SERIES HISTORY WITH HIGHLANDS
The Mavericks and Cowboys have had several heated battles over the last 20 years but Colorado Mesa has come out on the winning end several times recently. They have won 15 of the last 16 matchups which date back to the 2019 season and are 93-40 since 2000.

Probably the game long time fans will remember occurred on May 19, 2005 when three-time World Series Champion Sergio Romo carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Cowboys in the NCAA West Region Tournament at Suplizio Field. Colorado Mesa came out on top 6-1 in the game as current Maverick softball assistant coach Willie Hinojosa hit a home run while Sean VanElderen belted two in the win.

SCOUTING THE COWBOYS
New Mexico Highlands is off to an 8-8 start on the campaign after only winning 10 games total last season. They are 3-7 against NCAA Division II competition as they swept NAIA Oklahoma Panhandle and split with Southwest. 

Bryant O'Neil is their leading hitter at .426. He has seven doubles and five home runs and has started all 16 games for the Cowboys. He had a two home run game against Southwest on February 25.

Ramon Brion is the Cowboys best arm as he is 2-1 with a 3.18 ERA and has pitched 22.2 innings and struck out 16. He got a no decision in his first start of the season as he pitched five innings and struck out six.

PAULY
Senior Paul Schoenfeld continued to have a nice start to the season in the series win against Montana State Billings. He has been slotted in either the leadoff spot or 2-hole in all 14 games played this season. Schoenfeld is batting .386 which ranks third on the team behind teammates Kolby Felix and Joey Blank.

The Wichita, Kan. native is tied for the team lead with three home runs this season after having a huge game during the third game of the Montana State Billings series. He went 4-for-4 with four runs scored, five runs driven in and hit two home runs in the game. 

He is just one of three players to play in and start all 14 games this season along with Blank and Kennedy Hara.

EMERGING STARTER
Redshirt junior Gauge Lockhart is beginning to emerge as the Friday starter for the Mavericks after three appearances with increased innings loads as the season has progressed. In his first appearance, he pitched one inning with his next appearance going for three innings with both outings coming in relief. Last week, he earned the start in game one and went six innings and allowed one run (unearned) on four hits, walked three and struck out four.

The Delta, Colo. native and Brown transfer is 2-0 with 10 innings pitched and allowed two runs (one earned) one seven hits, walked five and struck out 11 with a 0.90 ERA.

THE START OF THE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule begins this week for eight of the nine schools. Colorado Mesa will be at New Mexico Highlands to start the conference schedule and will also be the final long travel (over five hours) of the season. It has been highly documented that the Mavericks have traveled nearly 5,800 miles (including ground transportation at the site) and have been out of town 15 of 21 days in February.

Colorado Mesa is seeking their 13th straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title after being the unanimous preseason selection to do so. If the Mavericks are successful in doing so, it would be the 20th conference title under head coach Chris Hanks.

FLIP-FLOP
Due to impeding and forecasted weather in Las Vegas, N.M. this weekend, the series between the Mavericks and Cowboys has flipped locations and will now be played in Grand Junction at The Diamond at the Bus Bergman Sports Complex. The odd part of this switch is that the Mavericks will be the visitors despite playing in their home park and will now be contested starting on Saturday and ending on Monday.

A fun fact with the flip in site, date and time is that now Colorado Mesa will have played a game on everyday of the week by the end of the season. They will play on Monday this week and with the added game with Utah Valley will cover Monday and Tuesday. The first round of the RMAC Tournament will be played on a Wednesday which cover the oddest days to play.

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 477-105 record in that span prior to the season.