vs

Quick Hits
• The Central Missouri Mules continue their nine-game homestand with a four-game MIAA series against Central Oklahoma this weekend.
• The series gets underway with a single game on Friday at 3 p.m. It continues with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and concludes with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
• 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 20-13 lead in the all-time series with Central Oklahoma.
• The Mules won three out of four games last year in Edmond. UCM dropped the opener 8-7, but came back to win the final three games of the series by scores of 5-2, 8-7, and 10-7.

Mules Baseball on the air
• All four games of the UCO series 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.
• In addition, both games of Saturday's doubleheader will be webcast by the UCM Media Network. Fans can access the webcast at UCMathletics.com/gamecentral.

Central Oklahoma
• Central Oklahoma enters the series at 10-13 overall and 6-9 in MIAA play after dropping three out of four games to Lindenwood at home last weekend.
• The Bronchos were picked to finish third in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll. They were 37-17 overall in 2014 and finished second in the MIAA with a 26-14 league mark.
• Fifth-year head coach Dax Leone has compiled a 131-89 record at Central Oklahoma.
• The Bronchos are hitting .320 as a team with 42 doubles, eight triples and 36 home runs. They've driven in 163 runs as a unit.
• Ethan Elroy leads the team in hitting with a .380 batting average to go along with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and 12 RBI.
• Isaac Hellbusch is hitting .338 with a team-leading seven doubles. He's tied for the team-lead with six home runs and has a team-best 29 runs driven in.
• Dylan Tinkler (.333) and Jake O'Brien (.330) both have six home runs as well.
• Seven eligible hitters are at .330 or better and nine different players have hit home runs.
• The pitching staff has a 6.12 ERA through 188.1 innings pitched. They have walked 84 and struck out 185 during that span. Opponents are hitting .296 against UCO pitchers.
• Dennis Morelli, Tanner Ferrell and Brent Backlund are all tied for the team lead with two wins apiece.
• Morelli has a 4.62 earned run average in eight appearances, including two starts, and also has one of the team's two saves.
• Ferrell has a 3.86 ERA in nine relief appearances.
• Backlund has six appearances, including four starts and sports a 5.73 ERA in 22 innings pitched.
• Daulton Leiker is 1-1 with a 3.65 earned run average in seven starts. He's struck out a team-leading 55 batters in just 37.0 innings pitched. He's holding opponents to a .209 batting average.
• The Bronchos have a .952 team fielding percentage. They've committed 40 errors on the season. They've turned 11 double plays and have seven passed balls.

The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the weekend series with Central Oklahoma having lost three straight games and sitting at 12-13 overall and 8-8 in MIAA play.
• The Mules are hitting .243 as a team with 27 doubles, eight triples, seven home runs and 93 RBI. The Mules have drawn 86 walks on the season with 148 strikeouts.
• Trevor Jones leads all eligible hitters with a .333 average to go along with four doubles, four triples and nine RBI.
• Tony Sandifer is hitting .282 with a team-leading three home runs and 16 RBI. He is tied with Jones for the team lead with four doubles.
• Dusty Maas is hitting .305 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 .292 with three doubles.
• The pitching staff has a 4.40 team ERA through 25 games and 204.1 innings pitched. The staff has 192 strikeouts and 91 walks during that span. Opponents are hitting .261 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 1.04 ERA in five 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 18 striketouts in 15.2 innings pitched over 11 relief appearances.
• The UCM defense has committed 31 errors and has a .966 fielding percentage. The Mules have turned 14 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 24, 2015 - (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) -- Emporia State scored three runs in the ninth inning to break a 3-3 tie and beat Central Missouri 6-3 in a game that was delayed 56 minutes by rain at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field. The game was delayed in the bottom of the seventh with the game still tied.
    The Mules (12-13) got on the board first with a single run in the second inning on a Derek Cornell RBI single. The Hornets (16-6) came right back to tie the game in the top of the third on a Wade Hanna sacrifice fly.
    UCM went back in front on Tony Sandifer's RBI groundout in the fourth only to see ESU take the lead with two runs in the top of the fifth. Garrett McKinzie had an RBI single and Price Jacobs added an RBI groundout to give the Hornets a 3-2 lead.
    The Mules tied the game in the sixth when Colton Hilbrenner scored on a throwing error to make it 3-3. UCM got a one-out double in the bottom of the seventh, but that's when the game was delayed nearly an hour. Following the delay, the Hornets pitched around the runner in scoring position to keep the game tied.
    The game remain tied until the ninth, when ESU plated three runs to take the lead. Jordan Hodges had an infield single to advance Levi Parker to third, who then scored on a UCM throwing error. Evan Koehler had a two-run double later in the inning to give the Hornets the 6-3 lead. Shawn Talkington struck out the side in the ninth to earn his second save of the season and give Emporia State the win.
    Trevor Ezell (1-3) took the loss for UCM after giving up three runs on three hits in the ninth. Travis Hendry (4-1) earned the win for ESU, pitching 1.1 innings of no-hit relief.
    Cornell had three hits in the game for the Mules and Trevor Jones had two.

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 4-5 in non-conference games this season after falling 6-3 to Emporia State on Tuesday afternoon.
• UCM was 3-8 in non-conference games last season.

The Mules at home
• The Mules are 2-3 at home this season after dropping a non-conference matchup with Emporia State on Tuesday.
• UCM was 18-5 at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field last year.
• The Mules are 742-147-1 (.834) 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 12-13 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 1,771-699-9 (.716) record in 2,479 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 740-188 (.797) 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.
• During the 2013-14 year, 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 Lincoln next Thursday-Saturday for a four-game MIAA series. The series gets underway with a single game on Thursday at 6 p.m.