Mesa State Mavs riding good vibe into RMAC tournament

By Phil Sandoval
Grand Junction, CO, Colorado
May 7, 2008

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    Chris Hanks has a good feeling about his team.

    “I’d say we’re on our way,” said Mesa State’s head baseball coach after the Mavericks earned the right to host this week’s Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s postseason tournament.

    “Have we peaked yet? I don’t know. Can we play better? We’ll have to wait and see,” Hanks said.

    But the signs look positive for the No. 1 seeded Mavericks as they start play in the double-elimination tournament this evening with No. 6 New Mexico Highlands.

    Especially in light of last week’s dramatic events.

    The Mavericks won their fourth straight RMAC regular season title Sunday as the final part of four-game series sweep of former conference leader Metro State.

    The 16-5 victory raised Mesa State’s current winning streak heading into tonight’s tournament opener with New Mexico Highlands to nine straight games.

    In the regular season, the Mavericks won 6 of 8 games over the Mustangs, which includes a 2-of-4 game series split at Suplizio Field on April 18-20.

    New Mexico Highlands also appears to have found their stroke going into postseason play. Since April 26, the Mustangs have won 5 of their last 7 games.

    Offensively, Highlands has two of the RMAC’s top hitters in their lineup.

    Travon Jackson, a senior from Apple Valley, Calif., hit .447 in the regular season with a conference-leading 101 hits in 226 at bats with 25 doubles (No. 2 in the RMAC) and 67 runs scored.

    Kyle Gerhart, another California resident, provides additional sock. The senior outfielder complied a .424 batting average in 56 games with 63 RBIs.

    Two pitchers — Nick Toscani and Erick Carranza — have four games each.
Mesa State has two .400-plus hitters as well.

    Mike Provencher enters the tournament with a .435 mark. Additionally, the junior is the RMAC co-leader in home runs (16) with teammate Kyle Houge and second in total hits (94), RBIs (70) and runs scored (69).

    Curtis Englehart, the Mavericks’ first baseman, leads the regulars with a .440 batting average and 63 RBIs.

    Left-hander Chris Carma tops the pitching staff with 7-3 record and 77 strikeouts in 12 appearances. When needed, Hanks can turn to four other hurlers with perfect records.

    Jason Fronczak, Sunday’s winning pitcher, is 3-0 with a 4.06 earned run average. T. J. Butch is 6-0. Aaron Guinn and Andy Williams are 3-0 and 2-0 respectively.

    Reach Phil Sandoval at psandoval@gjfreepress.com.