Colorado Mesa heads out on their final road trip of the regular season this weekend when they head to Golden to take on the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers. Mines currently sits atop the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings, just one game ahead of the Mavericks. 

The Orediggers are coming off a weekend split of the Colorado Christian Cougars while Colorado Mesa swept the Adams State Grizzlies. 

Mines leads the RMAC in nearly every hitting category. They have a .339 team batting average with 107 doubles and 66 home runs. Mikey Gangwish is the top home run hitter in the conference with 17 home runs and 17 doubles. Gangwish also has a .405 average.

On the mound, the Orediggers have a team ERA of 5.19 and have pitched the second fewest innings amongst all RMAC teams. Tyler Blomster leads the RMAC in ERA with a 1.54 ERA with Drew Burman tied for second in the conference in wins with six.

LAST WEEKEND
The Mavericks completed a four-game sweep of the Adams State Grizzlies last weekend. They outscored the Grizzlies 49-9 on the weekend and batted an astounding .418 with 15 players recording at least one hit on the weekend. The pitching staff had a 2.25 ERA in the series. 

HISTORY WITH THE OREDIGGERS
Colorado Mesa and the Colorado School of Mines have come down to this series which will likely decide the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title. The Orediggers enter the weekend with a one game lead in the standings and have defeated Colorado Mesa twice this season already. The Mavericks lead the all-time series 139-23 and had a 7-1 against the Orediggers a year ago.

SMART KIDS
Pitcher Kyle Leahy led a contingent of nine Mavericks that were honored by the RMAC for their work in the classroom. Leahy was named the Academic Player of the Year for the second straight season. The junior won the RMAC's Summit Award and the NCAA's Elite 90 awards a year ago. Garrett Ball, Nick Cardinale, Matt Cassin, Hunter Douglas, AJ Landis, JR McDermott, Tanner Nieslanik, and Josh Shapiroall were named to the Honor Roll.

RMAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Maverick junior Kyle Leahy earned his second RMAC Pitcher of the Week honor after his performance against Adams State. The Boulder native was perfect for five and two-thirds innings, retiring the first 17 batters he faced in order. Leahy went seven innings and allowed just one hit, one walk and seven strikeouts in seven innings of work. He needed just 75 pitches to accomplish the feat.

800
During the UCCS series, head coach Chris Hanks won his 800th game as the skipper of Colorado Mesa University. Hanks' first win came on February 11, 1999, a 9-6 win over Division I Southern Utah in St. George, Utah.

REGIONAL RANKINGS
The initial NCAA South Central Regional Rankings were released this week. Colorado Mesa found themselves tied for fourth in the poll with Arkansas Fort Smith receiving the top spot. The Mavericks opponent this week, Colorado School of Mines, currently sits in a tie for second place. The top six teams in the final NCAA Regional Rankings move on to the National Tournament in May.

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
Colorado Mesa sits at No. 13 in both the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper coach's poll and the Perfect Game Poll. Their opponent this week, the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers, are ranked No. 30 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 14 in the NCBWA poll.

THE SKIPPER
Head coach Chris Hanks enters his 20th season guiding the Mavericks and has an impressive 817-340 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 close out the regular season next weekend at home with a four game series with MSU Denver at Suplizio Field. The series will begin on Thursday with the annual Fireworks Night. Following the game, there will be a Firework Show, celebrating the baseball season.