*Reminder the series has moved to Saturday (1pm), Sunday doubleheader (12pm), and Monday (12pm) in Denver*

SERIES HISTORY
Colorado Mesa will open Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play this weekend when they travel to downtown Denver to face MSU Denver in a four-game series at The Assembly Athletic Complex.

The Mavericks are 105-35 all-time against the Roadrunners and have won 18 of the last 22 matchups. They took three of the four games from the Roadrunners in the conference series last season in Grand Junction.

Colorado Mesa is 37-24 all-time in Denver and split the last series with the Roadrunners which occurred in 2022. In that series, each team won a close matchup and won a lopsided game.

SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS
Colorado Mesa and MSU Denver were the top two teams in the Preseason RMAC Coach's Poll and they will be meeting up in week one of the conference season for the second straight season. 

Zach Schuler continues to lead the Roadrunner offense after an All-American season a year ago. He is batting .397 with nine doubles and three home runs with an OPS north of 1.200. 

Righthander Jack Slominski leads the Roadrunner pitching staff with a 2-2 record in 27 innings pitched. He has an ERA of an even 5.00 with 29 strikeouts. He struck out a season-high 10 against Biola the second week of the season.

SEWEY
Junior Cole Seward has bide his time for two full seasons and is now making the most of his opportunities in the starting rotation. Seward has made a start in all three of the Mavericks full series this season and currently has some of the best numbers. He is 2-0 on the season with a team best 1.56 ERA.

Seward pitched a complete game in a Maverick 2-1 win over Northwest Nazarene. He allowed one unearned run on five hits, walked one and struck out five against the nationally ranked Nighthawks. For the effort, Seward was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week. 

STEEL CITY SLINGER
Junior righthander Kyle Miller has had a terrific start to the season on the mound. Miller has earned a start on the mound in each of the Mavericks first three series of the season. Miller has pitched at least five innings in all three of his starts and is already reaching career-highs. 

The Pueblo, Colo. native has a 3.94 ERA in 16 innings pitched with 12 strikeouts. Opposing hitters are hitting just .224 against him which is over 100 points lower than his next previous season best. The 16 innings pitched is already a career-high for innings in a season for Miller. 

Miller has also seen time in the field for the Mavericks. He has four at-bats on the season and is still in search of his first hit. 

GETTING HEALTHY
The Mavericks have been a little banged up to start this season and heading into conference play. Two opening day starters have been in and out of the lineup and a third has yet to step on the field this year.

Colorado Mesa is hopeful to have Jonathan Gonzalez and Paul Schoenfeld back this weekend after missing large parts of the last three series. The Brawley, Calif. native is hitting .452 while Schoenfeld is batting .391 this season and hit for the cycle in the series finale against Northwest Nazarene.

Stevenson Reynolds has yet to play in a game yet this season after playing in 48 games and starting 46 of them a year ago. He hit .367 with nine doubles and six home runs as a junior. The Mavericks are hoping to have him back soon. 

HEADING INTO CONFERENCE PLAY
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play opens this week for eight of the nine schools in the conference. 

CSU Pueblo is 11-5 following non-conference action to lead the RMAC followed by Regis at 8-7-1 with a city curfew tie against Westmont. Colorado Mesa and Colorado School of Mines are tied at 7-7 with MSU Denver also in at 9-9. 

Colorado Mesa, Regis and Colorado Christian all hold the distinction of facing a team that played in the NCAA Division II National Championships during the non conference portion of the schedule.  The Mavericks played Rollins, the Cougars played Cal State San Bernadino and Regis played Augustana.

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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