The No. 11 Colorado Mesa Baseball Team (24-8, 11-5 RMAC) will host the Regis Rangers (21-16-1, 14-6 RMAC) this weekend in a four-game series at Bergman Field. The series will be for the top spot in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as Regis enters with a slight edge in percentage for the first place slot in the conference.
 
FARMER BOY
Senior third baseman/catcher Caleb Farmer has continued to have an incredible final campaign for Colorado Mesa. He is currently batting .430 with nine doubles, two triples and a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference leading 18 home runs. He has an OPS north of 1.460 and has made just three errors this season between third base and catcher.
 
Farmer retook the home run lead in the conference in the four-game series with MSU Denver where he hit four home runs to go ahead of his teammate Haydn McGeary and Roadrunner Bill Ralston. The San Jacinto, Calif. native is the nation's leader in home runs per game at 0.56 per game and second in total home runs to St. Leo's Bobby Sparling who has 20.
 
He also ranks fourth nationally in runs scored at 54 and third in slugging percentage at .953.
 
BULLPEN ACE
Junior Gage Edwards has turned into an asset in the Mavericks bullpen this season. Edwards has made a team-high 11 appearances this season including one start. He has pitched 26 and two-thirds innings and allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 24 hits, walked 11 and struck out 29 for a 2.36 ERA that leads the team.
 
He had a season-high six strikeouts in his lone start of the season against Adams State on March 5. Both of his season-highs for innings have come against Adams State. He earned saves against Regis during the pod and in last Friday night's series opener with MSU Denver.
 
RECORD WATCH
Many Mavericks are in the hunt for some of the top ranks in the program's prestigious history. Take a look at some of the records that are close to being broken:
 
Career At Bats

1. Zach McLeod (2015-18) – 710
2. Landon Wareham (2000-03) – 708
3. Justin Little (2006-09) – 702
4. Jordan Stubbings (2018-current) – 694
5. Caleb Farmer (2018-current) – 692 

Career Runs

1. Justin Little (2006-09) – 229 RMAC Record
2. Caleb Farmer (2018-current) – 218 

Career Hits

1. Justin Little (2006-09) – 271
2. Matt Bodenchuk (2005-09) – 254
3. Caleb Farmer (2018-current) – 254
4. Andrew Martinez (2005-09) – 249
5. Landon Wareham (2000-03) – 246
6. Jordan Stubbings (2018-current) – 245

Career Doubles

1. Matt Bodenchuk (2005-09) – 65
2. Haydn McGeary (2019-current) – 58
3. Zach McLeod (2015-18) – 57
4. Caleb Farmer (2018-current) – 57

Career RBIs

1. Matt Bodenchuk (2005-09) – 218 RMAC Record
2. Haydn McGeary (2019-current) – 205
3. Jordan Stubbings (2018-current) - 196

DOWN ON THE FARM
With the start of the Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball seasons, we thought we would give a brief update of each of the four players from Colorado Mesa in the systems:
 
Sergio Romo is entering his 15^th season in MLB after signing a one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners for $2M. The one-time All-Star has thrown 706 innings in his career and struck out 778. During the opening weekend of the season, Romo appeared in his 800^th game.
 
'El Mechon' pitched for the Mavericks during the 2005 season and was later named to the RMAC All-Century Team as the Player of the Century.
 
Reagan Todd is entering his fourth season of professional baseball and is on the verge of cracking the Colorado Rockies' bullpen. The Denver native appeared in three games for the Rockies in big league spring training. Todd is starting this season with AAA Albuquerque and has already appeared in three games.
 
Todd pitched for the Mavericks during the 2018 season where he split time between the mound and the plate. He was 7-2 with a 3.60 ERA in 80 innings pitched.
 
Bligh Madris is another former Mav that drew rave reviews during spring training and was on the cusp of making the Pittsburgh Pirates Opening Day roster. The Las Vegas native batted .368 in big league spring training with two doubles and three home runs. Madris opened the season with AAA Indianapolis and has played in three games thus far.
 
Madris played for the Mavericks from 2015-17 and appeared in 122 games and made 115 starts. He hit 21 home runs including 17 in his final season with the school in 2017.
 
Kyle Leahy is in his fourth season of professional baseball in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Leahy finished up last season with AA Springfield and will start out this season with them as well. He originally was splitting time between starting and the bullpen but made a start already this season.
 
Leahy pitched for the Mavericks from 2016-18 and went 22-2 on the mound through the three seasons. He pitched 204 innings and struck out 188 batters in that time.
 
NEWCOMER TO WATCH
Freshman pitcher Kyle Miller has quietly been getting better as the season has progressed. His season numbers may not look fantastic, but they don't tell the whole story. The Pueblo, Colo. native has made four appearances with four innings pitched four hits, four runs, a walk and three strikeouts.
 
In his first collegiate appearance, he struck out two and allowed one hit against nationally ranked Azusa Pacific and just this past weekend fired a perfect inning against heavy-hitting MSU Denver.
 
For fans that haven't seen him pitch, he is very similar to former Maverick great Kyle Leahy when he was a freshman at Colorado Mesa.
 
SCOUTING THE RANGERS
Regis sits in first place in the conference standings by percentage points over the Mavericks and have yet to have their bye week. The Rangers went 7-10-1 in the non-conference portion of the schedule losing the series to Concordia Irvine and split with both Minot State and Cal State San Marcos before earning the series win over Fort Hays State.
 
Pitcher Justin Kleinsorge is one of the top pitchers in the conference and enters the weekend with a 3-2 record. He has a 5.19 ERA in 50 and a third innings pitched with 18 walks and a conference leading 71 strikeouts. Kleinsorge pitched against Colorado Mesa in the pod in Alamosa and allowed five runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out seven in five and a third innings.
 
Matt Marlow is one of the biggest threats in the Ranger lineup. Others may have higher batting averages, but Marlow possesses the power to change the game with one swing of the bat. He has 15 doubles, four triples, 11 home runs and has driven in 44 on the season. He has three home runs in the last six games and had two to open the series with New Mexico Highlands two weeks ago.
 
THE WINNING WAY
As it was announced by the NCAA last year that Colorado Mesa was the winningest baseball team of the past decade. To shorten the window even more, they have the highest winning percentage since 2017 at .806. They have a higher winning percentage then some of the top programs in Division II baseball including Angelo State (.770), North Greenville (.768), Tampa (.759), and Central Missouri (.747).
 
Colorado Mesa is in search of their 41^st straight winning season.
 
THE SKIPPER
The Mavericks are headed up by living legend Chris Hanks who is the Mavericks all-time leader in wins with an overall record of 968-375 and has won nearly 72 percent of the games he has coached in. He is entering his 24^th season as the head coach and has guided the Mavericks to 16 RMAC Championships, 17 NCAA Tournament appearances and four trips to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
 
During his tenure, he has been named the RMAC Coach of the Year 12 times, the ABCA Regional Coach of the Year four times and was twice named the NCBWA National Coach of the Year.
 
Coach Hanks is always quick to point to his coaching staff when discussing his personal successes as the staff has been intact for the past 12 seasons with others having been on staff just as long and longer than his entire coaching tenure.
 
PRESEASON POLLS
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference preseason poll was released earlier this year and once again the Mavericks were picked to win the regular season title unanimously. They received all eight first-place votes possible and will be in search of their 25^th overall and 10^th straight regular season titles. UCCS was picked second followed by MSU Denver, and Regis to round out the top four.
 
Colorado Mesa has gained national attention by being picked No. 2 in the Collegiate Baseball Preseason National Poll despite the Mavericks not making it to Cary last season. Tampa was the preseason pick to make it back to the National Championship Tournament and win it.
 
In the NCBWA Preseason National Poll, the Mavericks were picked No. 4 behind Tampa, defending national champion Wingate and Central Missouri.
 
ON DECK
The Mavericks head back out on the road for two weeks to play New Mexico Highlands next weekend followed by a trip to Lakewood to face Colorado Christian. Both schools are fighting to get into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament picture.