The No. 12 Colorado Mesa baseball team will take on the Dixie State Trailblazers on Saturday and Sunday in a mini two-game series in St. George at Bruce Hurst Field. This will be the first of six total meetings this season between the two perennial powers with Colorado Mesa leading the all-time series 25-14.

The Mavericks and Trailblazers have played several common opponents in the non-conference season. Both squads have played the likes of Montana State Billings, Cal State LA and Northwest Nazarene. The two teams have matching 7-1 marks against those opponents.

Dixie State has a pair of power arms they rely on in Jayden Murray as a starter and Brayden Bonner as their closer. Murray is 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched while Bonner has appeared in half of the games (6) for the Trailblazers and has five saves.

Jake Engel leads the Trailblazer offense with a .415 batting average and four home runs. He has an OPS north of 1.300 and has played in all 12 games making 11 starts. Tyson Fisher is a nice compliment with a .375 average and two home runs. 

WEEKEND RECAP
Colorado Mesa took three of four games from the PacWest's Fresno Pacific out in the Golden State of California. The Maverick pitching staff was outstanding in the series, finishing with a 1.80 staff ERA. They allowed just seven runs in the series in 35 innings pitched while striking out 40 batters. The CMU offense wasnt spectacular but executed fairly well. When they got on the bases, they were able to use their speed, going 7-for-7 in their stolen base attempts.

RMAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK 
Senior transfer Garrett Hutson was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week following his start against Fresno Pacific. Hutson pitched a complete game, one hitter in a 5-0 win over the Sunbirds last Saturday. He had 11 strikeouts and walked no one in his seven innings of work. The outing also earned him the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association South Central Region Pitcher of the Week.

TWO STAPLES
Just two Mavericks have played in and started all 12 games this season. Caleb Farmer and Dominic DeMarco each have played in every game and lead the team in two important categories. DeMarco leads the team in hits with 16 while Farmer leads in runs batted in with 11 and runs scored with 13. DeMarco has also been supplying most of the power numbers also, tying for the team lead in home runs with three.

STARTERS STATS
Colorado Mesa has been getting outstanding starting pitching after the first three weeks of the season. The starting pitchers have averaged five innings and allowing an average of two earned runs on three hits, .a little over one walk and five strikeouts. 

YOUTH MOVEMENT
In our weekly youth movement note, freshman Nathan Wilson made his first start of the season on the mound and turned in a solid outing. Wilson pitched five shutout innnigs and allowed just three hits, walked four and struck out a career-high seven batters in earning his first collegiate win. 

THE STREAK OF 40
The Mavericks finished last season with a 43-16 overall record making it six straight seasons that Colorado Mesa has won 40 or more games. The last time the Mavericks didn't win 40 games was in 2012 when they went 39-16 and lost in the Central Regional in Mankato, Minn. The high mark during the streak came in the 2017 season where the team won 50 games and reached the NCAA Championship Final Four that included a win over No. 1 ranked Delta State. 

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Colorado Mesa is ranked nationally in the three major polls to begin the season as the favorites to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Mavericks moved up to No. 3 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Poll and are ranked No. 1 in the NCBWA Regional Poll. They also moved up to No. 2 in the Perfect Game poll while the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper coach's poll hasnt updated since the beginning of the season with the Mavericks at No. 12.

THE SKIPPER
Head coach Chris Hanks enters his 21st season guiding the Mavericks and has an impressive 841-346 record, the most wins from a coach in program history. He has led Colorado Mesa to three region championships, a feat that has earned him ABCA Region Coach of the year three times now. Last season, he earned his 10th RMAC Coach of the Year award while leading the Mavericks to the regular season and tournament titles.

UP NEXT
Colorado Mesa will be on the road one final week as a part of the three week road trip. They will open up conference play on the road at Regis next Friday in Denver. The Rangers are currently 3-7 on the season and are taking on former Central Region foe Wayne State from Nebraska this weekend at Regis Baseball Field.