RIVERSIDE, Calif. --Â For the first time, California Baptist University and Colorado Mesa cross paths in a non-conference, four-game series that may come early in the season but holds big implications come playoffs.
It is a huge series for the Lancers, as they will be put to the test against one of the top NCAA Division II powers in recent years. CBU can build on its recent No. 25 ranking by winning, splitting the series or even being competitive with the third-ranked Mavericks.
CMU figures to give the Lancers their greatest challenge, as the Mavericks were impossible to beat at Suplizio Field in 2014, going 30-0 at home and then advancing all the way to the Division II Championships. The Mavericks finished runner-up and knocked off top-seeded Tampa in the national tournament before falling to preseason #1 Southern Indiana.
CBU is 4-2 coming off series wins over Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills, while Colorado Mesa is 5-1 after a sweep of #12 UC San Diego and 3-1 series win over the PacWest's Dixie State. The Red Storm were outscored 33-19 in its host series, but won the finale 7-6 and lost the third game by one, 3-2.Â
PITCHING MATCHUPIt will likely be a battle of No. 1s -- CBU's
Adam Hofacket and CMU's Matt Delay -- in the series opener Thursday at 1 p.m. Delay is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA through nine innings and two starts. He picked up the first RMAC Pitcher of the Week award on Feb. 10th after holding UC San Diego to no runs and three hits, while striking out nine and not allowing a runner passed second base in five innings. Delay was tagged for eight hits, five runs (three earned) and two walks against Dixie State. Through two starts, Hofacket is 0-1 with a 4.76 ERA with 15 strikeouts through 11 1/3 innings. He bounced back with a strong start against CSUDH last Thursday, allowing six hits, three walks and one run with eight strikeouts.Â
STREAKS CONTINUETwo Lancers have logged a base hit in all six games this season --
Zack Norris and
Andy Crowley.
Andrew Montoya has also reached base in all six games.
Stephen Lohr has had a base hit in the last five games and is responsible for the most multi-hit games with four each, followed by three from Norris, who is leading the team in batting average with nine hits in 18 at-bats.Â
RANKINGS ROUNDUPA new NCAA Division II poll was released Monday, as CBU moved up from No. 30 to 25 in the division according to Collegiate Baseball -- one of two official NCAA polls. The Lancers debuted at No. 20 in the NCBWA Division II rankings at the end of January but dropped out on the updated list Tuesday. They also moved from third to sixth in the NCBWA's West Region Top 10, which released its first update Monday. A LOOK AT THE MAVERICKSColorado Mesa was the unanimous pick to repeat as Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champions, receiving the maximum seven first-place votes. CMU has relied on its pitching to start the season, as it staff boasts a 2.08 ERA with 43 strikeouts to just 19 walks through 52 innings. CMU logged two shutouts of UC San Diego, with more than one Maverick pitching in each time. While Matt Delay -- the preseason RMAC Pitcher of the Year -- may get the call on opening day, Ryan Reno, a preseason all-conference pick, is actually off to a better start with a 2.25 ERA, .205 batting average against and nine strikeouts to one walk in 12 innings. Tyler Ehlers is the team's closer with four appearances in six games and three saves. He has allowed less than a base runner an inning, giving up three hits, a walk and striking out three through 4 1/3 innings. The Mavericks are batting .296 as a team and have five players who have logged at least 10 at-bats hitting over .300. Zach McLeod is batting .462 with four doubles, while Trevor Elcock is .412 at the plate, followed by Austin Wallingford (.375) and his seven RBI, Kyle Serrano (.350) and PJ Gonzalez (.300).Â
RECORD WATCH Quite a bit of history was made by CBU in 2014 -- a program-best winning streak (24 games) after the team won its first 15 games of the year and last nine of 2013. Gary Adcock also won his 400th game with the program, and Trevor Oaks became the new career leader in ERA (1.68) after he was drafted in the seventh round by the Los Angeles Dodgers after one season at CBU. More history is set to be made in 2015, as Andy Crowley is 249 at-bats, 68 hits and five triples shy of being the all-time record holder in those categories. Herd is seven wins and five complete games away from history.
LAST YEARCBU relied on a dominant pitching staff that posted a 3.14 ERA and small-ball approach, with a lineup that hit .309 with just 22 home runs (tied for second least in program history) to help it go 39-15, 20-12 in the PacWest last year. It was a far cry from the Lancers' power surge in 2013 when it hit 65 homers, but just as effective. CBU went on to qualify for the NCAA Division II postseason in its first shot and reached the West Region semifinals after entering as the third seed. The Lancers had a flair for the dramatic a year ago, with three walk-off victories from three different players -- Zack Norris, Nathan Antoun and Andy Crowley, who all return this year. ADCOCK AT A GLANCECBU has been a perennial power under coach Gary Adcock, who is in his 12th season coaching the team. He owns a winning percentage of .673 (410-198-1) and has the most wins in program history by 293 games. Ten of his 11 teams have qualified for the postseason, the lone exception being in 2009, with four reaching the national bracket and three winning national titles, including the NAIA World Series title in 2010 and NCCAA Championships in 2012 and 2013. The Lancers reached the NCAA Division II West Region semifinals last year. His teams have won five conference championships, including a four-year run from 2010 to 2013. Nineteen of his players have been All-American, 19 were named national scholar-athletes, 14 were selected in the MLB Draft and 12 of his athletes have been conference Player (six) or Pitcher of the Year (six), with 56 athletes earning all-conference selection. MULTIMEDIAVideo, live stat and audio coverage of this week's series in Colorado Mesa will be available. CMU offers free live stats on its website and video through America ONE Sports for $8 a game. CBU will also provide its own complimentary audio broadcast of the games at portal.stretchinternet.com/cbulancers -- your one-stop shop for live coverage of Lancer athletics. CBU's audio link will be made available about 15 minutes before the game is scheduled to begin. Fans can also follow along on Twitter at twitter.com/cbulancers.
FULL SERIES NOTES
