SERIES HISTORY WITH MSU BILLINGS
The Mavericks and Yellowjackets have played each of the four seasons and five if you include 2019 sandwiched with COVID in 2020. There first series meeting occurred in 2013 at Suplizio Field.

Colorado Mesa leads the all-time series 20-6 with all 26 matchups occurring in Grand Junction. The series has been played at three different venues in town with those coming at Suplizio Field, Canyon View Park and The Diamond.

The Mavericks took the season series last year 3-1 with the only non-series win in the series for the Mavericks occurred in 2017 when the two teams split the series at Suplizio Field. 

SCOUTING THE YELLOWJACKETS
The Yellowjackets have started the year off strong and are receiving votes in the ABCA coaches national poll after an 8-4 start to the season. 

They opened the season with five games in the San Francisco Bay Area where they went 3-2 before taking on a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schools in CSU Pueblo and Regis. The Yellowjackets won the series with the ThunderWolves 3-1 and the series with Regis 2-1. All those games have been on the road.

Jack Nehler leads the 'Jackets at the plate batting .462 while Jackson Betancourt is the ace of the staff with a team-high 16 strikeouts in 17.2 innings pitched.

HOME SWEET HOME
After traveling nearly 4,800 miles and spending 15-of-21 days on the road in February, the Colorado Mesa Baseball Team is finally home and will host the MSU Billings Yellowjackets for their home opening series this week. 

In their past 10 home opening games, the Mavericks are 8-2 in those games falling only to now Division I Cal Baptist in 2015 and Northwest Nazarene in 2021. 

The Mavericks have been a daunting challenge for opposing teams when they come to Grand Junction. Since 2015, the Mavericks have won over 82 percent of their games at home with a record of 229-50 in that stretch.

1-2 PUNCH
Colorado Mesa has developed a nice 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation in the early portion of the season. Staff ace Ethan Voss has paired nicely with junior Liam Hohenstein to form a formidable pair to start series off with.

Voss, a senior, is 2-0 with a 4.30 ERA in 14 and two-thirds innings pitched in three appearances this year. Voss had a rough start against Chico State where he allowed six runs on 11 hits but if you remove that start he has allowed one run on nine hits and struck out six in 11 innings pitched.

Hohenstein has returned to form for his junior season after an up-and-down sophomore year. The Castle Rock, Colo. native has pitched 14 and two-thirds innings and allowed four earned runs on 13 hits and struck out 17 while garnering a 2.45 ERA.

SETTING THE TABLE
Senior Paul Schoenfeld has batted leadoff for the Mavericks in nine of the 10 games this season. His job is to find a way on base for others behind him to drive him in. It is no suprise that he has the most at-bats to lead an inning off and he is reaching at a 30 percent clip (6-for-20) which is lower than the team average of .365.

The highest percentage of reaching as the leadoff batter is the regular two-hole hitter Kolby Felix who reaches as the leadoff 62.5 percent of the time. Felix and Stevenson Reynolds have each reached base as the leadoff man five times with Schoenfeld leading the way with six.

ADDITIONAL GAME
After losing a game at Cal Poly Pomona and Chico State due to weather the Mavericks were one game short on the season with 49 total games. In NCAA Division II, you are allowed to play 50 games so Colorado Mesa was actually one game heavy to begin the season but natural attrition took place and are now at 49.

They have added a game to get back to 50. Colorado Mesa will now play at Division I Utah Valley on April 1 at 2pm at UCCU Ballpark in Orem, Utah. The Mavericks are 4-0 all-time against the Wolverines with those matchups occurring in 2004, the first year Utah Valley became a four-year school.

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 2024 season. 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
Kyle Leahy (2016-18) // St. Louis Cardinals
Reagan Todd (2018) // Colorado Rockies
Haydn McGeary (2019-22) // Chicago Cubs
Spencer Bramwell (2018-22) // Miami Marlins
Caleb Farmer (2018-22) // Washington Nationals
Kannon Handy (2020-23) // Colorado Rockies
Andrew Morris (2019-21)  // Minnesota Twins

RMAC DOMINATION
Colorado Mesa won its 12th straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title in 2024 and was the unanimous selection to win their 13th in row in the RMAC Preseason Poll as selected by the coaches prior to the season. 

Since 2009, Colorado Mesa has won 82 percent of their games against RMAC competition as they have a 477-105 record in that span prior to the season.