No. 3 Colorado Mesa returns home for a four-game series with the Colorado Christian Cougars at Suplizio Field. The Mavericks are coming off a road split at UCCS while the Cougars are coming off a weekend where they won the first game of the series with CSU-Pueblo but dropped the final three games.

Colorado Christian opened the season by hosting the 4-Him Classic down in Texas and came away with a split in those games defeating East Central and Oklahoma Panhandle. They then traveled to Southern California where they took the first game of the series from then No. 8 Azusa Pacific before falling in the final three games including a 1-0 loss in game three of the series.

Scotty Ingle leads the Cougar offense with a .345 batting average while Joel Manzano leads the team in home runs with two. and doubles with nine. Manzano went 4-for-4 with five runs scored and five runs driven in against Rogers State.

Connor McCollum has the best strikeout numbers on the CCU staff with 34 strikeouts in 31.1 innings pitched. He is just 2-5 but has an eight strikeout performance against Mary. 

WEEKEND RECAP
Colorado Mesa split a four game series with UCCS last weekend in Colorado Springs. The Mavericks hit just .270 as a team during the series and struck out nearly six times per game at the plate. They did hit 11 doubles and five home runs. The pitching staff had a 5.70 ERA and allowed 37 hits in 30 inning pitched.

DOM
Senior Dominic DeMarco has taken over the team lead for batting average with a .366 average. DeMarco has been a true utility player this year seeing time all across the infield, making starts in 23 of the 26 total games on the year. 

MIDSEASON HONOR
Senior transfer pitcher Garrett Hutson was named the midseason outstanding pitcher by Perfect Game as a part of their weekly notes and rankings for Division II. The El Dorado, Kan. native is 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA. He has thrown 37.1 innings and allowed 22 hits while striking out 42 batters which ranks sixth best in the conference. He also has a pair of complete game shutouts on his 2019 resume. 

SAVE THE DAY
The Colorado Mesa bullpen has been solid this year. As a staff, they have nine saves which is tied for the conference lead with Dixie State. Will DIxon has three saves with a 0.71 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 12.2 innings pitched. 

GLOVELY
The Mavericks rank second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in fielding percentage making 96.9 percent of the plays. CMU has made just 28 errors on the season which ranks third best in the RMAC. MSU Denver is the conference leader with a .971 fielding percentage.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
This week's youth movement features a pair of freshman that made their collegiate debuts on the mound in game four of the series against UCCS. Cherokee Trail High School product Isaac Hayen pitched three innings and allowed one run on two hits, walked one and struck out three while Gage Edwards followed him and pitched a perfect bottom of the eighth inning in their first collegiate appearances. 

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
1-2-3, that's where the Mavericks rank in the three national polls this week. They remain No. 1 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association poll for the second straight week and moved up in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper coaches poll to No. 2 just behind No. 1 Tampa. Colorado Mesa moved down two spots in this week's Perfect Game poll to No. 3 behind North Greenville and Tampa.

THE SKIPPER
Head coach Chris Hanks enters his 21st season guiding the Mavericks and has an impressive 853-348 record, the most wins from a coach in program history. The Carbondale, Colo. native won his 850th game as the Maverick skipper on March 16, 2019 in an 11-0 win over No. 9 Colorado School of Mines. 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.

ALUMNI DAY
Calling all Alumni!! The Colorado Mesa Alumni Association will be hosting an Alumni Day on Saturday April 20 at Noon when the Mavericks are set to take on New Mexico Highlands at Suplizio Field. Tickets are half-price for CMU Alumni with valid ID with an Alumni Zone style setup on the mezzanine level and down the right field line. Register at the link at the beginning of the preview. 

UP NEXT
Colorado Mesa will be back on the road next weekend when they travel to RMAC rival CSU-Pueblo for a four-game series. The Pack are currently 14-11 on the season and 9-3 in the conference sitting in fourth place. CSU-Pueblo is in St. George this weekend for a huge four games with the Dixie State Trailblazers.