vs

Quick Hits
• The third-ranked Central Missouri Mules and Washburn Ichabods will play a three-game MIAA series in the St. Louis area beginning on Friday at 1 p.m.
• UCM is ranked No. 3 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.

Change of location for WU series
• This weekend's series between Washburn and Central Missouri was originally scheduled to be played at UCM on Saturday and Sunday, but was moved to St. Louis due to the forecasted snow in the Topeka and Warrensburg areas.
• The teams will now play a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m. at St. John Vianney High School in Kirkwood, Mo. and a single game on Saturday at 1 p.m. at St. Mary's High School in St. Louis.

The Series
• Central Missouri and Washburn have met 88 times on the diamond with the Mules holding a 71-17 all-time lead.
• The Mules swept a four-game series in Warrensburg last year winning 8-2, 6-0, 5-1 and 6-5.
• UCM is 17-3 against the Ichabods under Tom Myers.

Washburn
• The Ichabods come into the series at 4-12 overall and 4-11 in MIAA play after dropping a non-conference game to Rockhurst 17-8 on Wednesday in Topeka.
• The 'Bods are batting .285 as a team and are led by Riley Prices's .447 average. Dakota Kell is hitting .339 and is tied for the team lead with one home run. Connor Crimmins leads the team with 14 RBI, while Kell and Price both have 13.
• The Washburn pitching staff has a 9.57 team ERA allowing 155 runs, 134 earned, in 126.0 innings. Taylor Gentry has a 4.32 ERA in four appearances. Drew Ridley, Mark Biesma, Corey Anthony and Connor Brady all have one win apiece.
• Opponents are batting .360 against Ichabod pitching.
• The pitching staff has issued 60 walks and struck out 80 in 126.0 innings.
• Washburn has committed 43 errors in the field and sports a .927 fielding percentage.

The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the series at 15-2 overall and 12-1 in MIAA play after sweeping a doubleheader from Lincoln on Tuesday night in Warrensburg.
• The Mules are batting .351 as a team and are led by Kyle Grieshaber's .450 average. John Oropeza is also hitting above .400 at .439. Grieshaber leads the team with five home runs and Oropeza leads the team with 28 RBI. Brad Wilson is batting .361 with three long balls and 25 runs batted in.
• The UCM pitching staff has an ERA of 3.66 and opponents are hitting .246 against them. Dany Coulombe has a 2.13 ERA and two wins in five total appearances. Jake Heissler leads the staff with a 3-0 record and 23 strikeouts in 16.2 innings of relief. Kurtis Schuyler has recorded 19 K's in 20.1 innings pitched. Blake Kolons has a 1.80 ERA in five relief appearances.
• The Mules have a .979 fielding percentage and have turned 13 double plays on the year.

Worth Noting
• The Mules have scored at least one run in 315 of the 319 games played under head coach Tom Myers.
• The win over Nebraska-Kearney in game one of the series gave the Mules win No. 1,700 program history.
• The loss to UNK in game two of the series snapped a string of 31 straight conference wins for the Mules.
• The Mules have won 12 straight conference series dating back to last year

Last time out
    March 19, 2013 - (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) -- The third-ranked Central Missouri Mules baseball team out-scored Lincoln 17-3 and out-hit the Blue Tigers 22-8 en route to a doubleheader sweep on Tuesday afternoon at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field. The Mules won the opener 6-1 and completed the sweep with an 11-2 victory in the nightcap.
    In the opener, Samuel Domingue had three hits and Kyle Grieshaber drove in a pair to pace the UCM attack. The Mules (15-2, 12-1 MIAA) got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the first. Brad Wilson drove in the first run of the game and John Oropeza singled home another to put UCM on top.
    The Mules scored one in the second on a Jon Cotter lead off home run and one more in the third on a Tucker Cross RBI double to make it 4-0. The Blue Tigers (2-13, 2-10 MIAA) plated one in the top of the fourth on a Brad Wright RBI single, but the Mules came right back in the bottom half on a Grieshaber RBI single to make it 5-1.
    UCM tacked on one more run in the sixth on an infield single by Grieshaber to make it 6-1.
    Marshall Dean (2-0) allowed just one run on four hits in five innings of work to pick up the win. Blake Kolons and Jake Heissler each tossed a scoreless inning of relief.
    Scott Jones (2-3) took the loss for the Blue Tigers after giving up six runs, four earned, on eight hits in five innings.
    The Mules took another early lead in game two scoring once in the first. Oropeza singled home Domingue to put Central Missouri in front.
    UCM plated two more runs in the third on a bunt single by Brad Wilson to make it 3-0. Two more runs came across in the fifth on an RBI single by Oropeza and a sacrifice fly from Kevin Gratza to push the lead to 5-0.
    The Blue Tigers broke up Dany Coulombe's perfect game in the seventh with a leadoff single and later broke up the shut out with two runs to make it 5-2. UCM responded with four runs in the bottom of the seventh to increase the lead to 9-2. Gratza had an RBI triple followed by a run-scoring single by Cross. Seth Wheeler then belted his second home run of the game to give the Mules a seven-run cushion.
    UCM added two more runs in the eighth for the 11-2 lead. Jake Alexander and Grieshaber both scored on wild pitches in the frame.
    Coulombe (2-0) got the win for UCM after allowing two runs on two hits in seven solid innings of work. He didn't walk a batter and struck out four. Andrew Urban and Devon Brogan each pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the Mules.
    Cameron Moss (0-5) took the loss for LU after giving up five runs on six hits in 4.1 innings.

Mules in MIAA play
• Central Missouri is 12-1 this year and 170-35 overall in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers after sweeping a doubleheader from Lincoln on Tuesday at Crane Stadium.
• 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.

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 in February.

Mules at home
• The Mules are 4-1 at home this season after sweeping Lincoln on Tuesday and 108-26 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 691-135-1 (.836) in 827 games played during 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 March 3 and 4.
• UCM is 115-27 in road games during the Tom Myers era.

Mules at neutral sites
• The Mules are 5-1 this year when playing at neutral sites and 32-11 overall during the Tom Myers era.
• UCM opened the season 3-1 at the Astros In Action D-II Invitational and then swept a doubleheader from Truman State in Bolivar.

Mules in the Polls
• Central Missouri is ranked No. 3 in the country in this week's ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll. The Mules are ranked in the top five in all four publications including third in the NCBWA and D2Baseballnews.com polls, and fifth in the College Baseball Lineup poll.
• The Mules have been ranked in the Collegiate Baseball News Top 25 for 83 consecutive weeks with their No. 4 ranking this week. The Mules have been ranked, in order, 4, 7, 9, 9, 8, 5, 4 and 3 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 255-64 (.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 1,703-659-9 (.720) record in 2,371 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 672-147 (.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 are scheduled to host Southwest Baptist on Tuesday, March 26 for a mid-week doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
• UCM will hit the road next weekend traveling to Edmond, Okla. to take on Central Oklahoma in a three-game series beginning with a doubleheader on Friday and wrapping up with a single nine-inning game on Saturday.