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Quick Hits
• The fifth-ranked Central Missouri Mules will play Truman State in a mid-week MIAA doubleheader at Dodson Field in Bolivar, Mo. on Thursday at 12 p.m.
• UCM is ranked No. 5 in this week's ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll and the Mules are ranked in the top 10 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 Truman series
• The midweek doubleheader between UCM and Truman State will now be played on Thursday at Dodson Field on the campus of Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Mo. instead of Warrensburg due to an unplayable field conditions at Crane Stadium.

The Series
• Central Missouri and Truman State have met 150 times on the diamond with the Mules holding a 131-19 lead in the all-time series.
• The Mules are 20-0 against the Bulldogs during the Tom Myers era and have won an incredible 80 straight games against Truman.
• The last loss to TSU came back on April 15, 1989 by a 6-4 margin. The Mules swept a four-game series last season in Kirksville. UCM out-scored the Bulldogs 39-10 during that series.

Truman State
• The Bulldogs come into the series at 2-6 overall and 2-6 in MIAA play. TSU has not played since dropping two of three games at Northeastern State on February 23 and 24.
• The Bulldogs are batting .305 as a team and are led by Corbin Williams' .412 average. Blake Marino is batting .406 and is tied for the team lead with one home run. Paul Trenhaile and Jarod Hahn each have eight RBI to lead the squad.
• The Truman pitching staff has an 8.42 team ERA allowing 80 runs, 58 earned, in 62.0 innings. Logan Siegler has a staff-low 3.18 ERA and a 1-1 record in two starts. He leads the staff with 10 strikeouts in 11.1 innings. Tyler Spence has a 3.38 ERA in three relief appearances. Opponents are batting .328 against Bulldog pitching.
• The pitching staff has issued 32 walks and struck out 38 in 62.0 innings.
• TSU has committed 22 errors in the field and sports a .920 fielding percentage.

The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the week at 9-1 overall and 6-0 in MIAA play after sweeping a three-game series with Northeastern State on Sunday and Monday in Tahlequah.
• The Mules are batting .322 as a team and are led by John Oropeza's .439 average. Kyle Grieshaber is also hitting above .400 at .405. Grieshaber leads the team with four home runs, Oropeza has a pair of homers to go along with his team-leading five doubles and 16 RBI. Brad Wilson is batting .300 with three long balls and 13 runs driven in.
• The UCM pitching staff has an ERA of 4.13 and opponents are hitting .257 against them. Dany Coulombe has a 0.00 ERA and one win in two relief 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 308 of the 312 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.

Last time out
    March 4, 2013 - (TAHLEQUAH, Okla.) -- Down four runs in the ninth inning the fifth-ranked Central Missouri baseball team rallied to force extra innings and beat Northeastern State 13-11 on a two-run home run by Brad Wilson in the 10th inning on Monday afternoon at Rousey Field. Tucker Cross and Chase Graskewicz hit back-to-back homers in the ninth to tie the game before Wilson's second long ball of the game gave UCM the win and a series sweep.
    The Mules (9-1, 6-0 MIAA) got on the board in the second inning on an RBI single by Cross. John Oropeza made it 3-0 UCM in the third when he doubled home Kyle Grieshaber and Trevor Jones.
    The RiverHawks (6-7, 6-7 MIAA) pushed a single run across in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by David Weber to make it 3-1. UCM came right back in the fourth with two more runs to make it 5-1. Samuel Domingue brought home a run with an RBI fielder's choice and Jones added a sacrifice fly.
    Cody Robinson homered to lead off the fourth for NSU, but Brad Wilson returned the favor in the 5th to give UCM a 6-2 lead.
    The RiverHawks scored five runs in the fifth, including a three-run shot by Robinson, to take a 7-6 lead. The Mules tied the game in the top of the sixth when Grieshaber brought home Dusty Maas with an RBI fielder's choice.
    NSU came right back to regain the lead in the bottom half of the inning on a solo home run by Weber. The RiverHawks added a run in the seventh on an RBI double by Kyle Singleton, then tacked on two more in the eighth on a two-run homer by Kegan Knight to make it 11-7.
    With one out in the ninth Oropeza singled to start the rally followed by a Kevin Gratza walk. Cross then took an 0-1 pitch deep to left field to pull UCM within 11-10. Three pitches later Graskewicz launched his first home run of the season out to right to tie the game at 11-all.
    Northeastern State went down in order in the ninth to force extra innings. After a groundout to start the 10th, Grieshaber singled to set the stage for Wilson. He belted his second homer of the game out to left center on a 1-1 count to give the Mules the 13-11 lead.
    Dany Coulombe (1-0) set the RiverHawks down in order in the bottom of the 10th to secure the win. He picked up the win after coming on in the ninth. He tossed 1.1 innings of perfect relief. Jake Heissler also pitched an inning of perfect relief before that. Starter Travis Higgs allowed seven runs, six earned, on nine hits in 4.0 innings. He walked one and struck out four.
    Addison Williams (1-1) took the loss for NSU after allowing two runs on two hits in 1.2 innings.
    Oropeza finished the day 3-for-6 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Cross had two hits, four RBI and a pair of runs. Wilson had the two home runs and three driven in as well.

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 164-34 in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers and 6-0 this season after sweeping a three-game series at Northeastern State on Sunday and Monday.
• 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 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. 5 in the country in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll. The Mules are ranked in the top 10 in all four publications including second in the NCBWA poll,  fifth in the College Baseball Lineup poll and sixth in the D2Baseballnews.com poll.
• The Mules have been ranked in the Collegiate Baseball News Top 25 for 81 consecutive weeks with their No. 5 ranking this week. The Mules have been ranked, in order, 4, 7, 9, 9, 8 and 5 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 249-63 (.798) 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 1,697-658-9 (.720) record in 2,364 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 666-146 (.820) 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 head to Maryville, Mo. this weekend for a three-game MIAA series against Northwest Missouri. The series gets underway on Saturday with a doubleheader at 12 p.m. and wraps up on Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m.