Mules Baseball returns home to host Emporia State in non-conference tilt

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Quick Hits
• The Central Missouri Mules return home to host Emporia State in a single non-conference game on Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
• 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 103-45 lead in the all-time series with Emporia State.
• The Hornets won both meetings last season, 4-3 in Emporia and 14-2 in Warrensburg. Both games were non-conference affairs.

Mules Baseball on the air
• Tuesday's game can be heard live on the Central Missouri Sports Radio Network on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com.
• Bob Jackson will be on the call with the UCM Office of Extended Studies Dugout Show beginning 25 minutes prior to first pitch.

Emporia State
• Emporia State enters the series at 15-6 overall and 9-6 in MIAA play after taking three out of four games at Northeastern State over the weekend.
• The Hornets were picked to win the MIAA in the Preseason Coaches Poll. They were 42-19 overall in 2014 and finished second in the MIAA with a 26-14 league mark.
• 12th-year head coach Bob Fornelli has compiled a 467-188 record at Emporia State and a 765-311 career mark in 19 years as a head coach.
• The Hornets are hitting .331 as a team with 56 doubles, four triples and 31 home runs. They've driven in 153 runs as a unit.
• Justin Harris is leading the team with a .427 batting average and 13 doubles. He also has two triples, two home runs and 14 RBI.
• Dean Long is hitting .405 with a team-leading 10 home runs and 34 RBI. He also has 12 doubles.
• Eight players are hitting .306 or better.
• The pitching staff has a 5.28 ERA through 168.2 innings pitched. They have walked only 61 and struck out 150 during that span. Opponents are hitting .284 against ESU pitchers.
• Travis Hendry, Garrett Brummett and Shawn Talkington are all tied for the team lead with three wins apiece.
• Hendry is 3-1 with a 3.68 earned run average in six appearances and five starts.
• Brummett is 3-1 with a 4.39 ERA in six starts and leads the staff with 30 strikeouts in 26.2 innings.
• Talkington is 3-2 with a 5.02 earned run average in eight appearances.
• Shane Davies has a 1.00 earned run average with one save in six relief appearances.
• Garrett Bane leads the team with three saves. He's also 2-1 with a 5.68 ERA in 10 appearances.
• The Hornets have a .954 team fielding percentage. They've committed 33 errors on the season. They've turned 12 double plays and have eight passed balls.

The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the single nine-inning game at 12-12 overall and 8-8 in MIAA play after splitting a four-game series at Missouri Southern last weekend.
• The Mules are hitting .245 as a team with 26 doubles, eight triples, seven home runs and 91 RBI. The Mules have drawn 83 walks on the season with 138 strikeouts.
• Trevor Jones leads all eligible hitters with a .323 average to go along with four doubles, four triples and nine RBI.
• Tony Sandifer is hitting .284 with a team-leading four doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI.
• Dusty Maas is hitting .321 with three doubles, two triples and 12 RBI.
• Jake Alexander is the only other Mule with double digit runs batted in (10). He's hitting .318 with three doubles.
• The pitching staff has a 4.33 team ERA through 24 games and 195.1 innings pitched. The staff has 182 strikeouts and 85 walks during that span. Opponents are hitting .253 against UCM pitchers.
• Carlos D'Armas is 0-1 with a staff-leading 3.38 earned run average in six appearances and five starts. He's struck out a team-leading 38 batters in 26.2 innings and is holding opponents to a .208 batting average.
• Jake Heissler is 2-0 with a 3.55 ERA in six appearances, including five starts. He's struck out 29 batters in 33.0 innings pitched and is holding opponents to a .213 batting average.
• Austin Southmayd has a 1.29 ERA in four relief appearances.
• Lucas Williams is 3-2 with a 2.86 earned run average in nine relief appearances.
• Trevor Ezell has a team-leading six saves on the year. He has 16 striketouts in 14.2 innings pitched over 10 relief appearances.
• The UCM defense has committed 27 errors and has a .969 fielding percentage. The Mules have turned 13 double plays on the year.

Worth Noting
• The Mules won six straight MIAA series to close out the 2014 regular season, but have split their first four this season.
• Senior outfielder Trevor Jones was named to the NCBWA Preseason All-Central Region Second Team.

Last time out
    March 22, 2015 - (JOPLIN, Mo.) -- Central Missouri baseball fell 4-3 to the No. 22 ranked Missouri Southern Lions in Sunday afternoon's series finale. The Mules and Lions split the weekend series, each winning two games with all four games decided by a single run. The loss drops the Mules to 12-12 on the season and 8-8 in the MIAA.
    Missouri Southern got on the board first, scoring on back-to-back doubles in the second.
    The starting pitchers were in charge after that as the two teams traded zeroes and the score remained 1-0 through five.
    UCM broke through in the sixth with a two-out rally. Four straight Mules reached base after the first two batters of the inning were retired. UCM took a 2-1 lead taking advantage of a two-base error from the Lions.
    The lead only lasted until the next half inning however. The Lions tied the game on an RBI double and regained the lead on a two-run home run.
    We went to the ninth with the score still 4-2. Jackson Schnurbusch ripped a one-out triple to right center and scored on a sacrifice fly from Colton Hilbrenner, but that's all the Mules could get, as Missouri Southern held on for the 4-3 win.
    Ricky Rivera started for UCM and took the loss pitching 5.2 innings allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out four and walking just one. Austin Southmayd came in and pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.
    UCM scattered seven hits in the game, getting a pair from Bennett Oliver who finished 2-for-4 with a run scored. Hilbrenner had the only RBI for the Mules.

Mules in MIAA play
• The Mules are 8-8 in MIAA play under first-year head coach Kyle Crookes after splitting their conference series at Missouri Southern over the weekend.
• The Mules have split each of their first four conference series this year.
• 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 4-4 in non-conference games this season after falling 10-5 at Missouri Western on Tuesday, March 14. The Mules went 2-1 in Magnolia, Arkansas on Feb. 13 and 14. The Mules split a doubleheader with then-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 are 2-2 at home this season after splitting a four-game series with Northwest Missouri last weekend.
• UCM was 18-5 at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field last year.
• The Mules are 742-146-1 (.835) in 889 games played in this, their 40th season playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.

Mules on the road
• The Mules are 7-8 on the road this season after splitting a four-game series at Missouri Southern over the weekend.
• 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 back on February 14.
• UCM was 2-2 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas to open the season.

Crookes era underway
• The Mules are 12-12 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 1,771-698-9 (.717) record in 2,478 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 740-187 (.800) since the year 2000. An average of 49 wins per season over the last 15 years.

A Tradition of Excellence in Athletics
• Following the winter sports seasons, Central Missouri has won a combined 203 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 seven national championships since 1980 (men's and women's basketball in 1984, baseball in 1994 and 2003, women's bowling in 2003, men's basketball in 2014 and women's indoor track & field in 2015) and nine 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 will host Central Oklahoma for a four-game conference series this weekend. It gets underway with a single nine-inning game on Friday, March 27 at 3 p.m. The series continues with a Saturday doubleheader at 1 p.m. and a Sunday single game also at 1 p.m.
• Central Missouri will host Lincoln the following Thursday-Saturday for a four-game MIAA series.