, the ThunderWolves rank sixth in the RMAC in ERA at 7.07, 2.85 behind second place Colorado Mesa. Jason Lighthall has pitched in the one slot most of the season but recently has shifted into one of the Saturday seven inning games. Lighthall is 1-1 on the season and has a 4.09 ERA with 22 strikeouts. Danny Honoroff will likely get the nod in the opener. He is 1-1 with a 3.57 ERA.

LAST WEEKEND
Colorado Mesa went 5-0 over the last two weeks. The Mavericks swept a four-game RMAC series from the UCCS Mountain Lions on March 9-11. Then, in a midweek non-RMAC game, CMU defeated conference foe MSU Denver 8-2. Freshman Frankie Fitzgerald earned his first career win in the game pitching two innings and striking out three. 
 
HISTORY WITH THE PACK
CSU-Pueblo and Colorado Mesa have had some heated battles over the years and are the two most storied programs in the RMAC. Even with the close games over the years, Colorado Mesa has emerged victorious more often than not. The Mavericks now own a 113-58 record over the ThunderWolves and have won 19 of the 24 matchups since 2014.

NATIONAL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Following the UCCS series nearly two weeks ago, Colorado Mesa pitcher Kyle Leahy was named the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week. The Boulder native pitched a complete-game shutout against UCCS that included a career-high 17 strikeouts while scattering four hits in the nine innings. 

800
During the UCCS series, head coach Chris Hanks won his 800th game as the skipper of Colorado Mesa University. He is the second winningest coach in the RMAC trailing his countrerpart, CSU-Pueblo's Stan Sanchez, by 17 wins entering this weekend's series. Hanks' first win came on February 11, 1999, a 9-6 win over Division I Southern Utah in St. George, Utah.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING
The Colorado Mesa pitching staff has been pretty dominant this year and have recently started a unique streak over the last five games. The Maverick staff has struck out 10 batters or more in five straight games and in six of the past seven games. They have struck out 10 or more in 12 of their 21 games. 

TOUGH OUTS
Although the Mavericks rank third in the RMAC in batting average, they are some of the toughest outs in the conference. In fact, they are the toughest to strikeout, having K'd just 117 times in over 700 at-bats this season. They have also forced their opponents to commit 36 errors on their balls put in play.

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 sit at No. 5 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper coach's poll after the 1-0 conference bye week. Colorado Mesa continues to sit at No. 5 in the Perfect Game Division II poll and is up to No. 8 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's poll. CMU regained in the top spot in the NCBWA South Central Region poll garnering all nine first place votes.  

THE SKIPPER
Head coach Chris Hanks enters his 20th season guiding the Mavericks and has an impressive 804-333 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 take their longest trip within the conference schedule next week when they travel to Las Vegas, N.M. to do battle with New Mexico Highlands. The Cowboys currently sit in eighth place in the conference with a record of 3-9 in the RMAC, 7-17 overall.