In his 27th season leading the Colorado Mesa baseball program, Chris Hanks is three wins short of 1,100 victories.

To get to 1,100 victories, the Mavericks (28-10 overall, 21-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) must secure the feat in Denver this weekend as Regis (27-11, 17-3) hosts Mesa on Thursday and Friday with doubleheaders starting at 11 a.m. each day.

A Carbondale, Colo., native and 1993 Colorado Mesa graduate, Hanks is one of just 21 active head coaches across NCAA Baseball that is over the 1,000 win mark and is fifth in wins among head coaches in NCAA Division II.

Hanks’ Mavericks are 13th nationally and third in the South Central Region behind Angelo State (35-7) and UT Tyler (33-9).  Regis, listed 31st nationally, has won its last nine games and is fifth in the region behind St. Edward’s (31-15) and West Texas A&M (36-16).

Last season, Colorado Mesa won three of four games over Regis during the regular season before defeating the Rangers twice last May in the RMAC postseason tournament in Grand Junction, highlighted by an 11-1 victory in the title game.

With eight games left in the regular season for Colorado Mesa and 12 for Regis, the Mavericks and Rangers have clinched spots in the six-school RMAC postseason tournament to be held at the site of the regular-season champion starting on May 7.

 MSU Denver (23-15, 15-5) has earned a spot in the RMAC playoffs and plays a four-game series at Colorado Mesa on May 1-3.  With an eight-game winning streak, the Roadrunners play at CSU Pueblo (23-15, 13-7) this weekend before hosting UC Colorado Springs the next week before the Maverick series.

Colorado Mesa’s “magic” number to clinch its 13th consecutive RMAC regular season title is nine (Maverick wins plus Regis losses).  The RMAC tournament title game is scheduled for May 10, with the NCAA II Division playoffs beginning the following week.