SERIES HISTORY
The Adams State Grizzlies brought the baseball program back to Alamosa in time for the 2013 season and since then the Mavericks have not been kind to them. Colorado Mesa is 40-2 since that time against the Grizzlies.

Adams State did pick up wins in back-to-back years against the Mavericks with a win in 2015 in Alamosa and a win in 2016 in Grand Junction.

The 42 total matchups does feature a postseason game in 2016 where the Mavericks defeated Adams State 11-1 in the RMAC Tournament in Grand Junction, which was Adams State's lone appearance in the tournament.

SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
The Grizzlies will be fighting for their lives in Grand Junction this weekend as they are still alive for a RMAC Tournament berth but will need to win at least three games for a chance. They sit at 13-32 on the season and 8-20 in RMAC play.

Adams State has a formidable pitching staff compared to where they rank but often times hurt themselves with walks. Cesar Loma is their top arm at 3-4 with a 7.93 ERA and a team-high 44 strikeouts.

Grand Valley native Jack Dere is tied for the team lead in home runs with eight but has been susceptible to the strikeout with 44 in 151 at-bats.

CAN I GET A 40 PIECE
Colorado Mesa is just three wins away from another 40-win season which would be their 10th straight season with 40-wins or more, minus the COVID-19 shortened season.

The 40-win season would be the 16th for head coach Chris Hanks in his 25 years as the skipper of the program.

NO DROP OFF
The biggest concern coming into the season for the Mavericks was where would the offense come from with the losses to the law firm of Farmer, Bramwell and McGeary. The thought was Colorado Mesa would have to manufacture runs and might not hit as many balls out of the park.

Colorado Mesa is tied for the conference and national lead in batting average at .368 and are third nationally in slugging percentage at .616. The home runs may be lower than in year's past but the offense hasnt fallen off.

MAKING SACRIFICES
Senior Conrad Villafuerte is one of the Mavericks leading hitters at .407 with 12 doubles and nine home runs. The Fountain Valley, Calif. native is also among the national leaders in sacrifice flies with eight. In fact, he ranks second in Division II baseball and is the leader in the RMAC in sacrifice flies.

SULTAN OF STRIKEOUTS
Junior Kannon Handy is one of the top strikeout pitchers in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as he leads the conference with 78 strikeouts. The Herriman, Utah native has quietly climbed up the Colorado Mesa all-time charts and is now third on the career strikeout list with 253 batters fanned. He now trails Nolan Snell (2011-13) who had 307 strikeouts in his career and JR McDermott (2016-19) who finished with 268 strikeouts.

NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
The first set of official NCAA Regional Rankings were released this week. The NCAA Regional Rankings is what the baseball committee uses to select the participants in the NCAA National Tournament which begins in two weeks.

Angelo State claimed the top spot by a razor thin margin over Colorado Mesa. In fact, the have a lead by less than a point in performance indicator, a .008 lead in the RPI, and roughly a game and a half lead in in-region win-loss percentage. The Mavericks own a stronger strength of schedule and lead in wins against Division II teams above .500.

St. Edward's was third followed by Texas-Tyler, with MSU Denver and Lubbock Christian tied for fifth. The top six schools in the final ranking on May 14 earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

ON THE HORIZON
Colorado Mesa is set to host the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament beginning next Wednesday May 10 at The Diamond at the Bus Bergman Sports Complex. Game times are set for 11:00am, 3:00pm, and 7:00pm with Colorado Mesa playing in the late game against the No. 6 seed.

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.

TRIVIA / DID YOU KNOW...
Colorado Mesa went 16-0 on the road during the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season. It is the first time since at least 1999 that the Mavericks have accomplished a perfect road conference record.