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Quick Hits
• The Central Missouri Mules head out on the road for a four-game MIAA series at Nebraska-Kearney. The teams are slated to play a single game on Friday at 3 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Kearney, Neb. followed by a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m. and a single-game on Sunday at 12 p.m.
• 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 in-a-row.

The Series
    Central Missouri leads the all-time series with Nebraska-Kearney 3-1, including a 2-1 mark during the Tom Myers era.
    The Mules took two of three games from the Lopers during last year's series in Warrensburg. The Mules won the opener 4-1 before falling 6-4 in game two. UCM came back to win the series finale by a score of 9-8.

Nebraska-Kearney
    Nebraska-Kearney enters the four-game MIAA series at 13-6 overall and 7-5 in MIAA play after sweeping a four-game series at Fort Hays State last weekend.
    The Lopers are hitting .351 as a team , second best in the conference. They have 62 doubles, four triples, 16 home runs and 139 RBI as a group. Danny Droll leads the team with a .452 batting average and three players are hitting over .400. Anthony Pacheco is hitting .443, while Brandon Landanger is batting .423. Dillon Schroeder (.392 avg.) and Max Ayoub (.373) are tied for the team lead with four home runs, while Schroeder has a team-best 28 runs driven in. Seven Lopers have at least 11 RBI on the season.
    The Nebraska-Kearney pitching staff has a 4.95 ERA in 19 games and 143.2 innings pitched. They've struck out 102 batters and walked 51 in that span.
    Dalton Cowen and Adam Peters are both 3-1 with 3.04 and 3.45 ERAs, respectively. Peters has a staff-leading 23 strikeouts in 28.2 innings pitched. Logan Willard is 2-0 with a 5.18 ERA in five starts, while Joe Smidt and Aaron Smith have 4.32 and 4.66 ERAs, respectively, in seven relief appearances each.
    The UNK defense committed 24 errors and has a .963 fielding percentage, while turning 16 double plays on the season.

The Mules
    Central Missouri enters the series at 12-7 overall and 9-3 in MIAA play after sweeping a four-game series from Pittsburg State last weekend.
    The Mules enter the weekend hitting .292 as a team with 24 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs and 109 RBI. They have a .404 team slugging percentage and a .411 team on-base percentage. UCM has drawn 85 walks on the season as well.
    Jake Alexander leads the team with a .405 batting average in 14 games played. Brad Wilson is hitting .365 with a team-leading four home runs to go along with 16 RBI. Tony Sandifer leads the team with 19 runs driven in, while hitting .362. Six Mules are hitting .310 or better and five have driven in at least 10 runs.
    The pitching staff sports a conference-best 3.28 ERA in 19 games. The staff has 140 strikeouts and 53 walks in 148.0 innings pitched.
    Jake Heissler is 4-1 with a team-leading 0.90 ERA in 30.0 innings pitched. Kyle Gehrs is 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA in six appearances, including three starts. Ricky Rivera has a perfect 3-0 record to go along with a 3.42 ERA in 23.2 innings pitched. Heissler leads the team with 31 strikeouts.
    The UCM defense has committed 17 errors and sports an MIAA-leading .973 fielding percentage. The Mules have turned 10 double plays on the year.

Worth Noting
• The Mules have scored at least one run in 365 of the 370 games played under head coach Tom Myers.
• The Mules hit .432 as a team during the four-game sweep of Pittsburg State. UCM hit .481 with runners on base during the series and hit .444 with runners in scoring position
• Outfielder Brad Wilson has hit safely in all 17 games to start the season. He is batting .365 on the season.

Last time out
    March 9, 2014 - (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) -- The Central Missouri Mules pounded out 25 hits and scored 27 runs in sweeping an MIAA doubleheader from Pittsburg State on Sunday afternoon at Crane Stadium. The Mules won the opener 8-2 before run-ruling the Gorillas 19-2 in the nightcap.
    PSU (5-10, 3-8 MIAA) took an early 1-0 lead in game one on Cody Ball's RBI single. The Mules (12-7, 9-3 MIAA) responded with two runs in the bottom half on an error by the third baseman.
    UCM added three more runs in the fourth on Brad Jelinek's first career home run to take a 5-1 lead. Tony Sandifer had an RBI single and Barrett Noirfalise added an RBI triple in the fifth to make it 7-1.
    Ball homered in the sixth to make it 7-2 in favor of the Mules, but Jake Alexander added an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to give UCM the 8-2 lead.
    Kyle Gehrs (2-1) tossed a complete-game to earn the win. He allowed two runs on four hits, while striking out seven.
    Nathan Arnold (2-1) took the loss for Pittsburg State after giving up eight runs on seven hits in six innings of work.
    The Mules jumped on the Gorillas early in game two scoring four times in the first and six more in the second to take a 10-0 lead. Sandifer had an RBI single to get the ball rolling and Noirfalise added a three-run double. Sandifer added a sac fly in the second inning before Dylan Hanson brought home two more runs with a single to left center field. Matt Molbury finished off the inning with a three-run homer to left.
    The Gorillas plated two runs in the third on Ball's second home run of the day to make it 10-2. UCM came right back with two of their own in the bottom of the third on Brad Wilson's fourth home run of the season. Jelinek added an RBI double in the fourth and later scored on Trevor Jones' sacrifice fly to make it 14-2.
    Central Missouri tacked on three more runs in the fifth to make it 17-2. Jelinek had a two-run single and Kevin Gratza singled in another run with a base hit to right field. UCM added two more in the sixth on Hunter Johnson's first career home run for the 19-2 final.
    Kurtis Schuyler (1-1) tossed a complete-game to earn his first win of the season. He allowed two runs on five hits while striking out five.
    Cort Lesmeister (1-1) took the loss for the Gorillas after giving up seven runs on six hits in 1.2 innings pitched.
    Noirfalise, Molbury and Jelinek all had three RBI in game two and Jelinek had six on the day.

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 MIAA play
    Central Missouri is 9-3 this season and 195-45 in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers after sweeping a four-game series from Pittsburg State last weekend. 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 120-28 at home during the Tom Myers era and 7-1 this season after sweeping Pittsburg State at Crane Stadium last 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 729-140-1 (.839) in 870 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 3-4 on the road this season after splitting a four game series Northeastern State. UCM was 18-5 on the road last season and the Mules are 130-36 in road games during the Tom Myers era.

The Myers way
    Central Missouri head coach Tom Myers has a 288-82 (.778) 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.

Martinez Watch List
• Before the season began, 125 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 outfielders Kevin Gratza and Brad Wilson and junior infielder Tony Sandifer 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.

Mules Baseball history
    In the 58th season of UCM baseball the Mules have compiled a 1,736-677-9 (.719) record in 2,422 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 705-165 (.810) 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
• Following the 2013-14 winter sports season, Central Missouri has won a combined 198 MIAA regular-season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• The Mules and Jennies have captured five MIAA regular season titles this year and one tournament championship.
• 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 144 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 Missouri Southern in a four-game MIAA series the weekend of March 21, 22 and 23.
• UCM heads out on the road for five straight games beginning with a single nine-inning game at Emporia State on Tuesday, March 25.