No. 28 Central Missouri Mules (18-9, 15-5 MIAA) vs at Lincoln Blue Tigers (1-18, 0-15 MIAA)
March 28-30, 2014
Friday - 3 p.m. | Saturday - 1 p.m. | Sunday - 1 p.m.
LU Baseball Field | Jefferson City, Mo.
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Quick Hits
• The 28th-ranked Central Missouri Mules head to Jefferson City, Mo. for a four-game MIAA series against Lincoln beginning on Friday at 3 p.m.
• The teams will play a single game on Friday at 3 p.m., a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and a single game on Sunday at 1 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
• The Mules lead the all-time series with Lincoln 89-7, including an 11-1 mark during Myers' tenure.
• UCM won three out of four against the Blue Tigers last year. The Mules swept a doubleheader, 6-1 and 11-2 in Warrensburg before splitting a doubleheader in Lincoln. UCM won 26-5 before LU rallied for a 10-8 win in the nightcap.
Lincoln
• Lincoln enters the four-game MIAA series at 1-19 overall and 0-16 in MIAA play after dropping four games at Northeastern State last weekend.
• The Blue Tigers are batting .201 as a team. They have 16 doubles, eight home runs and 50 RBI as a unit.
• Ben Stewart leads the team with a .328 batting average. He has four of the teams eight home runs and a team-leading 16 RBI. Josh Kenney is hitting .254 with a pair of solo homers. Kaleb Davis (.222), Zach Roberts (.167) and Craig Jones (.161) all have five runs batted in apiece.
• The pitching staff has a 10.35 staff ERA in 20 games and 142.2 innings pitched. The staff has walked 101 batters and struck out 83 in that span.
• Ian Fuemmeler has the lone win and is 1-0 with a 13.50 ERA in seven relief appearances.
• Joe Jungmeyer is 0-5 with a 6.51 earned run average in five starts. He has a staff-leading 16 strikeouts in 27.2 innings pitched.
• The Blue Tigers have committed 37 errors in the field and have a .942 team fielding percentage. They have turned seven double plays this year as a team.
The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the week at 18-9 overall and 15-5 in MIAA play after sweeping a four-games series from Missouri Southern last weekend at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
• The Mules are hitting .298 as a team with 34 doubles, four triples, 11 home runs and 146 RBI. They have six players hitting .333 or better and they've drawn 113 walks on the season.
•
Tony Sandifer leads the team with a .391 average to go along with four doubles, a home run and a team-leading 24 RBI.
Jake Alexander is hitting .379 and has driven in 10 runs.
Barrett Noirfalise is hitting .360 and is tied for the team lead with seven doubles.
Brad Wilson is hitting .341 with a team-best four home runs and has driven in 21 runs.
• The pitching staff has a 3.99 team ERA in 27 games and 210.0 innings pitched. The staff has 195 strikeouts and 81 walks during that span.
•
Jake Heissler is 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA in 34.2 innings pitched. He has a staff-leading 36 strikeouts over his six starts.
Ricky Rivera is 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 36.0 innings pitched over six starts.
Zach Davis is 2-0 with a 2.08 earned run average over 21.2 innings and 11 relief appearances. He leads the relievers with five saves after picking up three during the MSSU series.
• The UCM defense has committed 29 errors and has a .968 fielding percentage. The Mules have turned 14 double plays on the year.
Worth Noting
• The Mules have scored at least one run in 373 of the 378 games played under head coach Tom Myers.
• UCM pitchers held Missouri Southern to a .109 batting average (5-for-46) with runners in scoring position during last weekend's series.
Last time out
March 22, 2014 - (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) -- The Central Missouri Mules completed a four-game series sweep of Missouri Southern with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon at Crane Stadium. The Mules held off the Lions 2-1 in the opener before posting an 8-4 win in the nightcap.
The Mules (18-9, 15-5 MIAA) plated single runs in the first and second innings of game two to complete their scoring.
Brad Wilson had an RBI single in the first and
Dusty Maas had an RBI double in the second for UCM.
The Lions (14-12, 9-11 MIAA) plated a single run in the fifth thanks to a Mule throwing error, but would get no more.
Kurtis Schuyler (2-2) picked up the win allowing one unearned run on three hits in five innings. He struck out five and walked one.
Zach Davis pitched the final two innings allowing no hits to earn his fourth save of the season.
David Reese (3-2) took the loss for Missouri Southern after giving up two runs on six hits in six innings.
MSSU jumped on top 1-0 in the second inning of game two on a Dusty Harper RBI single. The Mules responded, however, with six runs in the home half of the inning to take the lead for good.
The Lions plated a run in the fifth on a Logan Moon single to right field, but Maas added an RBI single of his own in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-2.
MSSU scored single runs in the sixth and seventh to pull within 7-4, but
Kevin Gratza was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the home half of the seventh to push the lead back to four at 8-4.
Lucas Williams (1-0) picked up his first career win going five innings and allowing two runs on five hits.
Zach Davis recorded the final out of the game, striking out Axel Johnson with the bases loaded for his third save of the series and fifth on the season.
Drew Noble (3-3) took the loss for Missouri Southern. He allowed six runs on four hits and walked four in two innings of work.
Mules in MIAA play
• Central Missouri is 15-5 this season and 201-47 in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers after sweeping a four-game series from Missouri Southern 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 124-28 at home during the Tom Myers era and 11-1 this season after sweeping Missouri Southern 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 733-140-1 (.839) in 874 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 5-6 on the road this season after splitting a four game series at Nebraska-Kearney last weekend.
• UCM was 18-5 on the road last season and the Mules are 132-38 in road games during the Tom Myers era.
The Myers way
• Central Missouri head coach Tom Myers has a 294-84 (.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.
Mules in the Polls
• Central Missouri re-entered the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll at No. 28 this week. The Mules dropped out of the poll earlier this season, snapping a streak of 93 consecutive weeks in the poll.
• The Mules are receiving votes in the NCBWA Poll as well and are ranked No. 4 in the NCBWA Central Region Poll.
Emporia State game rescheduled
• Central Missouri's non-conference game at Emporia State originally scheduled for Tuesday, March 25 has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 1 at 5:00 p.m. in Emporia.
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 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.
Mules Baseball history
• In the 58th season of UCM baseball the Mules have compiled a 1,742-679-9 (.719) record in 2,430 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 711-167 (.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 head to Emporia, Kan. on Tuesday, April 1 for a non-conference game against Emporia State at 5 p.m.
• UCM returns home for five straight games beginning with a four-game series against Lindenwood April 4-6.
• Central Missouri will host Emporia State in a non-conference game on Tuesday, April 8 at 6 p.m. at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
• UCM heads to Maryville, Mo. April 11-13 for a four-game MIAA series against Northwest Missouri.
