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Quick Hits
• The seventh-ranked Central Missouri Mules travel to St. Charles, Mo. for a doubleheader against Lindenwood on Wednesday starting at 1 p.m.
• UCM is ranked No. 7 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.

The Series
• Central Missouri and Lindenwood have met 18 times on the diamond with the Mules holding a 14-4 advantage in the series. UCM is 2-2 against the Lions during the Tom Myers era.
• The teams split a four-game series in Warrensburg last season. The Lions won the opener 7-5 on Friday night and the series finale 5-3 on Sunday, while the Mules swept a Saturday doubleheader 5-1 and 12-3.

Lindenwood
• The Lions are 13-14 overall and 12-10 in MIAA play following a doubleheader split at Lincoln on Monday. The Lions play Harris-Stowe in a single non-conference game on Tuesday at 3 p.m. before hosting the Mules on Wednesday.
• Lindenwood is batting .303 as a team and is led by Mike Failoni's .458 average. He also leads the team with four home runs and 25 RBI. Mike Wilson is hitting .326. Kyle Leslie is batting .303 and is second on the team with 22 runs batted in.
• The Lion pitching staff has a 5.31 team ERA allowing 157 runs, 124 earned, in 210.1 innings. Dylan Terrell is 4-4 with a 3.32 ERA in nine appearances, including eight starts. Zac Pearman also has four wins and sports a 6.63 ERA in seven starts.
• Opponents are batting .305 against Lion pitching.
• The pitching staff has issued 83 walks and struck out 116 in 210.1 innings.
• Lindenwood has committed 34 errors in the field and sports a .964 fielding percentage.

The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the series at 20-5 overall and 17-4 in MIAA play after taking two out of three games at Central Oklahoma over the weekend.
• The Mules are batting .332 as a team and are led by John Oropeza's .400 average. Kyle Grieshaber is hitting .374 and leads the team with seven home runs. Oropeza leads the team with 35 RBI. Brad Wilson is batting .352 with three long balls and 34 runs batted in.
• The UCM pitching staff has an ERA of 3.74 and opponents are hitting .252 against them. Dany Coulombe has a 2.04 ERA and two wins in six total appearances. Travis Higgs is 4-0 with a 3.27 ERA in six starts and leads the team with 33 stirkeouts in 33.0 innings. Jake Heissler is also 4-0 with a 3.09 ERA and 29 K's in 12 relief appearances. Kurtis Schuyler has recorded 28 K's in 30.2 innings pitched.
• The Mules have a .977 fielding percentage and have turned 13 double plays on the year.

Worth Noting
• The Mules have scored at least one run in 323 of the 327 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 Mules hit .423 (11-for-26) with runners in scoring position during the Central Oklahoma series while holding the Bronchos to a .250 average (7-for-28) with runners in scoring position.

Last time out
    March 30, 2013 - (EDMOND, Okla.) -- Chase Graskewicz hit a pair of home runs and the fifth-ranked Central Missouri Mules pounded out 17 hits en route to a 13-4 win over Central Oklahoma in the series finale on Saturday at Wendell Simmons Field. The Mules won the final two games of the series after dropping the opener on Friday afternoon.
    The Bronchos (17-12, 14-12 MIAA) got on the board first scoring a single run in the second inning. Central Missouri (20-5, 17-4 MIAA) tied the game in the fourth when Graskewicz hit a solo home run.
    The Mules took the lead for good in the fifth scoring five runs to grab a 6-1 lead. Tucker Cross brought home the first run with a sacrifice squeeze bunt to break the tie. Jon Cotter singled home Seth Wheeler and Kyle Grieshaber had a two-run single to make it 5-1. Kevin Gratza walked with the bases loaded to bring home the fifth run of the inning.
    The Bronchos scored one run in the bottom of the inning to pull within 6-2, but UCM came back with three runs in the seventh to make it 9-2. Graskewicz led off the inning with his second home run of the game to make it 7-2. Gratza had a run-scoring triple to make it 8-2 and he later scored on Wheeler's RBI double extending the lead to 9-2.
    UCM tacked on three more runs in the eighth to lead by 10 at 12-2. Brad Wilson walked with the bases loaded to force in a run and John Oropeza had a two-run single to give the Mules the 10-run lead.
    The Bronchos tallied two runs in the bottom of the eighth to pull within 12-4, but Graskewicz drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth to make it 13-4.
    Travis Higgs (4-0) picked up the win for the Mules allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out seven. Jake Heissler allowed two runs on four hits in 2.2 innings of relief and Reece Ponak recorded the final four outs in his first appearance of the season.
    Jamie McClure (1-2) took the loss for UCO after giving up four runs on six hits in 4.1 innings.

Mules in MIAA play
• Central Missouri is 17-4 this year and 175-38 overall in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers after taking two out of three games from Central Oklahoma over the weekend.
• 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 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 9-2 in games played on the road this season after taking two out of three games at Central Oklahoma this past weekend.
• UCM is 118-29 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. 7 in the country in this week's ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll. The Mules are ranked in the top 10 in all four publications including third 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 85 consecutive weeks with their No. 7 ranking this week. The Mules have been ranked, in order, 4, 7, 9, 9, 8, 5, 4, 3, 5 and 7so 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 260-67 (.795) 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 1,708-662-9 (.720) record in 2,379 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 677-150 (.819) 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 Arkadelphia, Ark. for a three-game series against Henderson State on Saturday and Sunday. The series starts with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and wraps up with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.