SERIES HISTORY
The Mavericks will host Montana State Billings for their home opening series for the Courtyard by Marriott Leadoff Weekend at The Diamond. Colorado Mesa holds a 17-5 all-time record against the Yellow Jackets with all 22 matchups coming in Grand Junction.

Colorado Mesa took three of the four games in last year's series with the Mavericks winning a pair of lopsided games (19-8, 16-6) and a close one (5-4). 

Montana State Billings was able to split the series in 2017 the same year the Mavericks reached the NCAA Division Ii National Tournament and finished in the top four nationally. 

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
Montana State Billings comes into the weekend with a 1-5 record after spending the first week of the season in California to take on San Francisco State and Chico State. They won the season opener against San Fran before dropping the final five games.

The Yellow Jackets are coached by Derek Waddoups who has a 48-95-1 record in Billings. Prior to his time with the Yellow Jackets, he was an assistant coach at Salt Lake Community College and amassed a 434-233 record at SLCC.

Bodee Wright comes into the series with a 474 average and nine hits and three doubles.

SEASON OPENING MAGIC
The Colorado Mesa Mavericks were able to secure an opening day win over Florida Southern 4-3 in Lakeland, Fla. In the win they were only able to secure two hits but benefitted from eight walks and a hit by pitch.

It was the first time since April 21, 2012 when they earned a win while only recording two hits. That win came over now MSU Denver 4-0. 

If you were wondering if this was the first time the Mavericks had two hits on opening day, it isnt. They had two hits in the 2007 season opener against Grand Canyon but lost 2-1. 

THE START OF A CAREER
The Mavericks typically run out veteran lineups to start the season before making tweaks and changes throughout the season but this year was a little different. True freshman Ethan Nunez made the opening day start against Florida Southern and recorded a triple in his first collegiate at-bat.

Nunez became the first Maverick to start his first collegiate game since Bligh Madris and Zach McLeod earned the opening day start on February 6, 2015 when they started game one against now Division I UC-San Diego.

STRONG STARTS
Colorado Mesa had a handful of player make a strong start to the season. Senior second baseman Jonathan Gonzalez played well in the opening weekend in the Sunshine State. The Brawley, Calif. native is batting .375 with a team leading six hits and made several run saving plays in the field. 

Junior outfielder Brent Renteria picked up where he left off going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a home run. Renteria hit three home runs in 12 at-bats a season ago.

First baseman Braden Winget had three hits in three games in Florida. Winget is one of the early slugging percentage team leaders at .625 after two of his three hits were doubles.

HOME OPENING WEEKEND
Colorado Mesa is set to take on Montana State Billings in the Courtyard by Marriott Leadoff Weekend at The Diamond at the Bus Bergman Sports Complex. This year's series will mark three of the last four years the Mavericks will take on the Yellow Jackets in the home opening series to open the season.

Last season, Colorado Mesa swept Azusa Pacific at home to open the season 4-0. 

FAMILIAR TERRITORY
Every spring the City of Grand Junction hosts the Division I Junior College World Series at Suplizio Field. This year's roster features three student-athletes that played in the tournament last spring. 

Josh Romans played for Weatherford from Texas while Jordan Pace and Preston Winget played for Salt Lake Community College.

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.

D2 Baseball is having a contest with their subscriptions nationwide as the school with the most subscribers will be given a $5,000 doantion, second place is $3,500 and third place is worth $1,500.

Weekly updates as the season goes along with where the schools stand will be available so follow on X @d2bsblinsider