SERIES HISTORY WITH COLO. CHRISTIAN
The Mavericks have gotten the best of Colorado Christian since the Cougars brought the baseball program into their department in 2006. Colorado Mesa owns a 95-11 all-time series record including a record of 50-4 at home in Grand Junction.

However, in 2022 Colorado Christian claimed their lone series win over the Mavericks winning three of four games at All-Star Park in Lakewood.

The Mavericks are 9-1 in their last ten matchups with Colorado Christian which includes a series sweep last season in which Colorado Mesa averaged 15.8 runs per game in the four games.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Colorado Christian has started the year with a 6-19 record overall and 3-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. They defeated Regis in a non-conference game and earned the series win over Adams State last weekend in Lakewood.

Major Maydon is the Cougars biggest threat at the plate with a .355 average and a 1.175 OPS. He has hit seven home runs including a pair of games with two home runs.

Freshman Austin DeMello has been solid out of the pen for CCU. He is 0-1 in five appearances with a 1.29 ERA. He has seven strikeouts in seven innings pitched with a pair of saves. 

LONG HOMESTAND
After traveling over 5,500 miles in the first three weeks of the season, the Mavericks have been at home the past three weekend and will make it four straight weekends when they host Colorado Christian at The Diamond at The Bus Bergman Sports Complex.

The Mavericks have benefited so far from playing those games at home as they are 7-2 and will end up playing 13 of their 17 games in March in Grand Junction. They will head out on the road for a four-game series with Colorado School of Mines in Golden next weekend.

SEEING DOUBLE
Colorado Mesa has had great pitching this season along with great defense and the two go hand and hand. Despite playing on a natural surface for their home games (six of the nine RMAC schools play on artificial turf), the Mavericks are the top defensive team in the RMAC with a fielding percentage of .973, which also ranks No. 25 nationally.

The Maverick defense is also tops in NCAA Division II in double plays per game at 1.23 and are second in total double plays with 27, just two behind NCAA South Central Region foe Texas-Tyler. 

POWER PEN
The Mavericks have one of the luxuries that not many schools in college baseball, not just Division II, have...a bullpen stacked with power arms. Colorado Mesa has seven pitchers that have yet to give up an earned run this season. That group has combined for 27 and two-thirds innings (over three total games) and have allowed 14 hits, walked 12 and struck out 35 batters. 

That group doesnt include the two guys out of the bullpen with the most appearances in Cayden Clark and JJ Almeda. Clark leads the team in appearances with 10 which includes three last weekend and has kept opposing batters to a .163 batting average while Almeda has pitched nine plus innings and has allowed nine hits and struck out 11.

THE ROMAN(S) EMPIRE
Senior infielder Josh Romans had quite the weekend in his two starts. Romans finished the weekend batting .571 (4-for-7) with two home runs, three runs scored, and four runs driven in. He was 2-for-2 in his stolen base attempts and played error-free defense at second base and third base.

The Canton, Ohio native has played in 12 games and made five starts this season. He is batting .391, third on the team for those that qualify, with four home runs and 10 runs driven in. He has split his time across the infield but could be pushing for more starts with his production from the series with CSU Pueblo.

STANDINGS OUTLOOK
All schools have now competed in the conference schedule after CSU Pueblo competed following the opening week bye and things are beginning to take shape even after just two weeks. Colorado Mesa and Regis are entangled at the top with matching 7-1 records with Colorado School of Mines two games back at 5-3.

UCCS and Adams State have matching 4-4 records in a tie for fourth place with Colorado Christian at 3-5 and both CSU Pueblo and MSU Denver at 1-3.

MAVERICKS IN MILB
The Colorado Mesa baseball team currently has six 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
Haydn McGeary (2019-22) // Chicago Cubs
Spencer Bramwell (2018-22) // Miami Marlins
Caleb Farmer (2018-22) // Washington Nationals
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 480-106 record in that span prior to the season.

THE BEST AROUND
Two seasons ago, head coach Chris Hanks eclipsed the 1,000 win mark in his career. He is one of just 21 head coaches across NCAA Baseball that is over the 1,000 win mark and is fifth in wins in NCAA Division II of active head coaches.

Top-10 Division II Active Head Coaches by wins
1. John Schaly (Ashland) - 1,325-727 (38 seasons)
2. Greg Guilliams (Flagler) - 1,197-586 (35 seasons)
3. Jeff Messer (Slippery Rock) - 1,131-747 (40 seasons)
4. Bob Fornelli (Pittsburg State) - 1,094-488 (29 seasons)
5. Chris Hanks (Colorado Mesa) - 1,083-422 (27 seasons)
6. Joe Urso (Tampa) - 1,027-290 (25 seasons)
7. Jim Gantt (Catawba) - 1,009-508 (29 seasons)
8. Greg Appleton (Columbus State) - 977-513 (28 seasons)
9. Tim Mead (Walsh) - 941-956 (42 seasons)
10. Brad Hill (Emporia State) - 917-521 (26 seasons)

NCAA Active Head Coaches with 1,000 wins
1. Paul Mainieri (South Carolina) - 1,521
2. Danny Hall (Georgia Tech) - 1,427
3. John Schaly (Ashland) - 1,325
4. Bob Babb (Johns Hopkins) - 1,315
5. Tom Austin (Methodist) - 1,298
6. Elliott Avent (NC State) - 1,274
7. Dave Van Horn (Arkansas) - 1,272
8. Greg Guilliams (Flagler) - 1,197
9. Rich Hill (Hawaii) - 1,187
10. Jeff Messer (Slippery Rock) - 1,131
11. Bob Fornelli (Pittsburg State) - 1,094
12. Chris Hanks (Colorado Mesa) - 1,083
13. Steve Owens (Rutgers) - 1,055
14. Rick Heller (Iowa) - 1,051
15. Tim Corbin (Vanderbilt) - 1,042
16. Joe Urso (Tampa) - 1,027
17. Mike Bianco (Ole Miss) - 1,021
18. Augie Schmidt (Carthage) - 1,012
19. Jim Gantt (Catawba) - 1,009
20. Yogi Lutz (Alvernia) - 1,004
21. Rich Maloney (Ball State) - 1,002