GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The No. 7 Colorado Mesa baseball team will open up Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play this weekend at Suplizio Field. The Mavericks will play host to Regis (8-6, 0-0 RMAC) beginning this afternoon at 3pm.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Colorado Mesa split the weekend series with Minot State dropping the first two games of the series and winning the final two games. In the series, the Mavericks batted .399 with 16 doubles, two triples, and six home runs offensively.
 
On the mound, there were some real deceiving numbers as the team ERA was 9.26 and the Beaver hitters batted .344 with nine home runs. The Mavericks did strikeout 51 batters (12.75 K/game) and got the walk numbers back to respectable at 20 (5 BB/game).
 
SWINGIN' A HOT BAT
Junior outfielder Matt Turner had a slow start to the season but caught fire in the series with Minot State. Turner saw action in all four games of the series and batted .727 with three doubles, two home runs, seven runs scored and nine runs driven in.
 
In game two of the series, the Broomfield, Colo. native went 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs, three runs scored and four runs driven in.
 
For the season, Turner has a slash line of .429/.519/.857.
 
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Sophomore slugger Haydn McGeary is amongst the nation's best in the early season when it comes to the power numbers. He possesses the top slugging percentage in the country at 1.143, first in home runs per game at 0.57, third in total home runs with eight, third in doubles with 10, fourth in total bases and hits, and sixth in total RBIs with 26.
 
Something unique about the Peoria, Ariz. native is that he has thrived on left handed pitchers. He is 5-for-10 against left handed pitchers and is successful advancing runners over 54 percent of the time.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
After the weekend split with Minot State, Colorado Mesa moved down in the national rankings. The Mavericks are No. 7 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper coach's poll while moving down several slots to No. 16 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Poll.
 
Dixie State is the only other opponent remaining on the schedule that is currently ranked in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, checking in at No. 24 this week.
 
SCOUTING THE RANGERS
Regis enters the weekend having won their past five games including a series sweep of Northern State (S.D.) last weekend in Denver. The Rangers opened the season dropping three of four games to Concordia Irvine but then got splits against Colorado School of Mines and Washburn.
 
Austin Vaught is the Rangers top hitter coming into the weekend with a .429 batting average that includes five doubles, two triples and 13 runs driven in. In the series finale with Washburn, he went 5-for-6 with two doubles and five runs driven in.
 
On the mound, Justin Kleinsorge has some of the best numbers in the conference heading into RMAC action. He is 4-0 with a 2.86 ERA in 22 inning pitched. He pitched six and a third innings against Washburn and allowed just one hit while striking out 11 in the win.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH REGIS:
Colorado Mesa holds an all-time mark of 138-35 against Regis and are 13-3 in their last 16 games against the Rangers. Regis' last win against the Mavericks came in the 2018 RMAC Tournament where they picked up a 15-12 win in the first round. The Mavericks still went on to win the tournament.
 
FUN FACT:
The Mavericks and Rangers actually have one very special thing in common. Colorado Mesa alum Bligh Madris and Regis alum Steven Brault are current teammates for the Pittsburgh Pirates and are both in big league spring training together.
 
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 (394-90) and in that time, they have not been shutout, a span of 484 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 894-3360 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 long home stand is over for the Mavericks as they will now go on the road next weekend for the first time since early February. They will head to Golden for a four-game series with the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers for the second weekend of conference action. Mines is taking on New Mexico Highlands to open conference action.