The No. 15 Colorado Mesa baseball team opens the 2023 season on Thursday (Feb. 9) as they play host to No. 38 Azusa Pacific in a four-game series at The Diamond at the Bus Bergman Sports Complex. The two teams will play in a 1-2-1 format with a single game on Thursday at 1pm, the doubleheader being played on Friday at noon with the getaway game on Saturday at 11am.
 
RETURNING STARTERS
The Mavericks return two regular starters from last year's squad in middle infielder Harrison Rodgers and outfielder Conrad Villafuerte.
 
Rodgers batted .338 with 14 doubles, four triples, and 12 home runs while earning all-RMAC honors. He claimed NCBWA National Hitter of the Week after the first week of the season when he hit six home runs in the series sweep of Azusa Pacific.
 
Villafuerte batted .362 with17 doubles and four home runs. He started the season off with five straight multi-hit games including a 3-for-6 effort against Azusa Pacific on February 12.
 
THE HANDY MAN CAN
Junior Kannon Handy returns to the top of the rotation for the Mavericks this season as he is expected to get the ball for today's game one. The NCBWA preseason all-region team selection went 9-1 with a 4.47 ERA during his sophomore season.
 
The Herriman, Utah native made a bit of history during last season as he pitched a no-hitter against Colorado School of Mines on March 14. It was the first no-hitter since Luke Cheever pitched a no-hitter against the same Colorado School of Mines team in 2006.
 
COMING BACK TO JUNCTION
New to the program but not new to Grand Junction, Derek Shaver transferred back to his hometown team after spending three seasons at Wichita State. In 2022, Shave was a pitcher only for the Shockers but will likely move back to a dual role for the Mavericks this season.
 
Shaver was an all-Southwestern League selection at Grand Junction High School for former Maverick Justin Little. In high school, he batted .470 and played in the futures game at Coors Field.
 
ABOUT AZUSA PACIFIC
Azusa Pacific enters the weekend with a 3-2 record after splitting the season opening series with Cal State Monterey Bay and a midweek win against Cal State Dominguez Hills. Casey O'Laughlin has been blasting his way through opposing pitching in those five games as he is batting .360 with six home runs and 16 runs driven in.
 
Tyler Herges, son of former Colorado Rockie Matt Herges, led the Cougars on the mound during the opening series. The freshman pitched five and two-thirds and allowed three runs (none earned) on three hits, walked one and struck out five in his first career start.
 
The Cougars and Mavericks enter the season in similar positions. The Mavericks fell to Angelo State in the NCAA South Central Region Super Regional while the Cougars fell to Point Loma in the NCAA West Region Super Regional. Point Loma would end up making the National Championship game before falling to North Greenville.
 
The Cougars are coached by Kirk Nieuwenhuis in his second season at the helm. The Cougar alum played six seasons in the MLB, primarily for the New York Mets.
 
PRO MAVS
The Mavericks had three players drafted last season with Andrew Morris, Haydn McGeary and Spencer Bramwell all getting selected in the MLB Amateur Draft. Since 2003, Colorado Mesa leads all Colorado state colleges with 18 MLB Draft picks in that time.
 

1. Colorado Mesa 18
2. Air Force 10
3. Lamar CC 9
4. Regis 8
5. Northern Colorado 7
6. CSU Pueblo 5
7. MSU Denver 5
8. Trinidad State 4
9. Northeastern JC 4
10. Mines 3

 
Andrew Morris was the highest selection during that time as he went in the fourth round to the Minnesota Twins this past June while Bligh Madris was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ninth round in 2017 as the only top ten round selections. Madris was recently dealt to the Houston Astros after making his MLB debut last June.
 
Probably the most famous Maverick that is included in the list is Sergio Romo who was selected in the 28^th round of the 2005 draft by the San Francisco Giants. Romo went on to win three World Series rings with the Giants.
 
NOT ONLY TEAM OF THE DECADE
The Mavericks were deemed the team of the decade after finishing the decade with the best record in all of NCAA Division II Baseball. But they have also been the best in DII over the last five years. Colorado Mesa has a .792 winning percentage (243-64) in the last five seasons which tops 2022 National Champion North Greenville (.784), South Central Region rival Angelo State (.773), Central Missouri (.763) and Tampa (.762).
 
Since 2017:
Colorado Mesa 243-64 (.792)
North Greenville 236-64-1 (.784)
Angelo State 235-69 (.773)
Central Missouri 229-71 (.763)
Tampa 208-65 (.762)
Minnesota State 202-65 (.757)
Illinois-Springfield 213-68-1 (.755)
Southern New Hampshire 210-68 (.755)
Augustana 224-77-1 (.742)
Azusa Pacific 204-77 (.726)
 
RMAC DOMINATION
Colorado Mesa has won ten straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles and are the conference coach's selection to win it for an 11^th season. Since 2009, Colorado Mesa has won nearly 81 percent of their games against RMAC competition as they have a 389-92 record in that span.
 
ON DECK
The Mavericks will continue their homestand to open the season as they host East Region stalwart in the Southern New Hampshire Penmen at The Diamond. The Mavericks swept the Penmen in a three game series back in 2020 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic wiping out the season.