Quick Hits
• The fourth-ranked Central Missouri Mules will host Nebraska-Kearney in the 2013 home opener on Friday and Saturday at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
• UCM is ranked No. 4 in this week's ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll and the Mules are ranked in the top five in all four national polls.
• Central Missouri was the unanimous preseason favorite to win the MIAA as chosen by the league coaches.
• The Mules were 48-9 a season ago, their 14th consecutive season with 40 or more wins.
The Series
• Central Missouri and Nebraska-Kearney have met just one time on the diamond with the Mules holding a 1-0 lead in the series.
• The Mules beat the Lopers 10-0 back on March, 9, 2001 in the only previous meeting between the two schools.
• The teams will open the series on Friday afternoon with a doubleheader at 3 p.m. and wrap up the series with a single game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Nebraska-Kearney
• The Lopers come into the series at 8-7 overall and 8-5 in MIAA play. UNK swept a three-game series from Truman State last weekend.
• The Lopers are batting .327 as a team and are led by Brian Wuest's .469 average. Anthony Pacheco is hitting .436 and Danny Droll batts .408. Wuest leads the team with eight home runs and 29 RBI as well.
• The Nebraska-Kearney pitching staff has an 7.02 team ERA allowing 119 runs, 92 earned, in 118.0 innings. Dalton Cowen is 2-2 with a 3.48 ERA in seven relief appearances. Carlos Palomo is 2-1 with a 5.00 ERA in three starts and four total appearances. The Loper bullpen has three saves and the pitching staff has given up 41 extra-base hits.
• Opponents are batting .328 against Loper pitching.
• The pitching staff has issued 59 walks and struck out 60 in 118.0 innings.
• UNK has committed 30 errors in the field and sports a .946 fielding percentage.
The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the series at 11-1 overall and 8-0 in MIAA play after sweeping a doubleheader against Truman last Thursday afternoon in Bolivar.
• The Mules are batting .367 as a team and are led by
Kyle Grieshaber's .455 average.
John Oropeza is also hitting above .400 at .447 and
Trevor Jones is hitting .429. Grieshaber leads the team with five home runs and he and Oropeza have 20 RBI.
Brad Wilson is batting .383 with three long balls and a team-leading 21 runs batted in.
• The UCM pitching staff has an ERA of 3.91 and opponents are hitting .263 against them.
Dany Coulombe has a 1.69 ERA and one win in three appearances.
Jake Heissler leads the staff with a 3-0 record and 21 strikeouts in 13.1 innings of relief.
Kurtis Schuyler has recorded 17 K's in 13.2 innings pitched.
Worth Noting
• The Mules have scored at least one run in 310 of the 314 games played under head coach Tom Myers.
• UCM has won 28 straight MIAA games dating back to last season. The Mules have won eight straight conference series during that span.
• The Mules out-scored Truman State 41-5 in their doubleheader sweep last Thursday and out-hit the Bulldogs 43-16.
• UCM was 28-of-46 (.609) with runners in scoring position in the doubleheader with Truman.
Last time out
March 7, 2013 - (BOLIVAR, Mo.) -- The fifth-ranked Central Missouri Mules baseball team erupted for 41 runs and 43 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Truman State at Dodson Field on the campus of Southwest Baptist. The Mules won the opener 17-2 before winning the nightcap 24-3. The 24 runs are the most during the Tom Myers era and the most since UCM scored 25 runs in a 25-0 win over Grand Valley State on March 12, 2005.
The Mules (11-1, 8-0 MIAA) jumped on the Bulldogs (2-8, 2-8 MIAA) early and often in game one scoring four runs in the first, four more in the second and seven runs in the third to open a 15-0 lead.
Brad Wilson had an RBI single in the first and
Chase Graskewicz added a two-run single for the Mules. In the second inning,
Kyle Grieshaber belted a three-run home run, his fifth of the season, to give UCM a 7-0 lead and Kevi Gratza added an RBI double to make it 8-0. UCM put up a seven spot in the third inning.
Samuel Domingue started things off with an RBI single before Grieshaber added a sacrifice fly. Wilson doubled home another run before Gratza singled home his second run of the game. The big blow was a three-run home run for
Tucker Cross, his second straight game with a homer.
Central Missouri added a single run in the fourth on Grieshaber's fifth RBI of the game to make it 16-0.
Truman State got on the board with two runs in the sixth, but UCM got one back in the bottom of the inning on a
Ben Cox RBI groundout to make it 17-2.
Marshall Dean (1-0) picked up the win for UCM after tossing 5.1 innings scattering eight hits and allowing two runs. He struck out two and didn't walk a batter.
Logan Siegler (1-2) took the loss for Truman after giving up 15 runs on 14 hits in 2.2 innings.
The Bulldogs jumped on top in game two scoring a run in the top of the first on an RBI single by Paul Trenhaile. The Mules responded with a four spot in the bottom of the inning.
Brad Wilson had an RBI single to tie the game and
John Oropeza emptied the bases with a double to make it 4-1.
Truman pulled to within 4-2 in the third on an RBI single off the bat of Zak Larkin.
UCM put up four more runs in the fourth to open an 8-2 advantage.
Samuel Domingue scored on an error by the leftfielder to open the scoring.
Kyle Grieshaber added his sixth RBI of the day with a double to left center and Wilson and Oropeza added RBI singles as well.
The Mules exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend the lead to 17-2. Domingue had three RBI in the inning on two different at-bats. Wilson had a two-run single and
Seth Wheeler had a bases-loaded double for three more runs in the inning.
The Mules tacked on seven more runs in the sixth, highlighted by
Derek Cornell's two-run double, to open a 24-2 lead.
Andrew Urban (2-0) got the win in relief for the Mules. He allowed two hits in 3.1 innings of relief with two strikeouts.
Jarrett Eiskina (0-2) took the loss for Truman State after giving up eight runs on 11 hits in four innings.
Wilson finished the day 6-for-7 with 8 RBI. Grieshaber drove in six runs, while Domingue and Oropeza each had four RBI.
The doubleheader sweep gives the Mules 82 straight wins over Truman State.
Mules picked to four-peat in 2013
• Central Missouri was the unanimous pick to finish first in the MIAA according to the 15 league coaches in the preseason poll. The Mules received all 14 possible first place votes and tallied 196 points to claim the top spot. Missouri Western received one first place vote and tallied 175 points to come in second.
• Emporia State was picked to finish third, followed by Central Oklahoma and Fort Hays State to round out the top five.
• In the new 15-team MIAA, the Mules will play the other four teams in their pod (Lincoln, Lindenwood, Southwest Baptist and Truman State) four times, two at home and two on the road in midweek doubleheaders. UCM will play the other conference teams in three-game series on the weekends.
Mules in MIAA play
• Central Missouri is 8-0 this year and 166-34 overall in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers following a doubleheader sweep of Truman State last Thursday in Bolivar.
• The Mules were 34-4 in conference play last season as they captured their third straight MIAA regular season crown and the 23rd title in school history.
• The Mules won 22 straight conference games to end the 2012 season.
• UCM won nine of 10 conference series during the 2012 season.
Mules in non-conference action
• Central Missouri is 85-29 in non-conference games during the Tom Myers era and 3-1 this season after the season-opening Astros in Action Division II Invitational.
Mules in home openers
• The Mules are 4-1 in home openers during the Tom Myers era. UCM lost 8-3 to Missouri Western in last year's home opener.
• The 2013 home opener was originally scheduled for Wednesday, February 20, but inclement weather caused the first seven home games to be canceled or rescheduled.
Mules at home
• The Mules are 104-25 at the friendly confines of Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field under Tom Myers.
• Central Missouri was 20-5 at home last season. The Mules' best home record under Myers was a 23-3 mark during the 2011 campaign.
• The Mules are 687-134-1 (.836) in their 38th season playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
Mules on the road
• The Mules are 6-0 on the road this season following a three-game sweep at Northeastern State on Sunday and Monday.
• UCM is 115-27 in road games during the Tom Myers era.
Mules in the Polls
• Central Missouri is ranked No. 4 in the country in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll. The Mules are ranked in the top five in all four publications including third in the NCBWA poll, fourth in the College Baseball Lineup poll and fifth in the D2Baseballnews.com poll.
• The Mules have been ranked in the Collegiate Baseball News Top 25 for 82 consecutive weeks with their No. 4 ranking this week. The Mules have been ranked, in order, 4, 7, 9, 9, 8, 5 and 4 so far this season by CBN.
• The last time UCM was unranked was April 21, 2008, but the Mules finished that season ranked No. 4 in the nation.
The Myers way
• Central Missouri head coach Tom Myers has a 251-63 (.799) record in his sixth season leading the Mules' program.
• The Mules have won at least 44 games in each of his first five seasons and recorded 52 wins during the 2010 campaign.
• The Mules have had 20 first team All-MIAA selections and 11 All-Americans during Myers' tenure.
Mules Baseball history
• In the 57th season of UCM baseball the Mules have compiled a 1,699-658-9 (.720) record in 2,366 games played.
• The Mules have won 40 or more games 17 times, including 14 straight seasons and have won 50 or more games nine times.
• The Mules have won or shared 23 MIAA championships, 16 regional titles and two national championships.
Martinez Watch List
• Over 150 players from across the country were named to the Tino Martinez Award Watch List for the most outstanding player in Division II baseball. Central Missouri senior infielder
John Oropeza, senior outfielder
Kyle Grieshaber and junior shortstop
Samuel Domingue were among the names selected for consideration for the award. The award is named after Tino Martinez, former Olympian and MLB All-Star, who played collegiately at Division II University of Tampa.
New region for the Mules in 2013
• As has been the case for all UCM sports this year, the MIAA has moved into a new region for postseason play in 2013.
• The MIAA, the Northern Sun and Great American Conferences now make up the NCAA-II Central Region.
• This year's regional will take place at a campus site to be determined May 16-19.
Mules Baseball by the Numbers
• 26 NCAA Regional Appearances (last 19 in a row)
• 23 MIAA Titles (15 of the last 19)
• 20 MIAA Tournament Titles (16 of the last 19)
• 16 Regional Championships
• 15 Regionals as host site
• 13 Top five national finishes
• 4 Third place finishes
• 1 National Runner-Up
• 2 National Championships
Mules Baseball: Winningest Team of the Millenium
• The Central Missouri baseball program has had unprecedented success in the last 20 years and has been even more impressive since the year 2000. The Mules have a 668-146 (.821) record since 2000, the most wins of any program in NCAA Division I, II, or III. That is an average of 50.5 wins per season over the last 13 years.
A Tradition of Excellence in the Athletic Arena
• At the conclustion of the winter 2012-13 athletic season, Central Missouri has won a combined 193 MIAA regular-season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• During the 2011-12 school year UCM captured seven MIAA regular season and three tournament championships.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director
Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 139 MIAA championships, more than any other league school.
• Central Missouri has won five national championships since 1980 (men's and women's basketball in 1984, baseball in 1994 and 2003, and women's bowling in 2003) and seven national championships overall.
A Tradition of Excellence in the Classroom
• The 500+ Central Missouri student-athletes received 245 Academic Awards from the MIAA office for the 2011-12 academic year.
• 195 UCM student-athletes were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
• 32 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Scholar Athletes with at least a 3.5 GPA and having earned All-MIAA honors in their respective sport.
• 18 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• UCM had 10 student-athletes earn Academic All-America honors, including Shawn Boss being named the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for Track & Field.
Up next
• The Mules travel to Lincoln on Wednesday, March 20 for a mid-week conference doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.
