The No. 2 Colorado Mesa baseball team returns home for four games this weekend at Suplizio Field. The Mavericks will be hosting an RMAC pod this weekend as they will welcome in the Regis Rangers and the Adams State Grizzlies with a total of six games being played over the three days.
 
GOING BACK-TO-BACK
COVID sophomore righthander Andrew Morris was named the RMAC Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week.
 
Morris pitched a complete game in the series opening win over UCCS on Friday. He allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits, walked one and struck out 14 to move his season record to 2-0. After the fourth inning, he allowed just two hits without surrendering a run.
 
On the season, he is now 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA in 23 innings pitched and has a RMAC leading 43 strikeouts.
 
The Mavericks have won the RMAC Pitcher of the Week honor in three of the four weeks they have played in this season.
 
BIG BATS
Colorado Mesa is the top scoring offense in all NCAA Division II with No. 2 hitter Matthew Turner and No. 3 hitter Haydn McGeary leading the way. Turner is hitting .523 with nine home runs and 25 runs driven in while McGeary is batting .554 with nine doubles, seven home runs and 32 runs driven in.
 
Take a look at where each rank in the national statistics:
 
Matthew Turner Ranks
Batting Average: 18 (.523)
Hits per game: 44 (1.77)
Home Runs: 3^rd (9)
Home Runs per game: 5^th (0.69)
On Base Percentage: 26^th (.600)
Runs: 18^th (25)
RBIs: 17^th (25)
Slugging Percentage: 4^th (1.182)
 
Haydn McGeary Ranks
Batting Average: 11 (.554)
Doubles: 6^th (9)
Hits: 15^th (31)
Home Runs: 9^th (7)
Home Runs per game: 22^nd (0.50)
On Base Percentage: 33^rd (.594)
RBIs: 3^rd (32)
Slugging Percentage: 11^th (1.089)
 
NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Colorado Mesa boasts some of the top hitting numbers in all of NCAA Division II entering the weekend. Take a look where they rank:
 
Statistic/National Rank (Value)
Batting Average: 1^st (.409)
Home Runs: 2^nd (40)
Home Runs per Game: 2^nd (2.86)
Scoring: 2^nd (14.3)
Slugging Percentage: 2^nd (.741)
Doubles: 4^th (51)
On Base Percentage: 5^th (.472)
Hits: 6^th (221)
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Colorado Mesa remained idle in both the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper coach's poll and the Perfect Game poll as they are still No. 2. Tampa remained No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll while Angelo State is the top team by Perfect Game.
 
In the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association poll the Mavericks moved up to No. 4, one spot up from last week's No. 5 ranking. Angelo State remained No. 1 followed by Tampa, and unbeaten Lindenwood.
 
SCOUTING THE RANGERS
The Regis Rangers may quite possibly be one the hottest team in the RMAC right now as they boast a 14-2 overall record including a 10-2 conference mark. For their non-conference opponent, they took on the Washburn Ichabods and swept them in four games in Denver. In conference, they swept CSU Pueblo in four games before going 6-2 against both Colorado Christian and Adams State the past two weekends.
 
The lineup has four hitters batting over .400 for the season and led by Matt Marlow who sports a .545 batting average with eight doubles and 25 runs driven in. Marlow had his 15-game hitting streak snapped in the win over Adams State on Sunday.
 
Five hitters are tied for the home run lead with four home runs apiece. Regis leads all of Divison II in doubles with 51.
 
The Rangers go with a 1-2 punch in Justin Kleinsorge and two-way player Thomas Alexander in their rotation. Kleinsorge is 4-0 with a 3.04 ERA in 23.2 innings pitched and 27 strikeouts. The 6-5 righthander has a pair of nine strikeout games on his season resume with one coming against Washburn and the other against Colorado Christian.
 
Alexander is also 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA in 20.2 innings pitched and 23 strikeouts. The senior has only surrendered 24 hits but nearly half of those came last week against Adams State.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH REGIS:
Colorado Mesa is on an eight-game winning streak against Regis that dates back to the 2018 season. The Mavericks are 81-25 against Regis that dates back to the 2000 season and includes a 47-10 record at home.
 
The Mavericks and Rangers met in a series last season prior to the season being shut down due to the pandemic. Colorado Mesa went 4-0 in that series, outscoring the Rangers 17-6.
 
FUN FACT:
The most famous alum for Regis in terms of baseball is Pittsburgh Pirates lefthanded pitcher Steven Brault. Brault was a two-way player for the Rangers before being drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 11^th round of the 2013 draft.
 
SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
Adams State enters the weekend with a 2-8 overall record that includes a 1-5 record in the conference. Their lone conference win came last weekend against Regis, one of the two teams they will face this weekend, an 11-5 triumph in game two of the series.
 
The Grizzlies feature one of the most underrated pitchers in the RMAC in junior righty Alfredo Villa. The Tucson native is 2-0 with a 3.97 ERA in 11.1 innings pitched with 18 strikeouts. In his first start, he threw six shutout innings and allowed just four hits while striking out 11.
 
At the plate, Adams State is led by freshman Mike Bathauer who has a .432 batting average. He leads the Grizzlies in hits, home runs and slugging percentage.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH ADAMS STATE:
Colorado Mesa is 30-2 against the Grizzlies since Adams State brought their program back in 2013. In the last ten matchups between the two schools, Colorado Mesa has outscored Adams State 149-22 that includes four shutouts by Maverick pitchers.
 
FUN FACT:
Adams State has always been known as a running school as they were led for years by noted distance and altitude running coach Joe Vigil. Vigil was named a 'Legend Coach' in 2015 by USA Track & Field.
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Mavericks have an impressive mark at home winning over 81 percent of their games in Suplizio Field since 2005. They also have not been shutout at home in 503 consecutive games dating back to February 14, 2004 in a 3-0 loss to Western Oregon.
 
30 SKIPPER
Colorado Mesa head coach Chris Hanks is in the dugout for his 23^rd season as the skipper of the Mavericks. Hanks has an 906-362 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.
 
900-WIN CLUB
On February 26, 2021, head baseball coach Chris Hanks won his 900^th game as the skipper of the Colorado Mesa Mavericks. He is the tenth NCAA Division II coach to reach the milestone and his .713 winning is second among those with 900 wins only trailing Mike Kennison of Delta State who has a .758 winning percentage.
 
Coach Hanks is the all-time winningest baseball coach in program history and the all-time winningest baseball coach in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference history.
 
PRESEASON RMAC POLL
Colorado Mesa was picked to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after receiving all eight possible first-place votes. The Mavericks are seeking their ninth straight regular season title and their seventh straight RMAC Tournament Championship later this season.
 
Colorado School of Mines was picked to finish second followed by UCCS, MSU Denver and CSU Pueblo.
 
The Mavericks were 14-4 when the season was halted last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
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 Mavericks will play a pair of makeup games against Adams State on Tuesday in Alamosa before they have their conference bye week. They will be back in action at home against upstart MSU Denver on Friday April 9 for Fireworks night and homecoming celebration.