GRAND JUNCTION – Making its sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament – including the fourth time in the last six years, the New Mexico Highlands baseball team (32-20), ranked sixth in the South Central Region, will make the jog to Grand Junction, Colorado, for the second straight weekend. The Cowboys square off against top-seeded and fifth-ranked Colorado Mesa (40-10) Thursday (May 15) at 7 p.m.
The South Central Region Tournament web site is located
here. Live stats for every region tournament games are found
here while live video for the Colorado Mesa-New Mexico Highlands game is located
here. A Trip Down Memory Lane This is the sixth bid to the NCAA Tournament in program history, all under 17-year head coach
Steve Jones. The Cowboys previously made the NCAA Tournament in 2001, 2005, 2009-2010 and 2012 and hold a 5-10 record overall. Going 1-2 in 2001 in the West Regional, the Cowboys went 0-2 in both 2005 (West) and 2009 (Central). Highlands went 2-2 in both 2010 and 2012 (Central).
This will be the Cowboys first NCAA Tournament in which they are in the South Central Region.
Highlands has played both Colorado Mesa and St. Cloud State in the NCAA Tournament four times. The Cowboys and Mavericks have split in the times they have met in the NCAA Tournament; however, Highlands has won the last two meetings in the extra season. Highlands beat Mesa 11-8 in 2010 to knock them out of the tournament and 2-0 to open the NCAA Tournament for both teams in 2012. Jason Sirak twirled a complete game six-hitter in knocking off the 15th-ranked Mavericks in the contest.
The Deciding Factor It will have quite the conference tournament feel – at least in the first round – of the South Central Regional, as two games will feature teams in the same conference. Besides #1 Colorado Mesa against #6 New Mexico Highlands both being in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the 2-5 match-up between West Texas A&M and Tarleton State is a battle of Lone Star Conference teams. In fact, it is a rematch of that conference tournament final.
While the 3-4 match-up features Texas A&M Kingsville (Lone Star) against St. Edward's (Heartland Conference), the teams met each other in 2014, splitting a pair of mid-week games. Even though it is the lower seed, Tarleton holds a 5-4 edge over West Texas A&M this season, including having won the past four meetings.
Finally, Colorado Mesa split the season series with Highlands March 21-23 in Las Vegas, New Mexico. To say it was an entertaining series would be an understatement. The Cowboys took the first game in an amazing comeback, 12-11. The two split dominating, seven-inning games on Saturday before the Mavericks claimed a 20-4 win to conclude the series.
In the series opener, the Mavericks had two separate lead of five, 6-1 and 11-6 (the latter heading in to the bottom of the eighth), but Highlands scored three in both the eighth and ninth for the walk-off win. Trailing 11-9 in the ninth, three-straight singles to begin the inning brought the Cowboys within one and put the winning run on base. Redshirt junior
Matthew Chavez followed with a pinch hit, bases clearing double to give the Cowboys the win.
To read more about the comeback win for the Cowboys, click
here. Junior
Cody Brown allowed a single run in the third game of the series as the Cowboys won 10-1.
To read about the double-header split, click
here. Juniors
Joe Cervantes and
Morgan McCasland both had six hits for the series while McCasland had two home runs and six RBI's to lead the Cowboys. Brown led the Cowboys on the mound, allowing one earned run and only five hits while striking out three in a complete game win. McCasland was also a force behind the plate, throwing out 4-of-5 runners in the Friday game to allow the Cowboys a chance to comeback.
Colorado Mesa achieved a series split thanks to a 20-4 win in the Sunday finale. Both teams went scoreless in the first two innings, but the Mavericks' Austin Kaiser hit a three-run blast en route to a five-run third inning and the 16-run win.
To read more about the Sunday finale, click
here. Sergio Valenzuela had the hot bat against the Cowboys with 11 hits in 15 at-bats (.733 average) with eight runs scored and four RBI's. Seven different Mavericks hit above .500 for the series as six-different players recorded a home run.
Ryan Reno had the hot hand on the mound against the Cowboys, allowing only one earned run on one hit against the Cowboys in a complete game win on Saturday.
Scouting Colorado Mesa The Cowboys will be looking to cool the hot bats of Colorado Mesa as it leads the conference with a .358 batting average while the Cowboys are third (.322). The contest has the potential to be an offensive slug fest as Highlands and the Mavericks sit 1-2 in the conference in multiple offensive categories. Colorado Mesa gets the best of Highlands in runs and home runs, but Highlands easily leads the Mavericks in triples, 26-12.
Individually, Austin Kaiser leads the nation with a .511 batting average with 97 hits in 190 at-bats. The Mavericks also have the top-3 starters in the conference in terms of ERA, led by Matt Delay a perfect 8-0 with a 2.54 ERA. Joey Danner is close behind at 6-2 with a 3.22 ERA while
Kyle Davis is 6-0 with a 3.48 ERA.
Congrats Are In Order Head coach
Steve Jones, already the winningest coach in school history, won his 550th game as head coach with a 2-1 win over Colorado Mines last Friday (May 9). The following milestone wins for Coach Jones:
| Win Number | Opponent | Score | Location |
| Win 1 | College of the Southwest | 8-6 | Away |
| Win 50 | Metro State | 7-4 | Away |
| Win 100 | Colorado Mesa | 10-5 | Home |
| Win 200 | Colorado Mesa | 7-2 | Away |
| Win 300 | Colorado Mesa | 4-2 | Home |
| Win 400 | Nebraska-Kearney | 11-5 | Away |
| Win 500 | Colorado State-Pueblo | 15-9 | Away |
It should be noted after three of the milestone wins (100, 200, and 300), the next win came against Colorado Mesa.
Next Up Due to the scheduling quirk of having a six-team regional, the Cowboys will return to action on Friday (May 16) against a team who has lost in the first round, regardless whether Highlands wins or loses Thursday. If they win, they play the loser between Texas A&M Kingsville and St. Edward's Friday at 3:30 p.m. If the Cowboys lose, they play the loser between West Texas A&M and Tarleton State Friday at noon.
