Top-ranked Colorado Mesa will head out on the road for the final time during the 2021 regular season as the renew their rivalry with the CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves this weekend in Pueblo beginning with a seven-inning doubleheader on Friday at 1pm. CSU Pueblo will host their annual 'Pack the Park' night on Saturday at 7pm followed by the series finale at noon on Sunday.
 
MAGIC NUMBER
This year calculating the magic number is a little tricky as COVID can complicate things a little but here is what we know:
 
With two wins, Colorado Mesa can eliminate the MSU Denver Roadrunners from a chance at the outright Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title as the Mavericks would have 29 wins while the Roadrunners could only get to 28 wins. Two wins would also clinch at minimum a share of the conference crown with UCCS.
 
Three wins would give the Mavericks their ninth consecutive RMAC regular season title and their 27^th overall regular season title as the worst winning percentage they could finish with would be .833.
 
CHASING HISTORY
The Mavericks are chasing a bit of national history that has gained some steam in recent weeks. Colorado Mesa is averaging 14.2 runs per game which leads the country in the category. If the Mavericks keep the pace, they will shatter the NCAA record for scoring that was set in 2000 by Savannah State as they averaged 12.59 runs per game (617 runs in 49 games).
 
Here are some scenarios to keep in mind:
 
*If the Mavericks play the minimum number of games moving forward, they will have played 44 games (32 already played, two in the RMAC Tournament, and two in the NCAA Tournament likely). They will need to score 555 total runs in their remaining 12 games to average 12.6 runs per game for the season.
 
*If the Mavericks play the maximum number of games moving forward, they will have played 58 total games (32 already played, six in the RMAC Tournament, five in the NCAA Regional, and seven in the National Tournament). They will need to score 731 total runs in their remaining 26 games to average 12.6 runs per game for the season.
 
The likely solution will land somewhere in the middle but now we can see what the maximum and minimum number of runs they need to score will be.
 
TWO BAGGERS
Colorado Mesa has been known over the years to be a great power-hitting team and this season is no different. The Mavericks lead the country in doubles with 107 and doubles per game at 3.34. Haydn McGeary, Spencer Bramwell and Caleb Farmer are all in double digits for doubles this season with McGeary leading the way with a conference leading 19 doubles.
 
The 2004 Colorado Mesa team is the NCAA Division II record holder with 190 doubles that season.
 
POSTSEASON PLANS
The NCAA released the first set of South Central Region rankings this week with teams that are in consideration listed in alphabetical order. The NCAA has done it that way this year due to the amount of information available with some regions not having most of their games played. Colorado Mesa was listed along with RMAC foes MSU Denver and UCCS. The Lone Star Conference also had three teams listed with Angelo State, Texas A&M Kingsville and West Texas A&M.
 
The NCAA also sent out host sites for four of the regions across the nation. The South Central Regional will be hosted by Angelo State at Foster Field in San Angelo, Texas.
 
SCOUTING THE THUNDERWOLVES
CSU Pueblo is under new leadership for the first time since 1994 as head coach Damian Stambersky took over during the summer of 2020. He has led the Pack to a 13-18 record thus far during the 2021 season and is close to clinching a spot in this year's RMAC Tournament in two weeks.
 
At the plate, the Pack are led by Ty Lewis and his .368 batting average. Lewis is currently on a six-game hitting streak with four of those games coming with multiple hits including a 3-for-4 performance against Colorado Christian. Earlier this season, he had a five RBI game against Colorado School of Mines on March 19.
 
On the mound, Brett Matthews leads the ThunderWolves and is a legit No. 1 pitcher. He boasts a 5-1 record with a 3.16 ERA in 37 innings pitched. He has 57 strikeouts and opponents are batting just .234 off him. In his last start, he went seven innings and allowed just five hits while striking out a season-high 12.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH CSU PUEBLO:
Colorado Mesa and CSU Pueblo have had a long-standing rivalry dating back to the mid-90's. In fact, Colorado Mesa and CSU Pueblo have accounted for all but four RMAC regular season titles since 1999.
 
The Mavericks own an 87-36 mark since 2000 against the ThunderWolves and have won 13 of the past 16 matchups in the series. The two teams split the regular season series in 2019 in Pueblo with the Mavericks winning 11-4 in the conference tournament in Grand Junction.
 
FUN FACT:
There are a couple of notable alumni that CSU Pueblo has put out over the years and one with close ties to Colorado Mesa. Maverick head wrestling coach Chuck Pipher is an alum of CSU Pueblo and is in their Hall of Fame as a three-time National Champion wrestler for the ThunderWolves.
 
NFL center Ryan Jensen is an alum of CSU Pueblo and was a part of this year's Super Bowl winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers serving as the center for Tom Brady. Jensen was drafted in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens.
 
Extra Tidbit: For those that love pop culture, Google search CSU Pueblo and their ties to Van Halen.
 
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 515 consecutive games dating back to February 14, 2004 in a 3-0 loss to Western Oregon in which the Mavericks were no-hit by the Wolves.
 
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 928-362 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
Colorado Mesa will close out the regular season next week at home when they host the Colorado Christian Cougars in a four-game series at Suplizio Field. Colorado Mesa will honor their seniors prior to Saturday's regular season finale.