The Colorado Mesa baseball team is set to open Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action this weekend at The Diamond at the Bus Bergman Sports Complex pending the weather. The Mavericks will take on No. 27 MSU Denver right out of the shoot pitting the top two teams in the conference against each other in the opening weekend.
 
JUICE IS LOOSE
Senior Julian Boyd was named the RMAC Player of the Week after his performance against Montana State Billings in the four-game series in Grand Junction. Boyd batted .583 (7-for-12) with two doubles, a triple and two home runs while scoring eight runs and having an OPS upwards of 2.000 during the series win over the Yellow Jackets.
 
During the first game of Friday's doubleheader, Boyd was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs. He was a single shy of the cycle as he homered in the third, triples in the sixth and doubles in the eighth.
 
For the season, he is batting .455 with six doubles, a triple and three home runs with ten runs driven in. He currently leads the team in stolen bases with ten and has scored 20 runs.
 
ONE BACK, ONE OUT
Colorado Mesa will get one piece of their puzzle back this weekend as Max Valdez should make his return to the lineup at either catcher or the designated hitter position. The sophomore missed last weekend with an injury but prior to that he was hitting .345 with a 1.019 OPS on the year. He is currently tied for the team lead in home runs with three and is now third in RBIs with 15.
 
As they get Valdez back, now they will be without true freshman second baseman Kennedy Hara who is likely out this weekend with an injury. Hara is batting .407 with three doubles, a triple and a home run on the season. He had played in eight games and made seven starts up to this point and was fielding .967 with just one error this season.
 
HERE'S ANOTHER ONE
Freshman Liam Hohenstein made his first career start last week and pitched well. He allowed two runs (one run) on six hits, walked one and struck out five in four innings of work during the opening game of the series start. The Rock Canyon High School product has a season ERA of 1.13 in eight innings pitched and 14 strikeouts.
 
Hohenstein is slated to earn his second career start in game one of the series this weekend.
 
NON-CONFERENCE…..ALMOST OVER
The Mavericks wrapped up a majority of their non-conference schedule last weekend with Montana State Billings. They finished that portion of the schedule with a 9-6 mark after taking on Azusa Pacific, Chico State, Northwest Nazarene, and the Yellow Jackets. They were originally scheduled to take on East Region stalwart and current top-10 Southern New Hampshire before weather forced an alteration.
 
Colorado Mesa currently has one more non-conference series setup in which they will take on 2022 NCAA National Semifinalist in Rollins out of Winter Park, Fla. the second weekend in April when the Mavericks have their conference bye week. The Tars are currently 14-4 on the season with series wins over Lynn, Nova Southeastern and No. 17 Quincy.
 
ABOUT MSU DENVER
The MSU Denver Roadrunners appear to have the makings of a legit South Central Region contender with front end pitching, and solid defense. They are off to a 15-3 start with series wins over Northwestern Oklahoma, Biola, Sioux Falls and Mary along with a two-game split of Pittsburg State. They finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a mini-Front Range Round Robin where they went 3-1.
 
Former Maverick Tanner Garner leads the Roadrunners in hitting at .508 with six doubles, four home runs and 16 runs driven in. They also have household names in Cam Yuran (.485/.794/.596) and Ross Smith (.400/.750/.462) in the middle of their lineup that provides the pop.
 
On the mound, Jack Slominski has been the ace of the staff and his numbers are outstanding. He is 4-0 with a 3.58 ERA in 27.2 innings pitched with 23 strikeouts. When he is finished, he hands the ball over to Eric Cox in the backend of their bullpen. Cox, the all-time saves leader in the RMAC, has five saves in seven appearances this season.
 
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 be on the road and continue their path against the projected top half of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. They will take on Colorado School of Mines in a four-game series at Darden Field in Golden, Colo.