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Quick Hits
• The seventh-ranked Central Missouri Mules travel to Arkadelphia, Ark. for a three-game non-conference series against Henderson State beginning on Saturday.
• UCM is ranked No. 7 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 Henderson State have met 15 times on the diamond with the Mules holding a 13-2 advantage in the series. UCM is 6-0 against the Reddies during the Tom Myers era.
• The Mules swept a three-game series from Henderson State during last year's season-opening trip to Arkansas. UCM won 4-1, 15-4 and 4-3 in Arkadelphia.

Henderson State
• The Reddies are 20-12 overall and 14-7 in Great American Conference play following a three-game sweep of Southern Nazarene last weekend.
• Henderson State is batting .293 as a team and is led by Zac Zdanowicz's .412 average. Michael Schell is batting .342 and leads the team with three home runs and 22 RBI. Michael Corso is hitting .346 and has driven in 17 runs.
• The Reddie pitching staff has a 4.32 team ERA allowing 152 runs, 125 earned, in 262.2 innings.
• Jordan Wright is 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA and 10 saves in 18 relief appearances. He has 40 strikeouts in 32.1 innings. Austin Coble leads the team with six wins and sports a 2.48 ERA in eight starts.
• Opponents are batting .270 against Lion pitching.
• The pitching staff has issued 98 walks and struck out 180 in 260.2 innings.
• Henderson State has committed 33 errors in the field and sports a .971 fielding percentage.

The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the series at 21-6 overall and 18-5 in MIAA play after splitting a doubleheader at Lindenwood on Wednesday.
• The Mules are batting .332 as a team and are led by John Oropeza's .408 average. Kyle Grieshaber is hitting .371 and leads the team with seven home runs and also has 35 RBI. Oropeza leads the team with 37 RBI. Brad Wilson is batting .351 with three long balls and 35 runs batted in.
• The UCM pitching staff has an ERA of 3.89 and opponents are hitting .256 against them. 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 2.92 ERA and 30 K's in 13 relief appearances. Kurtis Schuyler has recorded 28 K's in 30.2 innings pitched. Andrew Urban is 3-1 with a 2.67 ERA and two saves in 14 relief appearances.
• The Mules have a .973 fielding percentage and have turned 14 double plays on the year.

Worth Noting
• The Mules have scored at least one run in 325 of the 329 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.

Last time out
    April 3, 2013 - (ST. CHARLES, Mo.) -- The seventh-ranked Central Missouri Mules split an MIAA doubleheader with Lindenwood at the Lou Brock Sports Complex on Wednesday. UCM won the opener 10-4, but came up short in game two falling 11-7 to the Lions.
    The Mules (21-6, 18-5 MIAA) struck first in game one with a first inning sacrifice fly by Kyle Grieshaber to take a 1-0 lead. The Lions (14-16, 13-11 MIAA) responded, however, scoring three runs in the home half to take a 3-1 lead and chase starter Marshall Dean from the game.
    The Mules got a run back in the third when Grieshaber doubled home Jon Cotter to pull UCM with a run at 3-2. Central Missouri took the lead in the fourth with a pair of runs. John Oropeza scored on a wild pitch to tie the game and Cotter brought home Seth Wheeler with a sacrifice bunt to give the Mules a 4-3 lead.
    UCM tacked on a single run in the when Kevin Gratza led off with a home run to push the lead to 5-3. The Lions scored an unearned run in the bottom half to pull within a run at 5-4, but the Mules responded with five runs in the top of the seventh to blow the game open. Oropeza had a two-run double to start the scoring and give UCM a 7-4 lead. Wheeler added an RBI double and later scored on Trevor Jones' RBI single. The rightfielder misplayed the ball allowing it to go all the way to the wall and Jones scored on the play.
    Andrew Urban (3-1) got the win in relief for the Mules. He allowed one unearned run on seven hits in 5.1 innings of work. He walked two and struck out five. Jake Heissler picked up his second save of the season pitching the final 1.1 innings allowing just one hit.
    Austin Klein (2-2) took the loss for Lindenwood after giving up five runs on six hits in six innings of work.
    The Mules jumped on top 1-0 in the second inning of game two. Oropeza doubled and went to third on an error by the centerfielder. The next batter up, Gratza singled him home to give UCM the early lead.
    The Mules added another run in the fourth on an RBI single by Wheeler, but UCM stranded a pair in the inning.
    The Lions scored six times in the fifth on just three hits to grab a 6-2 lead. Lindenwood was aided by four walks and one UCM error in the inning.
    The Mules responded, however, scoring five runs of their own in the sixth to regain the lead 7-6. Five different Mules drove in runs in the inning, including Brad Wilson's RBI sac bunt that put UCM back in front.
    Lindenwood tied the game in the seventh on an RBI single off the bat of Nathan Prindle and then scored four runs, three of them unearned, in the eighth to seize the game.
    The Mules put two runners on in the ninth, but were unable to mount another comeback.
    Devon Brogan (2-1) took the loss for UCM after giving up five runs, only two earned, on four hits in 3.2 innings of relief.
    Zac Pearman (5-2) picked up the complete game win for LIndenwood after allowing seven runs, five earned, on 11 hits. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter.

Mules in MIAA play
• Central Missouri is 18-5 this year and 176-39 overall in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers after splitting a doubleheader at Lindenwood on Wednesday.
• 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 10-3 in road games this season after splitting a conference doubleheader at Lindenwood on Wednesday.
• UCM is 119-30 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 16 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 7 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 261-68 (.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 1,709-663-9 (.720) record in 2,381 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 678-151 (.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 head to Lincoln on Wednesday, April 10 for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
• Central Missouri hosts Missouri Southern on Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, April 14 for a three-game series.