Mules open MIAA baseball play with four-game set at Fort Hays State

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Quick Hits
• The Central Missouri Mules have shuffled their schedule this week and will now travel to Hays, Kansas to take on Fort Hays State in a four-game series to open MIAA play.
• The Mules will still be the home team in the series, but will play at Larks Park in Hays. The teams will play doubleheaders on Thursday and Friday beginning at 1 p.m. both days.
• UCM is receiving votes in this week's ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll.
• Central Missouri was picked to finish second in the MIAA's Preseason Coaches' poll.
• The Mules were 35-16 a season ago and captured the 24th MIAA Regular Season Championship in program history. The Mules missed out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1993.

The Series
• The Mules hold a 28-10 lead in the all-time series with Fort Hays State.
• The teams did not play each other last season. UCM swept a three-game series from the Tigers in Hays during the last meeting in the 2013 season.

Fort Hays State
• Fort Hays State enters the game at 0-2 overall after falling to Colorado Mines and Regis last weekend to open the season.
• The Tigers were picked to finish 11th in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll. They were 17-29 overall last season and finished 12th in the MIAA with a 14-26 conference mark.
• Fifth-year head coach Steve Johnson has compiled a 97-100 record at FHSU.
• The Tigers are hitting .254 as a team with three doubles, a home run and seven RBI.
• Gus Strunk and Cooper Langley lead the team with .429 batting averages. Both were 3-for-7 in the season's first two games.
• Alex King is hitting .250 and has the team's lone home run and leads the squad with a pair of runs batted in.
• The pitching staff has a 7.00 ERA through 18 innings pitched. They have walked seven and struck out 20 during that span.
• Justin Hersch and Brad Spires started the first two games for FHSU and took the losses.
• Giles Fox and Steven Federau lead the team with five strikeouts each.
• The Tigers have a .963 team fielding percentage. They've committed three errors in 81 total chances. They've turned one double play through two games.

The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the weekend at 4-3 overall after their 2-1 trip to Magnolia, Arkansas last weekend. UCM split a doubleheader with then-No. 9 Southern Arkansas and beat Lincoln in a single game.
• The Mules are hitting .167 as a team with a pair of doubles, one triple, a home run and 16 RBI.
• Trevor Jones leads the team in hitting with a .308 batting average, he also has a triple and two RBI.
• Tony Sandifer and Matt Milner lead the team with four RBI and Milner has the teams lone home run.
• The pitching staff has a 3.05 team ERA through the first seven games and 62 innings pitched. The staff has 63 strikeouts and 27 walks during that span. Opponents are hitting .229 against UCM pitchers.
• Jake Heissler is 1-0 with a 0.87 ERA in two appearances and one start. He's struck out 11 batters in 10.1 innings pitched.
• Lucas Williams is 2-0 with a 0.93 earned run average in two relief appearances. He is tied for the team-lead with 13 strikeouts in 9.2 innings.
• Tyler House is 1-1 in two starts and has 13 strikeouts in 12.1 innings pitched.
• Trevor Ezell is 3-for-3 in save opportunities. He's allowed two hits with two walks and five K's in five innings pitched over three relief appearances.
• The UCM defense has committed 10 errors and has a .963 fielding percentage. The Mules have turned four double plays on the year.

Worth Noting
• The Mules hit just 4-for-39 (.103) with runners on base during the three games last week. They were 2-for-29 (.069) with runners in scoring position.
• UCM pitchers held Southern Arkansas and Lincoln to a .107 average (3-for-28) with runners in scoring position and 4-for-35 (.114) with runners on base.
• The Mules won six straight MIAA series to close out the 2014 regular season.
• Senior outfielder Trevor Jones was named to the NCBWA Preseason All-Central Region Second Team.

Last time out
    February 14, 2015 - (MAGNOLIA, Ark.) -- The 22nd-ranked Mules got a strong pitching performance from Jake Heissler and held off Lincoln 4-3 on Saturday afternoon at Goodheart Field. The Mules improve to 4-3 overall with the win.
    Lincoln (0-1) got on the board first with a pair of unearned runs in the second inning. Two UCM errors allowed the inning to continue and for the Blue Tigers to plate two runs.
    The Mules got on the board in the third when they took the lead with three runs. Matt Milner had a sacrifice fly to score the first run and two runs scored on an error by the shortstop. UCM added to the lead with a singler un in the fifth on Dylan Hanson' RBI fielder's choice.
    The Blue Tigers scored one in the seventh on Dillon Walker's RBI fielder's choice, but they would get no more.
    Heissler (1-0) allowed two unearned runs on two hits in six innings while striking out eight. Ricky Rivera allowed one run on one hit in an inning of relief and Trevor Ezell pitched the final two innings to earn his third save of the season.
    Trevor Schnieders (0-1) took the loss for Lincoln after giving up three runs on three hits over four innings.
    The Mules out-hit the Blue Tigers 4-3 in the game adn the teams combined for six errors.

Mules picked to finished second in MIAA Preseason Poll
• Central Missouri was picked to finish second in the MIAA according to the 14 league coaches in the preseason poll released last Friday. The Mules received two of 14 first place votes and tallied 155 points to come in second. Emporia State received 10 first place votes and totaled 164 points to claim the top spot. Central Oklahoma garnered the other two first place nods adn 143 points to come in third. Missouri Western (132 points) and Nebraska-Kearney (121 points) rounded out the top five.
• UCM is scheduled to open MIAA play Feb. 20-22 hosting Fort Hays State in a four-game series at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.

Mules in MIAA Openers
• Central Missouri was 6-1 in MIAA openers under previous head coach Tom Myers. The Mules have won two straight conference lid-lifters.
• UCM was 6-1 in conference road openers during that span as well. The last loss in road MIAA opener was a 6-5 defeat at Northwest Missouri during Myers' first season in 2008.
• The last loss in an MIAA opener was an 8-3 setback to Missouri Western in the 2012 season.

Mules in the Polls
• Central Missouri is receiving votes in the first Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll of the regular season. UCM was ranked No. 22 in the preseason poll.
• The Mules are not ranked or receiving votes in any of the other three Division II polls.

Mules in MIAA play
• The Mules were 32-8 in conference play last year as they captured the 24th MIAA Regular Season championship in program history and the 16th in the last 21 seasons.

Mules in non-conference action
• The Mules are 4-3 in non-conference games this season after going 2-1 last weekend in Magnolia, Arkansas. The Mules split a doubleheader with No. 9 Southern Arkansas and beat Lincoln in a single non-conference meeting.
• UCM was 3-8 in non-conference games last season.

The Mules at home
• The Mules were 18-5 at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field last season.
• The Mules are 740-144-1 (.837) in 885 games played in this, their 40th season playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.

Mules on the road
• The Mules are 1-1 on the road this season after splitting a doubleheader at No. 9 Southern Arkansas last Friday.
• The Mules were 15-9 on the road last season.

Mules at neutral sites
• The Mules are 3-2 in neutral site games this season after beating Lincoln in Magnolia, Arkansas last weekend.
• UCM was 2-2 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas to open the season.

Mules in the Sunflower State
• Central Missouri is 293-100 all-time against schools from the state of Kansas.
• Last year, the Mules were 4-2 against schools from Kansas and 0-1 in those games played in Kansas
• UCM did not play Fort Hays State last year.

Crookes era underway
• The Mules are 4-3 in the early going of Kyle Crookes' first season as head coach of the Central Missouri program.
• The Mules were 71-29 in his two seasons as an assistant coach and captured the 2014 MIAA Regular Season Championship. The Mules garnered five First Team All-MIAA selections and three All-America honors during his two years as an assistant.
• Crookes compiled a 292-164 overall record in eight seasons as the head coach at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College before taking over as an assistant coach at UCM.

Mules Baseball history
• In the 60th season of UCM baseball the Mules have compiled a 1,763-689-9 (.718) record in 2,461 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 24 MIAA championships, 16 regional titles and two national championships.

Mules Baseball by the Numbers
• 27 NCAA Regional Appearances (20 of the last 21 years)
• 24 MIAA Titles (16 of the last 21)
• 20 MIAA Tournament Titles (16 of the last 21)
• 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 2000s
• The Central Missouri baseball program has had unprecedented success in the last 25 years and has been even more impressive since the year 2000. The Mules were the winningest team in all divisions of the NCAA by victories (508) and percentage (.814, 508-116) from 2000-09. That success has continued through the 2010s.
• The Mules are 732-178 (.804) since the year 2000. An average of 48.8 wins per season over the last 15 years.

A Tradition of Excellence in Athletics
• Following the fall sports seasons, Central Missouri has won a combined 202 MIAA regular-season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• Last season, UCM captured seven MIAA regular season titles, the most of any school in one season in league history, and the second time Central Missouri has accomplished the feat.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 146 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 in 2014) and eight national championships overall.

A Tradition of Excellence in the Classroom
• Central Missouri had 220 student-athletes named to the 2013-14 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 41 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.
• 17 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• UCM had 12 student-athletes earn Academic All-Region awards in their respective sports with seven of those earning CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.

Upcoming
• The Mules stay out on the road for four more MIAA games as they travel to Emporia, Kansas to take on fourth-ranked Emporia State. The four-game series gets underway on Friday, Feb. 27 with a single game at 6 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader starts at 4 p.m. with Sunday's single-game getting underway with a noon first pitch.