SERIES HISTORY
The Mavericks and Mountain Lions have had some great battles since the inception of baseball at UCCS in time for the 2017 season. Colorado Mesa currently owns a 19-8 record against UCCS with the Mavericks winning five of the last six matchups.
The two teams faced each other eight times during the 2021 season with Colorado Mesa owning the edge 5-3 that season. Three of those eight matchups came in the postseason including an 11-9 win in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament in San Angelo, Texas.
Last season, the schools played five times with Colorado Mesa winning four of the five including a win in the RMAC Tourney.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAIN LIONS
After a slow start to the season, the Mountain Lions have been playing better baseball of late as they won two of their past three series along with a pair of Division I wins over Northern Colorado.
Senior Brad Madison leads the Mountain Lions offensively with a .410 batting average and 21 doubles which ranks second nationally. Madison is riding a five-game hitting streak and had eight hits in last weekend's series with Highlands.
6-6 righty Cole Philip will likely get the ball in game one of the series and has UCCS' best numbers on the year. He is 3-2 with a 7.43 ERA and has done his best work against the better teams.
MORE CAREER MARKS
Redshirt junior Kannon Handy is on the verge of a couple career marks as a long standing pitcher in the program. Handy moved into the third position on the all-time strikeout list with 243 total strikeouts and now only trails JR McDermott's 268 and Nolan Snell's 307 strikeouts in their careers.
If Handy pitches five and a third innings this weekend, he will have pitched 200 innings in his Maverick career. He would become the 14th pitcher in program history to hit 200 innings pitched in a Maverick uniform.
WELCOME BACK
The Colorado Mesa pitching staff welcomed back senior righty Blake Rohm as he pitched for the first time in nearly 12 months. Rohm pitched one inning against Rollins and allowed one run (unearned) on two hits in 28 pitches. Unofficially he was anywhere from 90-93 with his fastball in the return.
The Broomfield native was the staff ace a season ago but was forced to stop throwing after repetitive injuries. In 2022, he went 4-1 with a 2.48 ERA in 36 and a third innings pitched with 44 strikeouts against 10 walks and allowed opposing batters to hit just .194.
Rohm could pair with closer Anthony Durbano to form a 1-2 punch at the backend of the Colorado Mesa bullpen.
STANDINGS WATCH
The Mavericks were idle from Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference competition this past weekend as they played No. 3 ranked Rollins during their conference bye week. The bye allowed a few teams to creep closer to the Mavericks atop the standings.
MSU Denver is just one game behind the Mavericks after the bye week with the Roadrunners having the final week of the season as their bye week. They have just eight conference games remaining beginning this weekend with a four-game series with Colorado Christian.
Regis is three games up in third place on both CSU Pueblo and Colorado School of Mines who are deadlocked at 12-12 in fourth and fifth place.
This week's opponent UCCS is currently in sixth place with a one game lead on Colorado Christian for the final spot in the RMAC Tournament.
ON THE HORIZON
Colorado Mesa will have just two regular season series remaining after the weekend with UCCS. They will head out on the road next weekend for a trip to the Land of Enchantment for a four-game series with New Mexico Highlands.
They will return home after that to wrap up the regular season with four-game series with the Adams State Grizzlies that will begin on Thursday May 4.
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 28th 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 11th 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 prior to the season.
DID YOU KNOW.../TRIVIA
Courtesy of Colorado Mesa assistant coach Mark Vig.....Since 1999, Colorado Mesa and just four other Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schools have won the regular season conference title, who are they?
Answer: CSU Pueblo, New Mexico Highlands, Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State
