SERIES HISTORY WITH ROLLINS
The Mavericks and Tars have had solid battle the last three seasons that the two programs have met up. The Two teams have split the six total games with each team winning the three game series on their home field.

Last season, Rollins earned the series win two games to one in Winter Park, Fla. winning game one 5-1 before the Tars took games two and three 4-3 and 13-4 respectively.

Colorado Mesa picked up the series win in Grand Junction in 2023 winning the first and third games 10-8 and 10-9 with Rollins grinding out a 6-4 win in game two of the series.

SCOUTING THE TARS
Rollins plays in the always tough Sunshine State Conference and has fared well with two weekends left on the conference calendar. They swept then ranked Embry-Riddle, Nova Southeastern and Eckerd thus far with nationally ranked Florida Southern still upcoming.

Jeslyn Whitehead leads the team in batting at .413 while Mason Wilson provides the punch in the middle of the lineup with 12 doubles and 12 home runs on the season.

The Tars have a pitching staff similar to the Mavericks, they dont strike a lot of batters out but dont give up many hits either. Nick Berger leads the staff at 9-2 with a 3.14 ERA in 66 innings with 45 strikeouts.

REYNOLDS RAPS
Senior first baseman Stevenson Reynolds has finally become healthy and has really turned it on offensively in the last month. On March 27 (Game one of the Colorado School of Mines series), Reynolds was batting .321 and as he enters the series with Rollins he is hitting at a clip of .377. 

In that stretch of games, the Mesa, Colo. native is batting .440 with three doubles, four home runs and 15 runs driven in. His best game in that stretch came against UCCS (April 12) where he went 4-for-5 with four runs scored and three runs driven in. 

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS
Paul Schoenfeld and Cameron Cartwright have the opportunity to do something that hasnt been done since the 2016 season. For Schoenfeld with a hit in game one of the series and for Cartwright a hit in the first two games of the series with Rollins would move their hitting streaks to 20 games. 

The last person to reach the 20-game hitting streak plateau was current Detroit Tigers AAA player Bligh Madris whose streak went from April 18, 2015 to February 20, 2016 a span that stretched across two seasons. 

Schoenfeld is currently batting a team-high .419 and has had a hit in 38 of his 40 games that he has played in this season while Cartwright is at .411 with 11 multi-hit games during his 18-game hitting streak.

THE NEXT MILESTONE
Colorado Mesa head coach Chris Hanks is on the doorstep of his next coaching milestone. With his next coaching win, the 27 year head coach of the Mavericks will reach 1,100 wins in his career. He would become the fifth active Division II head coach and the 12 active NCAA head coach to accomplish the feat.

Only 12 other NCAA Division II head coaches have reached the 1,100 win mark all-time. 

Hanks reached 1,000 wins back on March 24, 2023 when the Mavericks defeated Colorado Christian in Lakewood, 15-0.

DOWN THE STRETCH
With two weeks left in the regular season, Colorado Mesa has a four game lead in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings over second place Regis. With the Mavericks on their conference bye this week, the Rangers have the opportunity to make up two games (a half game per win) on the Mavericks this weekend.

If Regis sweeps New Mexico Highlands this weekend, Colorado Mesa would need to win two games against MSU Denver in the final week of the regular season. Two losses by the Rangers would mean that the Mavericks will have clinched hosting duties for the RMAC Tournament and would need to win one game against MSU Denver for the outright RMAC Regular Season title.

The NCAA released their alphabetical regional rankings this week and to no surprise the Mavericks made the list. The first numerical listing will come out next Wednesday April 30.

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 496-108 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) - 1,344-733 (38 seasons)
2. Greg Guilliams (Flagler) - 1,207-596 (35 seasons)
3. Jeff Messer (Slippery Rock) - 1,150-754 (40 seasons)
4. Bob Fornelli (Pittsburg State) - 1,111-492 (29 seasons)
5. Chris Hanks (Colorado Mesa) - 1,099-424 (27 seasons)
6. Joe Urso (Tampa) - 1,042-293 (25 seasons)
7. Jim Gantt (Catawba) - 1,023-513 (29 seasons)
8. Greg Appleton (Columbus State) - 991-520 (28 seasons)
9. Tim Mead (Walsh) - 953-966 (42 seasons)
10. Brad Hill (Emporia State) - 928-531 (26 seasons)

NCAA Active Head Coaches with 1,000 wins
1. Paul Mainieri (South Carolina) - 1,529
2. Danny Hall (Georgia Tech) - 1,440
3. John Schaly (Ashland) - 1,344
4. Bob Babb (Johns Hopkins) - 1,335
5. Tom Austin (Methodist) - 1,309
6. Dave Van Horn (Arkansas) - 1,290
7. Elliott Avent (NC State) - 1,287
8. Greg Guilliams (Flagler) - 1,207
9. Rich Hill (Hawaii) - 1,199
10. Jeff Messer (Slippery Rock) - 1,150
11. Bob Fornelli (Pittsburg State) - 1,111
12. Chris Hanks (Colorado Mesa) - 1,099
13. Rick Heller (Iowa) - 1,069
14. Steve Owens (Rutgers) - 1,064
15. Tim Corbin (Vanderbilt) - 1,057
16. Joe Urso (Tampa) - 1,042
17. Mike Bianco (Ole Miss) - 1,035
18. Augie Schmidt (Carthage) - 1,026
19. Jim Gantt (Catawba) - 1,023
20. Yogi Lutz (Alvernia) - 1,020
21. Rich Maloney (Ball State) - 1,017