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Quick Hits
• The Central Missouri Mules return home to host Pittsburg State in a four-game MIAA series beginning on Friday. The teams are slated to play a doubleheader on Friday at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader on Sunday at 2 p.m.
• UCM dropped out of all four national polls for the first time since the 2008 season.
• 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 Pittsburg State 62-12, including an 18-3 mark during the Tom Myers era.
    The Gorillas beat the Mules two of out three games last season to win their MIAA Tournament opening round series. The regular season series between the two was canceled due to inclement weather.

Pittsburg State
    Pittsburg State enters the MIAA series at 5-6 overall and 4-4 in MIAA play after splitting a four-game series with Emporia State last weekend in Pittsburg.
    The Gorillas are hitting .286 as a team with 13 doubles, three triples, eight home runs and 48 RBI. Nathan Arnold leads the team with a .375 batting average in six games played. Brad Foss is hitting .359 with a home run and four RBI, while Kyle Dickens is batting .333 with a team-leading four home runs and 13 runs driven in.
    The Pittsburg State pitching staff has a 5.00 ERA in 11 games and 84.2 inning pitched. They've struck out 69 batters and walked 27 in that span.
    Ryan McKay is 1-1 with a 2.16 ERA and one save in four appearances. Nathan Arnold is 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA and team-leading 16 strikeouts in three starts. Opponents are hitting .273 against Gorilla pitching this season.
    The PSU defense committed 22 errors and has a .940 fielding percentage, while turning five double plays on the season.

The Mules
    Central Missouri enters the series at 8-7 overall and 5-3 in MIAA play after taking splitting a four-game series at Northeastern State last weekend.
    The Mules enter the weekend hitting just .257 as a team with 15 doubles, three triples, five home runs and 63 RBI.
    Brad Wilson leads the team with a .353 batting average and two home runs. He's also driven in nine runs. Trevor Jones is hitting .339 with two doubles, two triples and a home run and is tied for the team lead with 11 RBI. Tony Sandifer is hitting .333 as is Barrett Noirfalise. Sandifer hs a home run and is tied for the team lead with 11 RBI, while Noirfalise and Wilson lead the team with four doubles each.
    The pitching staff sports a 3.30 ERA in 15 games. The staff has 115 strikeouts and 46 walks in 120.0 innings pitched.
    Ricky Rivera is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in three starts (18.2 IP). Jake Heissler is 3-1 with a 1.17 ERA in four starts. He's struck out a staff-leading 26 batters and walked just three in 23.0 innings pitched.
    The Mule defense has committed 16 errors and sports a .969 fielding percentage. They have turned seven double plays on the year.

Worth Noting
• The Mules have scored at least one run in 361 of the 366 games played under head coach Tom Myers.
• The split with Northeastern State snapped a streak of five straight MIAA series wins for UCM.
• The Mules hit .283 (15-for-53) with runners in scoring position against Northeastern State.
• Senior outfielder Kevin Gratza was named to the NCBWA Preseason All-Central Region First Team.

Last time out
    March 1, 2014 - (TAHLEQUAH, Okla.) -- Mules Baseball rallied to tie the game in the ninth, but fell in extra innings 4-3 to Northeastern State in their MIAA series finale on Saturday afternoon at Rousey Field.
    The Mules (8-7, 5-3 MIAA) trailed 3-2 with two outs in the ninth when Brad Wilson homered to left field to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
    UCM jumped on top 1-0 in the second inning when Jackson Schnurbusch singled home Barrett Noirfalise with the games first run. The RiverHawks (5-8, 2-6 MIAA) tied the game in the third on Braden Brown's RBI groundout.
    NSU went in front 3-1 in the seventh on a pair of infield singles.
    The Mules got one run back in the eighth on Matt Molbury's RBI single and then tied it in the ninth on Wilson's bomb.
    The game went into the 11th before Cayle Shambaugh led off with a home run to end the game.
    AJ Walkenhorst (0-1) took the loss for UCM after allowing one run on two hits in 4.0 innings of relief. Starter Kyle Gehrs went 6.0 innings allowing three runs, only one earned, on four hits.
    Bryan McClellan got the win for the RiverHawks after tossing 2.1 innings of perfect relief with four strikeouts.

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 last week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll. It was the first time UCM has not been ranked in the poll since April 21, 2008 and snapped a streak of 93 straight weeks ranked in the poll.
    The Mules have dropped out of the rankings in all four national polls this week. UCM is ninth in the NCBWA Central Region Poll.

Mules in MIAA play
    Central Missouri is 5-3 this season and 191-45 in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers after splitting a four-game conference series at Northeastern 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 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 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 284-82 (.776) 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 1,732-677-9 (.718) record in 2,418 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 701-165 (.809) 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 head back out on the road traveling to Nebraska-Kearney for a four-game MIAA series March 14-16.