Quick Hits• The 22nd-ranked Central Missouri Mules head to Maryville, Mo. to take on Northwest Missouri State in a four-game MIAA series beginning on Friday 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 Northwest Missouri 133-64, including a 17-2 mark during the Tom Myers era.
• The teams did not meet last year as the series was canceled due to snow.
• The Mules swept a four-game series from the Bearcats in Maryville during the 2012 season.
Northwest Missouri• Northwest Missouri enters the non-conference matchup at 19-14 overall and 14-11 in league play after taking three out of four games from Missouri Southern last weekend in Maryville. They have won five of their last six home games.
• The Bearcats are batting .300 as a team. They have 63 doubles, seven triples, 16 home runs and 203 RBI as a unit.
• Jon Pomatto leads the team with a .364 batting average to along with nine extra-base hits and 21 RBI. Austin Wulff is hitting .232 with a team-leading five home runs. Eric McGlauflin leads the squad with 30 runs driven in. He is hitting .294 with seven doubles, a triple and three homers.
• There are six Bearcats hitting .300 or better.
• The pitching staff has a 5.31 staff ERA in 33 games and 259.1 innings pitched. The staff has walked 115 batters and struck out 176 in that span.
• Ryker Fox leads the staff with a 5-2 record and sports a 4.37 ERA in 10 games, including nine starts. He also leads the team with 41 strikeouts in 55.2 innings pitched.
• Austin Warren is 2-3 with team-leading 3.25 earned run average in seven starts. He leads the team with two complete games.
• Jon Pomatto is 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA and team-leading three saves in four relief appearances.
• The Bearcats have committed 39 errors in the field and have a .966 team fielding percentage. They have turned 20 double plays this year as a team.
• Opponents are 34 of 38 in stolen base attempts against Northwest Missouri this season.
The Mules• Central Missouri enters the weekend series at 26-11 overall and 23-5 in MIAA play after dropping a 14-2 non-conference decision to Emporia State on Tuesday night at Crane Stadium.
• The Mules are hitting .309 as a team with 54 doubles, six triples, 13 home runs and 203 RBI. They have six players hitting .302 or better and they've drawn 156 walks on the season.
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Tony Sandifer leads the team in hitting with a .388 average. He also has a pair of home runs and 30 runs driven in.
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Jake Alexander is hitting .383 with four doubles and 20 RBI.
Brad Wilson is also hitting .382 with a team-leading five home runs and 33 runs driven in.
• The pitching staff has a 3.98 team ERA in 37 games and 287.1 innings pitched. The staff has 279 strikeouts and 113 walks during that span.
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Jake Heissler is 4-1 with a 2.58 ERA in 38.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 40 over his seven starts.
Ricky Rivera is 6-0 with a 2.83 ERA in 47.2 innings pitched over eight starts.
Zach Davis is 2-1 with a 2.03 earned run average over 26.2 innings and 16 relief appearances. He leads the relievers with eight saves.
• The UCM defense has committed 42 errors and has a .965 fielding percentage. The Mules have turned 18 double plays on the year.
Worth Noting• The Mules have scored at least one run in 383 of the 388 games played under head coach Tom Myers.
• The Mules hit .371 during the Lindenwood series, including a .340 average with runners in scoring position.
• The 14-2 loss to Emporia State was the worst home loss of the Tom Myers era.
Last time out April 8, 2014 - (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) -- The 22nd-ranked Central Missouri Mules fell behind early and couldn't recover in a lopsided 14-2 non-conference loss to Emporia State on Tuesday night at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field. The Hornets scored runs in each of the first five innings to run away from the Mules.
The Hornets (21-14) scored one run in the first on a wild pitch and plated four more in the second, including a Zach Stucky two-run home run to open a 5-0 lead. The lead grew to 6-0 with a Price Jacobs solo home run.
The Mules (26-11) got on the board in the third to make it 6-1.
Trevor Jones lead off the inning with a triple and scored on
Jake Alexander's groundout.
Emporia State broke the game wide open with six runs in the fourth to make it 12-1. UCM came back with one run in the bottom of the inning on a
Brad Jelinek sac fly, but the Hornets scored two more in the fifth for the 14-2 lead.
Both teams had three errors in the field and ESU out-hit the Mules 9-7.
Matt Ritchie (0-1) took the loss for Central Missouri after giving up five runs, only two earned, on three hits in 1.2 innings. Dylan McEwin (2-0) took the win for Emporia State tossing 2.0 innings of relief, allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts.
Mules in MIAA play• Central Missouri is 23-5 this season and 209-47 in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers after sweeping a four-game series from Lindenwood 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 3-6 in non-conference games this season and 93-39 in non-conference games during the Tom Myers era after dropping a non-conference game to Emporia State on Tuesday night in Warrensburg. The Mules were 8-5 against non-conference competition last season.
Mules at home• The Mules are 128-29 at home during the Tom Myers era and 15-2 this season after losing to Emporia State on Tuesday night.
• 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 737-141-1 (.839) in 879 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 9-7 on the road this season after splitting a dropping a non-conference game at Emporia State on Tuesday night. UCM swept a four-game series at Lincoln two weeks ago.
• UCM was 18-5 on the road last season and the Mules are 136-39 in road games during the Tom Myers era.
The Myers way
• Central Missouri head coach Tom Myers has a 302-86 (.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.
300• Central Missouri head coach Tom Myers recorded career win No. 300 with the 4-1 win over Lindenwood on Saturday, April 5.
• UCM is averaging just over 43 wins per season, in this his seventh season leading the Mules.
Climbing the charts• With two saves in the Lindenwood series,
Zach Davis moved into a tie for fifth on UCM's single-season saves list with eight. He also moved into a tie for third on the school's all-time saves list with 15. He is four saves back of second place (Nick Webber, 23 from 2003-05).
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Kurtis Schuyler's win over Lindenwood in the series finale gave him four on the season and 23 in his career. He now ranks seventh on Central Missouri's all-time wins list, three wins shy of sixth place (Jason Herz, 26 from 1999-2002).
Mules in the Polls• Central Missouri moved up four spots to No. 22 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll. This is the third straight week in the poll for UCM. The Mules dropped out of the poll earlier this season, snapping a streak of 93 consecutive weeks in the poll.
• The Mules moved in to the NCBWA Poll as well this week at No. 19. The Mules are ranked No. 3 in the NCBWA Central Region Poll.
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 1,750-681-9 (.719) record in 2,440 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 719-169 (.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 six national championships since 1980 (men's and women's basketball in 1984, baseball in 1994 and 2003, women's bowling in 2003 and men's basketball this season) and eight 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 for the final regular season home series April 17-19 against Missouri Western. The teams will play a single game on Thursday at 6 p.m., a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m. and a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
• The 1994 Mules National Championship team will be honored in a pregame ceremony prior to Saturday's game at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
