The No. 10 Colorado Mesa Baseball Team (42-15) will head to the Lone Star State for the NCAA South Central Super Regionals this weekend in hopes of qualifying for their fifth NCAA National Championship Tournament. They square off in a heavyweight showdown of South Central Region powers as they travel to take on Angelo State (48-11).
 
THE SUPER REGIONAL
The NCAA Division II Super Regionals have only taken place twice in the association's history. The format came into play in 2019 before the 2020 COVID-19 season made people forget about it.
 
During that 2019 season, Colorado Mesa traveled to Angelo State as the number one seed for the NCAA South Central Super Region Tournament and came away victorious. The story of that tournament is one of the many reasons The Diamond at Bus Bergman Sports Complex was contructed.
 
NOT A PENNY NOT A DIME
Sophomore Cade Nicol had a slow start to the season but has been one of the Mavericks most reliable pitchers as of late. His season numbers read 1-0 with a 6.00 ERA in 12 innings pitched with 22 strikeouts.
 
What's more impressive is that in his last four outings, he has thrown seven and two-thirds innings and allowed just one run on five hits, no walks and 17 strikeouts. He threw three innings of shutout relief last weekend against St. Edward's and registered six strikeouts.
 
HEEEEEERE'S JOHNNY
Senior Johnny Carr has cooled down just a tad since his red-hot end to the regular season but he was back to his pesky ways last weekend. Despite Carr having just four hits, the Coto de Caza, Calif. native scored six runs in the tournament and blasted what was at the time a huge home run for the Mavericks on Friday night.
 
The nine-hole hitter in the lineup is batting .384 with 10 doubles and two home runs with 42 runs scored.
 
THREE HEADED MONSTER
The Orchard Avenue Bombers or the Bergman Bombers have been downright special this season. The trio of Caleb Farmer, Haydn McGeary and Spencer Bramwell could all stake claim as being Colorado Mesa's most valuable player but a more amazing number has come out of these three student-athletes.
 
The three have combined for 80 home runs this season. That is more home runs than all but 20 NCAA Division II Teams that competed this season including their opponents this weekend who check in with 50 home runs. (Thank you Wayne Cavadi for the assist on this one)
 
THE 40-WIN MARK
Over the weekend, Colorado Mesa picked up their 40^th win of the season making it their ninth straight 40-win season. Their last season without 40 wins came in 2012 when they played in the NCAA Central Region Tournament in Mankato, Minn.
 
The Mavericks won a school record 53 games during the 2019 season that included…..a Super Regional win over Angelo State in San Angelo, Texas and a NCAA National Runner-up honor.
 
ABOUT ANGELO STATE
The Rams fared well in the Lone Star Conference as they finished the season with a 38-10 mark inside the conference under head coach Kevin Brooks. In last week's South Central Regin #1 Tournament, they dismantled MSU Denver 26-5 before winning two of three games against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
Justin Lee leads the Rams with a .453 batting average with 20 double and 77 runs driven in. He batted 7-for-15 in last weekend's tournament that included a 4-for-6 performance in the region final against the Javelinas.
 
Ben Elder is the staff ace for Angelo State. He enters the weekend 9-2 with a 3.28 ERA in 96 innings pitched. He has allowed 89 hits and struck out 80 against just 17 walks. He had a season-high 10 strikeouts against Lubbock Christian back on March 4 but went six innings and allowed four runs on five hits, walked one and struck out seven against MSU Denver last weekend.
 
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 achieved their 41^st straight winning season in 2022.
 
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 983-380 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 17 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 winner of the Super Region Tournament advances to the NCAA National Championships in Cary, N.C. and played at the USA Baseball Training Complex. For Colorado Mesa, it would be their first trip out East since 2019 where they were the NCAA National Runner-up.