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Quick Hits
• The Central Missouri Mules hit the road to Tahlequah, Okla. for a four-game series with Northeastern State this weekend. The series gets underway with a doubleheader on Thursday at 12 p.m.
• UCM dropped out of the ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll this week. The Mules are ranked in two of the four Division II polls.
• Central Missouri is the preseason favorite to win the MIAA as chosen by the league coaches.
• The Mules were 36-13 a season ago and advanced to the 27th NCAA Tournament in school history, and the 20th straight.

The Series
    Central Missouri leads the all-time series with Northeastern State 12-3, including a 3-2 mark during the Tom Myers era.
    The Mules swept a three-game series last year in Tahlequah. UCM won the opener 6-2, game two 16-11 and rallied for a 13-11 win in the series finale.

Northeastern State
    Northeastern State enters the MIAA series at 3-6 overall and 0-4 in MIAA play. The RiverHawks beat Rogers State 4-1 on Tuesday afternoon to snap a six-game losing streak. NSU dropped all four games of their MIAA opening series last weekend at Missouri Western.
    The RiverHawks are hitting .237 as a team with 11 doubles, a pair of home runs and 28 RBI. Ryan Staggs leads the team with a .360 batting average through nine games. Cody Robinson is hitting .344 with both NSU home runs and eight runs driven in. Five RiverHawks are hitting .316 or better so far this season.
    The NSU pitching staff has a 4.65 ERA in nine games and 69.2 inning pitched. They've struck out 41 batters and walked 42 in that span.
    Kyle Shambaugh is 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA in two starts. Bryan McClellan is 0-1 with a 5.84 earned run average in 12.1 innings spanning three starts. Seth Hudson has a 3.60 ERA and a save in five relief appearances.
    The NSU defense committed 20 errors and has a .938 fielding percentage, while turning four double plays on the season.

The Mules
    Central Missouri enters the series at 6-5 overall and 3-1 in MIAA play after taking three out four from Southwest Baptist in last weekend's MIAA-opening series.
    The Mules enter the weekend hitting .248 as a team with 12 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 45 RBI.
    Trevor Jones leads the team with a .385 batting average. He has a pair of doubles, a triple, home run and eight runs driven in. Barrett Noirfalise is hitting .371 with three doubles and five RBI. Tony Sandifer is hitting .323 and is tied for the team lead with one home run and eight RBI.
    The pitching staff sports a 3.17 ERA in 11 games. The staff has 82 strikeouts and 39 walks in 88.0 innings pitched.
    Ricky Rivera is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA in two starts (12.0 IP). Jake Heissler is 2-1 with a 1.10 ERA in three starts. He's struck out 18 batters and walked just three in 16.1 innings pitched.
    The Mule defense has committed 12 errors and sports a .968 fielding percentage. They have turned five double plays on the year.

Worth Noting
• The Mules have scored at least one run in 357 of the 362 games played under head coach Tom Myers.
• The Mules have won five straight conference series dating back to last season.
• Senior outfielder Kevin Gratza was named to the NCBWA Preseason All-Central Region First Team.

Last time out
    February 22, 2014 - (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) -- The 29th-ranked Mules baseball team swept a doubleheader with Southwest Baptist on Saturday afternoon at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field. The Mules won game one, 3-1 and took the second game, 8-4.
    The Mules (6-5, 3-1 MIAA) fell behind, 1-0 in the top of the second on an RBI single by Ross Wolfe.
    UCM evened the game at 1-1 in the home half of the third inning on a sacrifice bunt by Tony Sandifer with runners on the corners, plating Trevor Jones.
    The go-ahead runs would come across the plate in the bottom of the fourth on a single to right center by Brad Jelinek, scoring Matt Molbury. The next batter, Jones, laid down a bunt single to right side of the infield, plating Jackson Schnurbusch, pushing the Mules' lead to 3-1.
    Central Missouri starter Ricky Rivera (2-0) picked up the win. The 6-2 junior from Dorado, Puerto Rico went the distance, tossing seven innings, allowing five hits on a run (earned), walking two and fanning five Bearcats.
    In game two, the Mules scored twice in the first, second and third innings. With runners on first and second in the opening frame, Jake Alexander singled to right, scoring Brad Wilson. Alexander would advance to second on a fielding error by the right fielder on that same play. After Tucker Cross walked to load the bases, Molbury drew a walk, plating Sandifer to put the Mules in front, 2-0.
    In the second inning, Barrett Noirfalise singled up the middle, plating Jones, stretching UCM's lead to 3-0. The fourth run came via an RBI single to left field by Alexander.
    The third inning scoring came via RBI singles from Wilson and Sandifer. The Mules sent seven batters to the plate in the third inning.
    The Mules tacked on a seventh run in the bottom of the sixth thanks to an RBI single to left by Cross that plated Sandifer.
    SBU scored three times in the top of the eighth. Christian Binger doubled home Landon Young, Jake Vore singled home Binger and Spencer Blacksher scored on a throwing error by Schnurbush at second base.
    Central Missouri got one of the runs back in the bottom half of the inning courtesy of an RBI single by Cross, his third hit of the game, making it 8-4.
    Zak Anstine came on in relief for starter Kyle Gehrs in the eighth inning with one out. Anstine faced five batters and recorded one out. He allowed a run, one hit and hit two batters.
    AJ Walkenhorst relieved Anstine and finished the final 1 1/3 inning, allowing one run on one hit and striking out a pair for his first save of the season.
    Gehrs (1-1) earned his first win of the season, tossing 7 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits, two runs (both earned), and striking out seven.
    The Mules 4-through-6 hitters went a combined 8-for-12 with five RBI's, a run and a walk.

Mules picked first in MIAA Preseason Poll
    Central Missouri was picked to finish first in the MIAA according to the 14 league coaches in the preseason poll released on Thursday. The Mules received 12 of a possible 13 first place votes and tallied 168 points to claim the top spot. Missouri Western received one first place vote and tallied 144 points to come in second.
    Central Oklahoma received the other first place vote and totaled 139 points to come in third. Emporia State and Missouri Southern each received 128 points to tie for fourth.
    UCM opens MIAA play Feb. 21-23 hosting Southwest Baptist in a four-game series at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.

Mules in the Polls
    Central Missouri dropped out of the top 30 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll. It's the first time UCM has not been ranked in the poll since April 21, 2008 and snaps a streak of 93 straight weeks ranked in the poll.
    The Mules are ranked No. 22 in the D2BaseballNews.com poll and 30th in the College Baseball Lineup Poll. UCM is unranked in the NCBWA National Top 25 Poll and ranked ninth in the NCBWA Central Region Poll.

Mules in MIAA play
    Central Missouri is 3-1 this season and 189-43 in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers. The Mules were 28-8 in conference play last year as they finished in second place in the league standings.

Mules in non-conference action
    Central Missouri is 3-4 in non-conference games this season and 93-37 in non-conference games during the Tom Myers era after dropping two out three at Ouachita Baptist two weeks ago. The Mules were 8-5 against non-conference competition last season.

Mules at home
• The Mules are 116-28 at home during the Tom Myers era and 3-1 this season after taking three out of four games from Southwest Baptist over the weekend.
• The Mules were 9-2 at home last season. It was the first time UCM failed to win double digit home games since 1984, which was also the last time the Mules played that few home games in a single season.
• The Mules are 725-140-1 (.838) in 866 games played in this, their 39th season playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
• The Mules' best home record under Myers was a 23-3 mark during the 2011 campaign.

Mules on the road
    The Mules are 1-2 on the road this season after dropping two out of three at Ouachita Baptist. UCM was 18-5 on the road last season and the Mules are 128-34 in road games during the Tom Myers era.

The Myers way
    Central Missouri head coach Tom Myers has a 282-80 (.779) record in his seventh season leading the Mules' program. The Mules won at least 44 games in each of his first five seasons and recorded 52 wins during the 2010 campaign.
    The Mules have had 23 first team All-MIAA selections and 13 All-Americans during Myers' tenure.

Mules Baseball history
    In the 58th season of UCM baseball the Mules have compiled a 1,730-675-9 (.719) record in 2,414 games played. The Mules have won 40 or more games 17 times, including 14 straight seasons from 1999-2012, 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.

Mules Baseball by the Numbers
• 27 NCAA Regional Appearances (last 20 in a row)
• 23 MIAA Titles (15 of the last 20)
• 20 MIAA Tournament Titles (16 of the last 20)
• 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 699-163 (.811) record since 2000, the most wins of any program in NCAA Division I, II, or III. That is an average of 49.5 wins per season over the last 14 years.

A Tradition of Excellence in Athletics
• Central Missouri has won a combined 193 MIAA regular-season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• Last season, UCM captured three MIAA regular season titles and one tournament championship.
• 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 550 Central Missouri student-athletes received 375 Academic Awards from the MIAA office for the 2012-13 academic year.
• 305 UCM student-athletes were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
• 37 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.
• 33 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• UCM had eight student-athletes earn Academic All-America honors in their respective sports, including Brent Vogel being named the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for Men's Track & Field.

Upcoming
• The Mules return home to host Pittsburg State on the weekend of March 7-9. The series gets underway with a single nine-inning game on Friday at 3 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader will start at 1 p.m. and Sunday's single game will start at 1 p.m.
• UCM heads back out on the road traveling to Nebraska-Kearney for a four-game series March 14-16.