First Pitch• The Central Missouri Mules return home to host Pittsburg State in the home opening series beginning on Friday.
• The Mules and Gorillas will open the three-game series on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field with Saturday's game slated for another 2 p.m. start and Sunday's game starting 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.
Field Dedication set for Friday• The Mules will officially dedicate the new artificial playing surface before Friday's home opener.
• The field was made possible by a donation from former UCM pitcher and owner of the Houston Astros, Jim Crane.
• The pregame ceremony will include remarks from UCM President Dr. Chuck Ambrose, UCM Athletics Director
Jerry Hughes and Crane. With a special presentation also being made.
• The first 200 fans through the gate at Friday's home opener will receive a commemorative Mules Baseball mini bat. Gates open at 1 p.m.
The Series• The Mules hold a 66-12 lead in the all-time series with Pittsburg State.
• The teams did not meet last season.
• The last time these two teams met was during the 2014 season when the Mules swept a four-game series in Warrensburg.
Pittsburg State• Pittsburg State enters the series at 5-6 overall and 0-3 in MIAA play after being swept by Emporia State last weekend.
• The Gorillas were outscored 55-15 over the three game series.
• Pittsburg State was picked to finish 13th in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll after going 18-29 overall last season and 12-20 (13th) in MIAA play.
• PSU is led by fourth-year head coach Matt Murray. The former Mules' assistant coach has compiled a 70-92 record during his tenure leading the Gorillas.
• Pittsburg State is hitting .343 as a team with 24 doubles, three triples, 14 home runs and 79 RBI through 11 games.
• Andrew Vogelbaugh is hitting .523 with four doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 21 RBI.
• Jacob Boylan is hitting .422 with three doubles, a pair of home runs and 11 driven in.
• Christian Arnold is second on the team with 14 runs batted in and is hitting .361.
• Eight Gorillas are batting .323 or better.
• The pitching staff has an 11.38 ERA in 11 games and 87.0 innings pitched. The staff has walked 54 and struck out 75 during that span. Opponents are hitting .384 against PSU.
• Ryan McKay is 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA and three saves in four relief appearances to lead the Gorillas.
• Ty Rowe is 2-0 with a 4.50 earned run average in five relief appearances.
• George Brandecker is 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA and leads the team with 16 strikeouts in 11.0 innings pitched over three starts.
• Brandon Martinkus is 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA. He has 14 K's in 15.1 innings pitched over five relief appearances.
• The Gorillas have a .946 team fielding percentage. They've committed 21 errors and have turned eight double plays on the year.
The Mules• Central Missouri enters the weekend at 3-6 overall and 2-1 in MIAA play after taking two out of three at Fort Hays State last weekend.
• The Mules are hitting .253 as a team with 14 doubles, one triple, 11 home runs and 51 RBI.
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Jake Alexander is hitting .355 with four doubles, a home run and eight RBI.
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Matt Elliott is hitting .343 with a pair of doubles, three home runs and nine runs driven in.
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Bennett Oliver is hitting .324 and leads the team with five home runs and 10 RBI.
• Four Mules are batting .324 or better.
• The pitching staff has a 4.66 team ERA through nine games and 77.1 innings pitched. The staff has 96 strikeouts and 36 walks during that span.
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Ethan Westphal is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA in three appearances and two starts. He leads the team with 24 strikeouts in 18.1 innings pitched and is holding opponents to a .209 batting average.
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Tyler House is 1-0 with a 2.81 earned run average in three starts. He has 16 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched and opponents are hitting just .220 against him.
• The UCM defense has committed 11 errors and has a .966 fielding percentage. The Mules have turned nine double plays on the year.
Worth Noting• The Mules had a team slugging percentage of .661 during the Fort Hays State series.
• UCM hit .366 (15-for-41) with runners in scoring position over the three-game FHSU series and they hit .643 (9-for-14) 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 22 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 their student ID's.
Last time outFeb. 28, 2016 - (HAYS, Kan.) -- The Central Missouri offense exploded for 16 runs and 15 hits as the Mules held off Fort Hays State 16-12 on Sunday afternoon at Larks Park to win the series 2-1 and improve to 3-6 overall and 2-1 in MIAA play.
   The Mules scored two runs in the first on a
Derek Cornell sacrifice fly and on a wild pitch. The Tigers (7-7, 1-2 MIAA) got a run back in the home half on a Caleb Cherryholmes solo home run. It was the first of eight combined home runs on the day.
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Miles Orscheln hit his first home run of the season in the top of the second to put UCM in front 3-1, but the Tigers scored two in the bottom half on Calyton Basgall's single to tie the game at 3-3. Alex Weiss and Alex King had RBI singles in the third to put Fort Hays State in front 5-3 and they added two more in the fourth on a Basgall home run and Joe Mapes RBI single to lead 7-3.
   The Mules scored three runs in the fifth to pull within 7-6.
Jake Alexander had an RBI groundout to start the scoring and
Bennett Oliver hit the first of his two homers to cap the inning. The Mules added three more in the sixth on a
Matt Elliott long ball to regain the lead, 9-7.
   That lead stood until the eighth when Connor Ross belted a two-out, three-run home run to put the Tigers in front 10-9 heading to the ninth inning. The UCM offense responded, however, scoring seven times in the top of the ninth to go back in front 16-10. Alexander led off with a double and scored on Oliver's second home run of the game to put the Mules in front 11-10. Orscheln laid down a sac bunt and when the throw got away it allowed Cornell to score to give UCM a 12-10 advantage.
Blake Wilfong added a two-run double to make it 14-10 and Elliott capped it off with a two-run shot to left and the Mules led 16-10.
   They would need every insurance run as the Tigers mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth inning. Ty Redington had an RBI single to make it 16-11 and Austin Unrein drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 16-12 with only one out.
Reece Ponak then struck out Mapes and Ross to secure the win for the Mules.
   Elliott finished the day 4-for-6 with two home runs, five RBI and three runs scored, while Oliver was a perfect 4-for-4 with two homers, four RBI and two runs scored. Alexander and Orscheln had two hits apiece and Wilfong drove in a pair of runs.
   Ponak (1-0) earned the win in relief after giving up three runs on four hits in 1.1 innings. Starter
Carlos D'Armas was roughed up for seven runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings of work.
Grant Gavin tossed 2.1 innings of one-hit relief, he struck out three and walked two.
   Logan Herd (1-1) took the loss for Fort Hays State after surrendering six runs, four earned, on five hits in 1.2 innings of relief.
Mules picked to finish third in MIAA Preseason Poll• Central Missouri was picked to finish third 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 141 points to come in third. Missouri Southern received 11 first place votes and totaled 166 points to claim the top spot. Emporia State got the other first place vote and 152 points to come in second. Lindenwood (122 points) and Missouri Western (120 points) rounded out the top five.
• UCM is scheduled to open MIAA play Feb. 26-28 at Fort Hays State for a three-game series.
Mules in non-conference action• The Mules are 1-5 in non-conference action this season after going 1-2 at the Southern Arkansas Invitational.
• The Mules were 7-9 in non-conference games last season.
Mules in MIAA play• The Mules are 2-1 in MIAA play in 2016 after taking two out of three games in their MIAA-opening series at Fort Hays State last weekend.
• The Mules finished 23-13 in MIAA play last season and finished in third place in the conference's regular season standings.
The Mules at home• Central Missouri was 15-5 at home during the 2015 season.
• The Mules are 755-149-1 (.835) in 905 games played in this, their 41st season playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
Mules on the road• The Mules are 2-2 on the road this season after taking two out of three games at Fort Hays State over the weekend.
• 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 33-28 (.541) 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. Jones 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 1,792-714-9 (.714) record in 2,515 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 761-203 (.789) since the year 2000. An average of 47 wins per season over the last 16 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 head back out on the road March 11-13 at Central Oklahoma.
• UCM returns home on Wednesday, March 16 to host Drury for a single non-conference game.
