at

Quick Hits
• The eighth-ranked Central Missouri Mules travel to St. Joseph, Mo. for a key three-game MIAA series against conference-leading and sixth-ranked Missouri Western. The series starts on Saturday with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. and wraps up with a single game on Sunday at noon.
• The Mules are 29-8 overall and 23-7 in MIAA play following a doubleheader sweep at Truman State on Tuesday.
• UCM is ranked No. 8 in this week's ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll and the Mules are ranked in the top 15 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 Western have met 131 times on the diamond with the Mules holding a 101-30 lead in the all-time series.
• The Mules beat the Griffons in four out of five matchups last season. The Mules took three out of four games in Warrensburg to open the MIAA schedule and then beat Missouri Western 3-1 at the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City.
• The Mules are 19-4 against the Griffons during the Tom Myers era.

On the air
• All three games of this weekend's series at Missouri Western will be broadcast on the UCM Sports Network. The games can be heard live on 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com.
• Bob Jackson and Shawn Jones will be on the call with the Central Missouri School of Graduate and Extended Studies Dugout Show beginning 20 minutes prior to first pitch.

Missouri Western
• The Griffons come into the series at 31-5 overall and 24-2 in MIAA play. MWSU beat No. 9 St. Cloud State 5-3 on Monday and swept a three-game series from Lindenwood in St. Joseph over the weekend. Their doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday at Fort Hays State was canceled due to rain.
• The Griffons are batting .373 as a team, which leads all of NCAA-II. They are led by Michael Schulze's .459 average. Grant Fink is hitting .407 and leads the team with 12 home runs and also has 43 RBI. Bubba Dotson bats .400 with 10 home runs and a team-best 47 runs driven in. MWSU has hit 52 home runs as a team and 10 different players have hit home runs.
• The Griffon pitching staff has an 4.22 team ERA allowing 164 runs, 136 earned, in 290.1 innings. Brandon Simmons leads the team with eight wins and sports a 2.98 ERA in eight starts. He also has two complete games. Logan Hollingsworth is 5-0 with a 1.50 ERA and nine saves in 17 relief appearances. Jerad Hawkins is 5-0 with a 2.64 ERA in 11 appearances including two starts.
• Opponents are batting .281 against Missouri Western pitching.
• The pitching staff has issued 109 walks and struck out 204 in 290.1 innings pitched.
• The Griffons have committed 49 errors in the field and have a .962 team fielding percentage.

The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the mid-week doubleheader at 29-8 overall and 23-7 in MIAA play after sweeping a doubleheader at Truman State on Tuesday.
• The Mules are batting .339 as a team and are led by Kevin Gratza's .414 average. John Oropeza is hitting .371 and leads the team with 47 RBI. Kyle Grieshaber is hitting .374 and leads the team with eight home runs and also has 46 runs driven in. Brad Wilson is batting .366 with three long balls and 46 runs batted in.
• The UCM pitching staff has an ERA of 4.01 and opponents are hitting .256 against them. Travis Higgs is 5-0 with a 3.35 ERA in eight starts and leads the team with 43 strikeouts in 45.2 innings. Jake Heissler is also 4-0 with a 2.51 ERA and 33 K's in 16 relief appearances. Kurtis Schuyler has recorded 35 K's in 37.1 innings pitched. Andrew Urban is 3-2 with a 2.79 ERA and four saves in 19 relief appearances.
• The Mules have a .971 fielding percentage and have turned 19 double plays on the year.

Worth Noting
• The Mules have scored at least one run in 335 of the 339 games played under head coach Tom Myers.
• Central Missouri has now won 84 straight games against Truman State following the doubleheader sweep in Kirksville on Tuesday.
• The 26 runs scored in game one against Lincoln last week 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 win over Nebraska-Kearney in game one of that series gave the Mules win No. 1,700 in program history.

Last time out
    April 16, 2013 - (KIRKSVILLE, Mo.) -- The eighth-ranked Central Missouri Mules picked up a doubleheader sweep at Truman State on Tuesday afternoon in the final meeting as MIAA members to run their winning streak to 84 straight against the Bulldogs. UCM won the opener 3-1 before rallying for a 10-7 in the nightcap.
    The Mules (29-8, 23-7 MIAA) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in game one when Samuel Domingue led off the game with a home run to left field. UCM added another run in the second inning on a Jon Cotter RBI groundout.
    Central Missouri made it 3-0 in the fourth inning when Seth Wheeler singled home Kevin Gratza. The Bulldogs (9-29, 8-27 MIAA) got on the board in the fifth on Will Nader's RBI single, but that is all they would get.
    Dany Coulombe (3-0) picked up the win allowing just one run on five hits in 4.1 innings pitched. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter. Andrew Urban picked up his fourth save of the season pitching 2.1 innings of perfect relief with one strike out.
    Tim Lee (2-4) took the loss for Truman State after giving up three runs on seven hits in seven complete innings.
    The Mules jumped on top early in game two scoring a single run in the first. Domingue walked to lead off the game, stole second and later scored on Kyle Grieshaber's RBI single to left.
    The Bulldogs answered back in their half of the first with four runs to take a 4-1 lead. The first three batters of the game reached base for TSU and Chris Zrostlik belted a grand slam to give Truman the lead.
    Central Missouri got a run back in the third on an RBI groundout from Brad Wilson to cut the deficit to 4-2, but TSU came right back in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single by Mike Monfre to push the lead back to three at 5-2.
    Barrett Noirfalise pulled the Mules to within a run when he belted a two-run home run, the first of his career, in the top of the fourth to make it 5-4. The Mules tied the game later in the inning when Trevor Jones singled home Domingue, who had walked, stole second and went to third on a throwing error.
    The Bulldogs regained the lead in the bottom of the inning scoring one run on a wild pitch to take a 6-5 lead. TSU was threatening for more with two runners on and one out, but Devon Brogan came on in relief and struck out the first two batters he faced to end the threat.
    Central Missouri tied the game in the sixth when Grieshaber brought home Domingue with an RBI sacrifice bunt, then took the lead in the seventh when Kevin Gratza belted a solo home run to left center, his first of two on the day.
    The Mules added to their lead in the eighth when Brad Wilson laced a double to left center scoring two runs and giving UCM a 9-6 lead. Truman State got one run back in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run by Paul Trenhaile to cut the Mule lead to 9-7.
    Gratza hit his second long ball of the game leading off the ninth to push the lead back to 10-7.
    The Bulldogs put two runners on in the bottom of the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate with only one out, but Zach Davis came on and induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the game and give UCM the sweep.
    Devon Brogan (4-1) picked up the win in relief for the Mules after allowing just one run on four hits in five innings. He struck out five batters as well. Davis recorded the final two outs of the game for his fourth save of the season.
    Andrew Range (0-1) took the loss for Truman after giving up three runs on two hits in 1.2 innings of relief.
    Trevor Jones finished with four hits on the day, while Wilson drove in three runs and Gratza had the two home runs and four runs scored.

Mules in MIAA play
• Central Missouri is 23-7 this year and 181-41 overall in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers after sweeping a doubleheader at Truman State 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 April 6 and 7.

Mules at home
• The Mules are 6-2 at home this season after taking two out of three from Missouri Southern over the weekend and 110-27 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 693-136-1 (.836) in 830 games played during their 38th season playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.

Mules on the road
• The Mules are 16-4 in road games this season after sweeping a doubleheader at Truman State on Tuesday.
• UCM is 125-31 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. 8 in the country in this week's ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll. The Mules are ranked in the top 15 in all four publications including ninth in the D2Baseballnews.com poll, 11th in the College Baseball Lineup poll and 15th in the NCBWA poll.
• The Mules have been ranked in the Collegiate Baseball News Top 25 for 87 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, 5 and 8 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 269-70 (.794) 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 1,717-665-9 (.720) record in 2,391 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. Junior outfielder Kevin Gratza was added to the list midseason. 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 686-153 (.818) record since 2000, the most wins of any program in NCAA Division I, II, or III. That is an average of 49 wins per season over the last 13-plus 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 wrap up the regular season hosting Emporia State in a three-game series next weekend on Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28.
• The MIAA Tournament first round series will begin on Thursday, May 2 at a campus site and time to be determined. The winners of the four first round series will move on to Community America Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan. for games beginning on Thursday, May 9.