First Pitch• The Central Missouri Mules welcome Nebraska-Kearney to town for a key early-season MIAA series. The Mules and Lopers are currently part of a three-way tie atop the MIAA standings.
• The series gets underway at 4 p.m. on Friday at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field. It continues on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
• This season, each MIAA series will consist of three nine-inning games.
• Central Missouri was picked to finish third in the MIAA's Preseason Coaches' poll.
• The Mules were 30-22 a season ago and finished in third place in the MIAA with a 23-13 conference mark. It was the 22nd consecutive season with at least 30 wins for UCM.
On the air• This weekend's games can be heard live on 1450 KOKO and warrensburgradio.com.
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Bob Jackson will be on the call with the Lotspeich Automotive Dugout Show beginning 25 minutes prior to first pitch.
The Series• The Mules lead the all-time series with Nebraska-Kearney 7-3, including a 2-0 mark under
Kyle Crookes.
• The Mules swept Nebraska-Kearney 2-0 in last season's MIAA Tournament First Round Series. UCM won 10-5 and 7-5 in Warrensburg.
• The teams did not meet in the regular season.
Nebraska-Kearney• Nebraska-Kearney enters the weekend at 10-8 overall and 7-2 in MIAA play. The Lopers beat Wayne State 12-10 in a non-conference tilt on Wednesday night.
• UNK is 5-6 on the road so far this season.
• The Lopers are led by 13th-year head coach Damon Day. He has a 343-320 mark while leading the UNK program.
• Nebraska-Kearney is hitting .326 as a team with 43 doubles, one triple, 27 homers and 156 RBI.
• Matt Salamon leads the team with a .419 average. He's also driven in 14 runs.
• Shane Sharkey is batting .406 and is tied for the team lead with six home runs. He has 21 RBI.
• Easton Edmond is batting .396 with six doubles.
• Pate Katechis bats .358 with six home runs and leads the team with 28 RBI.
• Nine UNK players are hitting .309 or better and seven have double-digit RBIs.
• The Nebraska-Kearney pitching staff has an 6.08 ERA in 18 games and 151 innings pitched. The staff has walked 62 and struck out 135 during that span. Opponents are hitting .332 against UNK.
• Chayse Gulzow is 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA in seven relief appearances. He's struck out 17 in 14 innings pitched.
• Trey Ertmer is 3-1 with a 5.02 earned run average in five starts. He leads the team with 26 strikeouts in 28.2 innings pitched.
• Joe Smidt leads the team with two saves in seven relief appearances. He sports a 1.17 ERA in 7.2 innings pitched. He's fanned seven.
• The Lopers have a .942 team fielding percentage. They've committed 40 errors and have turned 18 double plays on the year.
The Mules• Central Missouri enters the weekend series at 9-7 overall and 7-2 in MIAA play after beating Drury 4-3 on Wednesday night.
• The Mules are hitting .243 as a team with 21 doubles, four triples, 17 home runs and 88 RBI.
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Jake Alexander is hitting .400 with six doubles, a triple, home run and 14 RBI. He has a 13-game hitting streak and has reached base in all 16 games this season. He has a .493 on-base percentage.
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Derek Cornell is hitting .305 with five extra-base hits and 13 RBI.
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Bennett Oliver leads the team in home runs with six and is tied for the team-lead in RBI with 14.
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Dylan Farrell is hitting .273 with two doubles, two home runs and seven driven in.
• Four Mules have driven in at least 11 runs.
• The pitching staff has a 3.64 team ERA through 16 games and 138.1 innings pitched. The staff has 154 strikeouts and 60 walks during that span.
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Tyler House is 2-0 with a staff-leading 2.48 ERA in five starts. He's struck out 28 batters in 29 innings pitched and is holding opponents to a .183 batting average.
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Ethan Westphal is 2-1 with a 3.03 ERA in five appearances and four starts. He leads the team with 34 strikeouts in 29.2 innings pitched and is holding opponents to a .211 batting average.
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Carlos D'Armas is 2-1 with a 3.08 ERA in five starts. He's fanned 31 batters in 26.1 innings pitched.
• The UCM defense has a .972 fielding percentage and has committed 16 errors on the season. The Mules have turned 11 double plays on the year.
Worth Noting• During his 13-game hitting streak,
Jake Alexander is batting .409 with seven extra-base hits, 13 RBI and 11 runs scored. He has a .509 on-base percentage in that span.
• The Mules hit .429 with runners on third and less than two outs in the UCO series last weekend.
• During MIAA play, the Mules are hitting .323 with runners in scoring position and .586 with runners on third and less than two outs.
Season and single-game tickets available online• All-season passes and single-game tickets for Mules Baseball are available at the UCM Athletic Ticket Office in room 101 of the Multipurpose Building or online at UCMathletics.com/tickets.
• Season passes for all 18 remaining regular season home games are $20 for adults and $10 for youth.
• Single-game tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $3 for youth. UCM students get in free with their student ID's.
Last time outMarch 16, 2016 - (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) --
Miles Orscheln hit a go-ahead home run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth and the Mules held off Drury 4-3 in a non-conference tilt on Wednesday afternoon at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
   The Mules (9-7) jumped on top with two runs in the first inning.
Bennett Oliver had an RBI bunt single that scored the first run and Orscheln was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in the second run.
   Drury (5-12) got one run back in the second when a passed ball on a third strike extended the inning and allowed Conner Wilson to score. The Panthers went in front in the third inning on John Goodrich's two-run double to left field and DU led 3-2.
   The Mules tied the game in the third on
Derek Cornell's RBI groundout to make it 3-3.
   The game remained tied until the eighth when Orscheln lined a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left center to give the Mules the lead. It was his second home run of the season.
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Austin Southmayd (1-0) earned the win in relief as five pitchers saw action for the Mules.
Andy Muehlberger came on in the ninth to record the final out with the tying run on second for his first save of the season.
   Alex Stilwell (0-1) took the loss for Drury after allowing Orscheln's home run in the eighth. Drury pitchers gave up five walks and five hit batters in the game.
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Jake Alexander finished the day 2-for-2 with two runs scored, while Orscheln drove in a pair.
Mules in MIAA play• The Mules are 7-2 in MIAA play this season after taking two out of three games at Central Oklahoma last weekend.
• The Mules finished 23-13 in MIAA play last season and finished in third place in the conference's regular season standings.
Mules in non-conference action• The Mules are 2-5 in non-conference action this season after beating Drury 4-3 on March 16.
• The Mules were 7-9 in non-conference games last season.
The Mules at home• The Mules are 4-0 at home after the win over Drury on Wednesday afternoon.
• Central Missouri was 15-5 at home during the 2015 season.
• The Mules are 759-149-1 (.836) in 909 games played in this, their 41st season playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
Mules on the road• The Mules are 4-3 on the road this season after taking two out of three games at Central Oklahoma.
• The Mules were 12-13 on the road last season.
Mules in neutral site games• The Mules are 1-4 in neutral site games after going 1-1 against Oklahoma Christian and Central Oklahoma at the Southern Arkansas Invitational in Magnolia, Arkansas.
• UCM was 3-4 in neutral site games last season.
MIAA schedule change for 2016• This season every MIAA team will play the other 13 league schools in a three-game series. All three games of the series will be nine-inning games.
• UCM will play 11 weekend series and two mid-week conference series. The mid-week series will consist of a single game midweek in three different weeks. One of the series will be two home games and one road game, while the other will be two road and one home.
UCM during the Crookes era•
Kyle Crookes has a 39-29 (.574) record in his second season as head coach at Central Missouri.
• The Mules went 30-22 during Crookes' first season as head coach. Ten Mules earned All-MIAA honors, including First Team honors for outfielder
Trevor Jones, who went on to earn Second Team All-Region honors as well.
• The Mules were 71-29 in Crookes' 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• The 2016 season marks the 61st in the storied history of Mules Baseball. During that span the Mules have compiled a 1,798-715-9 (.715) record in 2,522 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, captured 16 regional titles and two national championships.
Mules Baseball by the Numbers• 27 NCAA Regional Appearances (20 of the last 22 years)
• 24 MIAA Titles (16 of the last 22)
• 20 MIAA Tournament Titles (16 of the last 22)
• 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 767-204 (.790) since the year 2000. An average of 45 wins per season over the last 17 years.
A Tradition of Excellence in Athletics• Entering the 2015-16 academic year, Central Missouri had won a combined 205 MIAA regular season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• Last season, UCM captured five MIAA regular season titles, and three MIAA Tournament crowns.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director
Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 151 MIAA championships, more than any other league school.
• Central Missouri has won eight 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 and outdoor track & field in 2015) and 10 national championships overall.
A Tradition of Excellence in the Classroom• Central Missouri had 218 student-athletes named to the 2014-15 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 29 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 six student-athletes earn Academic All-Region awards in their respective sports with three of those earning CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.
• Since the year 2000, UCM is tied for sixth in NCAA-II with 49 Academic All-Americans.
Upcoming• The Mules open their first MIAA mid-week series of the year on Tuesday, March 22 at Lindenwood. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
• UCM returns home next weekend to host Northwest Missouri State in a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 24 at 4 p.m. at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
