GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – No. 3 Colorado Mesa continues their home stand this weekend with their final non-conference series of the season. The Mavericks will welcome in Minot State (6-4) from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference for a four-game series beginning on Friday at Suplizio Field.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Colorado Mesa took three of four games from Northwest Nazarene at Suplizio Field. On the mound, the staff had an ERA of 3.44 over the four games with 43 strikeouts In 34 innings. The walk numbers for the weekend were high at 21 for an average of just over five per game. The Nighthawks had just six extra base-hits in the series and batted just .228.
 
At the plate, the Mavericks batted .289 with 20 extra base-hits for a slugging percentage of .609.
 
BACK-TO-BACK
The Mavericks made it back-to-back weeks as the NCBWA National Player of the Week as sophomore catcher/designated hitter Haydn McGeary was named to the honor after his weekend against Northwest Nazarene.
 
McGeary was named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Week, as he tore the cover off the ball in the series win over Northwest Nazarene. In the series, McGeary batted .800 (12-for-15) with three doubles and four home runs. He added six runs scored and drove in 12 runs while having an OPS of 2.624. In Friday's doubleheader, he was 7-for-7 with three home runs, five runs scored and eight RBIs. This is the second-straight week a Colorado Mesa catcher has been named National Player of the Week.
 
Interesting enough, the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week is Noah Myhre of Minot State.
 
BOMBS AWAY
Colorado Mesa has hit 23 home runs this year and is on pace to tie school record for home runs in a season. The school record sits at 115 by the 1997 team, a mark also is tied for second most in NCAA Division II history.
 
Maverick great Chris McClure led the team with a program record 25 home runs in 1997. Six players on that team went on to finish with double digit home runs that year.
 
STEADY AS SHE GOES
Senior pitcher Trevin Reynolds has been the most steady and consistent pitcher for the Mavericks this season. Reynolds, a converted outfielder, is 2-0 this season with a 1.80 ERA in 15 innings pitched.
 
The Las Vegas native has struck out 18 batters while just walking two batters and allowing opposing hitters to bat just .164. Early in the season, Reynolds has touched 94 mph on the radar gun, slightly up from what the radar gun showed at the NCAA Championships in Cary last June.
 
CLOSING TIME
A closer has emerged from the bullpen after the first ten games in junior righthander Garrett Tisdall. The Aurora, Colo. native has two saves in two opportunities now in four appearances while sporting a 1.93 ERA.
 
Tisdall has a good mentor to listen to while he is warming up in the bullpen in Will Dixon, the single season record holder for saves, as he is a graduate assistant on the staff.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Colorado Mesa remained at No. 3 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper coach's poll after the 8-2 start to the season. North Greenville ascended to the top of the poll followed by UC San Diego at No. 2.
 
In the NCBWA poll, the Mavericks remained at No. 6 in the poll with Angelo State moving to the top spot and garnering all 19 first place votes. North Greenville was second followed by UC San Diego, Central Missouri and Tampa.
 
Perfect Game has the Mavericks up one spot to No. 6 in their poll. Angelo State is the top team at 14-0 followed by Central Missouri and North Greenville.
 
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Minot State is a program on the rise in the Northern Sun and in the NCAA Central Region after a strong finish to the 2019 season. The Beavers finished the 2019 season with a 36-18 record and fell in the NSIC Tournament Championship game to Augustana.
 
This season, they are out to a 6-4 start with series wins over Missouri S&T and Missouri Western while they fell in both halves of a doubleheader with William Jewell. All of those contests came on the road as they will not play a home game until April 1 when they host Concordia St. Paul at Corbett Field.
 
At the plate, Declan Buckle and Jackson Pokorney lead the Beavers. Buckle is hitting .379 with seven RBIs and had six hits in the series with Missouri Western while Pokorney is batting .361 with an OPS creeping towards 1.000 at .985.
 
RJ Martinez has pitched the first game of both series for the Beavers, but Noah Myhre comes in with some of the best numbers on the pitching staff. Myhre has 14 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched this season and sports a 1-1 record. Myhre was named the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week after firing a no-hitter against Missouri Western. He had seven strikeouts and two walks to pick up his first win of the season.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH MINOT STATE:
This will be the first meeting between the two programs.
 
FUN FACT:
Former MLB Umpire Gary Cederstrom's hometown is Minot, N.D. and is an alum of Minot State University. Cederstrom worked as an umpire from 1989 until retiring last season. He was a crew chief beginning in 2008 and worked four World Series, two as the crew chief.
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Over the past 15 years, Colorado Mesa has been nearly unstoppable at home in Suplizio Field. They have won over 81 percent of their games (392-88) and in that time, they have not been shutout, a span of 480 games.
 
30 SKIPPER
Colorado Mesa head coach Chris Hanks is in the dugout for his 22^nd season as the skipper of the Mavericks. Hanks has an 892-358 record as the head coach and is the all-time wins leader in Colorado Mesa history as well as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
He has led the Mavericks to 17 NCAA Regional Tournaments, four NCAA National Championship Tournament appearances and twice a National Runner-up. He has won the RMAC regular season championship 15 times and nine RMAC Tournament Championships.
 
PRESEASON RMAC POLL
Colorado Mesa was picked to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after receiving all eight possible first-place votes. The Mavericks have won the past eight regular season conference titles and have reached won six straight conference tournament titles.
 
Dixie State was second followed by Colorado School of Mines, UCCS and MSU Denver to round out the top five.
 
Spencer Bramwell, Caleb Farmer and Andrew Morris were all selected as 'Players to Watch' in the conference. All were named to the All-RMAC team a year ago with Morris earning Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors.
 
PRESEASON NATIONAL POLL / TEAMS
Colorado Mesa begins the 2020 season as the No. 3 team in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Coaches Poll behind defending National Champion Tampa and longtime West Region foe UC San Diego. In the National Collegiate Baseball Wristers Association (NCBWA) poll, the Mavericks check in at No. 2 behind Tampa while in the Perfect Game Rankings they will begin at No. 9.
 
The NCBWA released their preseason all-American teams and Colorado Mesa first baseman Jordan Stubbings was named to the third-team. Stubbings finished his sophomore campaign with a .345 average with 20 doubles and 13 home runs.
 
WINNINGEST TEAM OF THE DECADE
The Mavericks will have their names etched in the record book after boasting 440 wins from 2010-2019 and will go down as the Winningest Team of the Decade. The Mavs' .753 winning percentage was fifth best during the time frame.
 
During the decade, they were one of just two schools to qualify for the NCAA Division II tournament all ten years, making three appearances in the Championships. That included a pair of runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2019. The Mavericks had a 29-22 record in the NCAA Tournament during the decade.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The non-conference portion of the schedule ends this week and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule is upon us. The Mavericks will host Regis next week to open conference play at Suplizio Field. The four game series will begin Friday at 3pm.