SERIES HISTORY
Colorado Mesa will continue their GNAC opponent home stand this week as they take on No. 19 Northwest Nazarene in a four-game series at The Diamond. 

The Mavericks lead the all-time series 20-10 with the first meeting coming during the 2003 season in Grand Junction. Colorado Mesa is 15-6 all-time at home against the Nighthawks while they are just 3-4 when the game takes place in Idaho.

Northwest Nazarene took the series from the Mavericks last season winning three of the four games in frigid Nampa. It is the first time the Nighthawks had taken the series from the Mavericks.

SCOUTING THE NIGHTHAWKS
No. 19 Northwest Nazarene is off to a dazzling start to the season as they are 7-1-1 with a season opening split of No. 21 Point Loma on the road. They went 2-0-1 against Stanislaus State and swept in town rival College of Idaho in four games.

Manny Casillas leads the team in hitting at .400 and slugging percentage at .800. He went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a home run in the series opener with the 'Yotes.

Jonathan Zayas leads the pitching staff in both innings (18.0) and strikeouts (17) early on in the season. He went seven innings and allowed just one hit and struck out nine in his start against Stanislaus State. 

FINDING THE FOURTH
The Maverick pitching staff has been finding there way in the early season as roles are still being established. Liam Hohenstein, Cole Seward, and Kyle Miller seem to have positioned themselves as thre of the four starters in the rotation as all possess sub-.300 opponents batting average but the fourth starting spot is up in the air.

Salt Lake CC transfer Jordan Pace is set to get the ball in the series finale on Saturday this week. On the season, he has pitched four innings and allowed no runs on four hits with four strikeouts. He pitched the opening game of the NJCAA World Series last spring at Suplizio Field. 

WEEKEND AT BERNI'S
Redshirt junior Max Berni spent the past three seasons developing in the Maverick program and bided his time and now is blossoming. He is coming off his most productive weekend where he saw action in all four games against Montana State Billings.

In the series, he had five hits in four games with a double, a home run and five RBIs. The output was more than what he had in the two previous seasons combined.  The home run was the first of his collegiate career and was a three run shot over the netting in left field. 

This season he is currently batting .333 with a double and a home run in seven games played. 

GOING GONZO
Senior middle infielder Jonathan Gonzalez has been on a torrid pace to start the season. He is currently batting .452 with a double, a triple and an on-base percentage of .471 to open the year.

The Brawley, Calif. native was held hitless in the season opener against Florida Southern but has rebounded and now riding a seven-game hitting streak including a 4-for-5 effort against Montana State Billings in the series opener. 

One of the underrated aspects of his game is his defense. He is fielding .969 with just one error at one of the toughest positions on the field in second base. He is responsible for turning four double plays in the eight games played thus far.

EARLY POSTSEASON METRICS
The College Baseball season is still young but its never too early to check through some of the metrics that help determine who makes the postseason in May.

Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) is one of the key numbers that takes into consideration who you play and how good they are. Currently, Colorado Mesa is No. 19 in the region in RPI and No.15 in performance indicator. That number should rise this weekend as the Mavericks host 7-1-1 Northwest Nazarene.

Colorado Mesa's strength of schedule should increase also as both Florida Southern and Rollins are playing strong schedules along with Northwest Nazarene.

Still a long ways to go and plenty of games to be played. Stay tuned.

MAVERICKS IN MILB

The Colorado Mesa baseball team currently has eight players competing at some level of professional baseball. All eight finished in the minors but two of them saw action in Major League Baseball during the 2023 season. Bligh Madris saw action with the Houston Astros while Kyle Leahy made his MLB debut with the St. Louis Cardinals on July 7. Check out the full list of Colorado Mesa Baseball Alums and ways to follow along on their professional journey:

Bligh Madris (2015-18) // Detroit Tigers
Baseball Reference
MILB.com Profile

Kyle Leahy (2016-18) // St. Louis Cardinals
Baseball Reference
MILB.com Profile

Reagan Todd (2018)  // Colorado Rockies
Baseball Reference
MILB.com Profile

Haydn McGeary (2019-22) // Chicago Cubs
Baseball Reference
MILB.com Profile

Spencer Bramwell (2018-22) // Miami Marlins
Baseball Reference
MILB.com Profile

Caleb Farmer (2018-22) // Washington Nationals
Baseball Reference
MILB.com Profile

Kannon Handy (2020-23) // Colorado Rockies
Baseball Reference
MILB.com Profile

Andrew Morris (2019-21)  // Minnesota Twins
Baseball Reference
MILB.com Profile

RMAC DOMINATION
Colorado Mesa won its 11th straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title in 2023. Since 2009, Colorado Mesa has won nearly 82 percent of their games against RMAC competition as they have a 419-94 record in that span prior to the season.

D2 BASEBALL SUBSCRIBER CUP
Subscribe to D2 Baseball Insider this season for all your updates in Division II baseball including interviews coaches and players, rankings, conference updates and more. Visit d2baseball.com/subscribe to get your subscription today.

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