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Quick Hits
• The fifth-ranked Central Missouri Mules return home for the first time in nearly a month to host Missouri Southern in a three-game series beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Crane Stadium. The series wraps up on Sunday with a single nine-inning game at 1 p.m.
• UCM is ranked No. 5 in this week's ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll and the Mules are ranked in the top 16 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 Missouri Southern have met 83 times on the diamond with the Mules holding a 66-17 lead in the all-time series.
• The Mules swept a four-game series in Warrensburg last year winning 6-4, 5-1, 3-2 and 11-10. UCM is 17-4 against Missouri Southern under Tom Myers.

Missouri Southern
• The Lions come into the series at 24-13 overall and 18-11 in MIAA play after being swept in a doubleheader at Emporia State on Thursday.
• Missouri Southern is batting .298 as a team and is led by Sam Ryan's .368 average. Michael McCoy is hitting .346 with three home runs and a team-best 28 RBI. Tee Helsel bats .282 and leads the team with four home runs. Will Wagner also has four home runs and is hitting .299. Four MSSU players are hitting .315 or better.
• The Lion pitching staff has an 4.26 team ERA allowing 170 runs, 137 earned, in 289.2 innings. Drew Noble leads the team with five wins and has a 4.22 ERA in 13 appearances including eight starts. Payton Walker is 4-3 with a 2.38 ERA in 11 appearances. David Reese is 4-4 with a 3.74 ERA and leads the staff with three saves.
• Opponents are batting .278 against Missouri Southern pitching.
• The pitching staff has issued 109 walks and struck out 257 in 289.2 innings.
• The Lions have committed 48 errors in the field and have a .964 team fielding percentage.

The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the series at 25-7 overall and 19-6 in MIAA play after splitting a doubleheader at Lincoln on Tuesday.
• The Mules are batting .341 as a team and are led by Kevin Gratza's .420 average. John Oropeza is hitting .398 and leads the team with 43 RBI. Kyle Grieshaber is hitting .371 and leads the team with seven home runs and also has 39 runs driven in. Brad Wilson is batting .368 with three long balls and 41 runs batted in.
• The UCM pitching staff has an ERA of 3.95 and opponents are hitting .257 against them. Travis Higgs is 4-0 with a 3.72 ERA in seven starts and leads the team with 34 stirkeouts in 38.2 innings. Jake Heissler is also 4-0 with a 2.54 ERA and 33 K's in 15 relief appearances. Kurtis Schuyler has recorded 34 K's in 36.1 innings pitched. Andrew Urban is 3-2 with a 2.84 ERA and three saves in 16 relief appearances.
• The Mules have a .971 fielding percentage and have turned 16 double plays on the year.

Worth Noting
• The Mules have scored at least one run in 330 of the 334 games played under head coach Tom Myers.
• The 26 runs scored in game one against Lincoln are the most ever in a game during the Tom Myers era and the most since UCM scored 32 runs in a 32-0 win over Washburn on April 26, 2004.
• The Mules were 15-of-27 (.556) with runners in scoring position in game one against Lincoln and 5-of-17 (.294) with runners in scoring position in game two.
• The win over Nebraska-Kearney in game one of that series gave the Mules win No. 1,700 in program history.

Last time out
    April 9, 2013 - (JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.) -- The fifth-ranked Central Missouri Mules pounded out 24 hits in a 26-5 win in game one, but faltered late in game two and fell 10-8 for a doubleheader split at the LU Baseball Field on Tuesday afternoon. The Mules led game two 8-3, but surrendered seven runs in the eighth inning.
    In game one, the Mules (25-7, 19-6 MIAA) dominated from start to finish. UCM put up five runs in the first inning and never looked back. Brad Wilson brought home the first run with a sacrifice bunt. John Oropeza added a two-run double and scored on Kevin Gratza's RBI single. Jon Cotter added an RBI single as well to close out the first inning as the Mules sent 10 men to the plate.
    The Blue Tigers (4-24, 3-20 MIAA) got two runs back in the bottom of the inning on a Ben Stewart home run to right field.
    Central Missouri tacked on four more runs in the second inning for a 9-2 lead. Wilson had a two-run double to right center and scored on Oropeza's home run to right center. Lincoln scored three in the bottom of the frame to pull back to within 9-5. Josh Kennedy hit a two-run home run and Logan Smith added a solo shot for LU.
    The Mules broke the game wide open in the fourth scoring nine runs on six hits. Samuel Domingue had a bases-loaded double scoring three runs to give UCM a 12-5 lead. Kyle Grieshaber had a sac bunt RBI and Gratza had a three-run triple to make it 17-5. Seth Wheeler added an RBI double to give UCM a 13-run lead.
    The Mules added two more runs in the fifth on an RBI triple by Dylan Hanson and a Gratza single up the middle to make it 20-5. Trevor Jones had an RBI single in the sixth and later scored on a Hunter Johnson home run to give UCM a 23-5 advantage. Tom Latimore drew a bases loaded walk to force in another run and Jake Alexander was hit by a pitch forcing in the 25th run of the game to give UCM a 20-run lead.
    UCM added one more run in the seventh on a Barrett Noirfalise RBI double for the 26-5 win.
    Blake Kolons (1-1) got the win after pitching 5.2 innings of one-hit relief. He walked one and struck out 10. Cameron Moss (0-7) took the loss for Lincoln after giving up nine runs on nine hits in one inning of work.
    The Blue Tigers took an early 1-0 lead in game two on a Clint Cashen RBI single in the bottom of the first. UCM quickly tied the game when Seth Wheeler led off the second inning with a home run.
    The Mules took a 3-1 lead in the third with a pair of runs. Trevor Jones went first to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored when the ball was overthrown at third. Kevin Gratza added a sac bunt RBI as well.
    Lincoln tied the game in the bottom of the frame. Stewart had an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch.
    UCM scored twice in the fourth to regain the lead. Grieshaber had an RBI single to break the tie and Wilson added an infield RBI single. Two more runs in the sixth gave the Mules a 7-3 lead. Domingue singled home Jon Cotter and later scored on Jones' RBI double.
    The Mules added a single run in the top of the eighth on an RBI double by Grieshaber to open an 8-3 lead. The Blue Tigers rallied for seven runs on seven hits in the bottom half to take a 10-8 lead. Brad Wright had a sacrifice fly to score the first run of the inning. Back-to-back RBI singles by Kennedy and Zach Roberts made it 8-6 with two outs. A UCM throwing error extended the inning and loaded the bases. Back-to-back walks tied the game and Stewart ripped a two-run single up the middle to give LU the lead.
    The Mules put the tying run with two outs in the ninth, but a fly out to right field ended the game.
    Andrew Urban (3-2) took the loss for UCM after giving up four runs, only one earned, on three hits in 0.1 innings of relief. Nathan Lueckenhoff (1-1) earned the win for the Blue Tigers after pitching the final two innings and giving up one run on four hits.
    Gratza finished the day 7-for-8 with six RBI, while Jones was 6-for-8 with eight runs scored and Cotter was 5-for-8.

Mules in MIAA play
• Central Missouri is 19-6 this year and 177-40 overall in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers after splitting a doubleheader at Lincoln on Tuesday.
• 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 88-29 in non-conference games during the Tom Myers era and 6-1 this season after sweeping a three-game series at Henderson State over the weekend.

Mules at home
• The Mules are 4-1 at home this season after sweeping Lincoln last 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 14-4 in road games this season after splitting a doubleheader at Lincoln on Tuesday.
• UCM is 123-31 in road games during the Tom Myers era.

Mules at neutral sites
• The Mules are 7-2 this year when playing at neutral sites and 34-12 overall during the Tom Myers era after taking two out of three from Washburn in St. Louis last weekend.
• 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. 5 in the country in this week's ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll. The Mules are ranked in the top 16 in all four publications including 16th in the NCBWA, sixth in the D2Baseballnews.com poll, and eighth in the College Baseball Lineup poll.
• The Mules have been ranked in the Collegiate Baseball News Top 25 for 86 consecutive weeks with their No. 5 ranking this week. The Mules have been ranked, in order, 4, 7, 9, 9, 8, 5, 4, 3, 5, 7 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 265-69 (.793) 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 1,713-664-9 (.720) record in 2,386 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
• Prior to the season, 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 682-152 (.818) 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 Truman State on Wednesday, April 17 for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at Truman Baseball Park.
• UCM heads to St. Joseph next weekend for a key MIAA showdown against conference front-runner Missouri Western.