First Pitch• The Central Missouri Mules host Lindenwood on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in the second game of a three-game midweek MIAA series.
• 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.
Military Appreciation Day• Tuesday is Military Appreciation Day with all active and retired military members and their families receiving free admission to the game.
On the air• All of this year's home games can be heard live on 1450 KOKO and warrensburgradio.com.
•
Bob Jackson and
Ricky Rivera 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 Lindenwood 21-8 and a 2-3 mark under
Kyle Crookes.
• UCM won the first meeting this season, 4-3 in 11 innings, last Tuesday in St. Charles.
• The Lions won three of four games in St. Charles last year to close out the regular season.
• UCM won the opener 13-4, but LWU rallied to win the final three by scores of 4-3, 13-4 and 4-3.
Lindenwood• Lindenwood enters the mid-week contest at 11-13 overall and 5-11 in MIAA play after taking two out of three games from Southwest Baptist over the weekend.
• The Lions are 4-7 on the road this season.
• Lindenwood is led by eighth-year head coach Doug Bletcher. He has a 268-185-1 mark while leading the Lions and a 608-336-2 record in his 17th season as a head coach.
• Lindenwood is hitting .302 as a team with 43 doubles, nine triples, 22 homers and 171 RBI.
• Nathan Prindle leads the team with a .405 batting average. He also leads the team with 11 doubles and seven home runs and is second on the team with 28 RBI.
• Drew Quinones is hitting .372 with 10 extra-base hits and a team-leading 29 runs driven in.
• Mike Ehrhard is batting .354 average to go along with seven doubles, five home runs and 24 RBI.
• Five Lions are hitting .342 or better.
• The Lindenwood pitching staff has an 6.66 ERA in 24 games and 197.1 innings pitched. The staff has walked 120 and struck out 168 during that span. Opponents are hitting .286 against LWU.
• Connor Law is 3-1 with a 3.25 ERA in eight appearances and six starts. He leads the team with 31 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched.
• Andrew Eilers is 2-1 with a 3.78 ERA in eight total appearances and three starts.
• Brendan Kleekamp is 1-2 with a 4.84 ERA in 10 appearances and four starts.
• Devin Breihan is 0-0 with a 6.75 earned run average in 10 relief appearances. He has two of the team's three saves.
• The Lions have a .958 team fielding percentage. They've committed 38 errors and have turned 30 double plays on the year.
The Mules• Central Missouri enters the contest at 15-8 overall and 13-3 in MIAA play after sweeping a three-game series from Northwest Missouri over the weekend.
• The Mules are hitting .262 as a team with 35 doubles, seven triples, 25 home runs and 133 RBI.
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Jake Alexander is hitting .369 with seven doubles, a triple, two home runs and 19 RBI. He has a .444 on-base percentage.
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Dylan Farrell is hitting .347 with six doubles, three home runs and 18 driven in.
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Derek Cornell is hitting .313 with seven extra-base hits and a team-leading 19 RBI.
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Bennett Oliver leads the team in home runs with seven and has knocked in 16 runs, while hitting .271.
• The pitching staff has a 3.76 team ERA through 23 games and 203.1 innings pitched. The staff has 208 strikeouts and 88 walks during that span.
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Ethan Westphal is 3-1 with a staff-leading 2.45 ERA in six appearances and five starts. He leads the team with 43 strikeouts in 36.2 innings pitched and is holding opponents to a .183 batting average.
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Tyler House is 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA in seven starts. He's struck out 35 batters in 40.0 innings pitched and is holding opponents to a .209 batting average.
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Carlos D'Armas is 2-1 with a 3.96 ERA in seven starts. He's fanned 40 batters in 36.1 innings pitched.
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Andy Muehlberger is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in six relief appearances. He has four strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched and has allowed three hits.
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Grant Gavin leads the team with four saves to go along with a 1-2 record and a 4.72 ERA in 11 relief appearances. He has struck out 16 batters in 13.1 innings pitched.
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Lucas Williams is 2-1 with a 3.00 earned run average in eight appearances. He has 17 K's in 18 innings pitched.
• The UCM defense has a .968 fielding percentage and has committed 28 errors on the season. The Mules have turned 17 double plays on the year.
Worth Noting• The Mules hit .351 with runners in scoring position against Northwest Missouri, and .647 with runners on third and less than two outs in the series.
• During MIAA play, the Mules are hitting .318 with runners in scoring position and .607 with runners on third and less than two outs.
• The Mules currently rank 13th in the MIAA in batting with a .262 team average, but they are second in pitching (3.76 ERA) and second in fielding (.968 fld%).
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 12 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 26, 2016 - (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) -- The Mules rallied from three runs down in the seventh inning to beat Northwest Missouri 8-7 on Saturday afternoon at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field and complete the series sweep.
   The Mules (15-8, 13-3 MIAA) jumped on top 4-0 with a pair of runs in each of the first two innings.
Jake Alexander hit a two-run home run to right field in the first inning and
Dylan Farrell added a two-run double in the second.
   The Bearcats (13-13, 8-8 MIAA) tied the game with four runs in the fourth. Aaron Barratt had a two-run double to start the NWMSU scoring, Kolby Greenslade added an RBI groundout and a UCM fielding error allowed the fourth run to come home..
   Northwest Missouri went in front with three more runs in the sixth. Greenslade had an RBI fielder's choice and Ozzie Adams added a two-run double to give the Bearcats a 7-4 lead.
   The Mules rallied in the seventh to tie the game at 7-all.
Derek Cornell had a sacrifice fly to plate the first run and
Cole Distler belted a two-out, two-run home to right field to tie the game.
   UCM went in front 8-7 in the bottom of the eighth. Farrell had a perfectly placed bunt down the third base line that brought home
Jackson Schnurbusch with the go-ahead run.
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Grant Gavin come on in the ninth and got a pair of groundouts and a strikeout for his fourth save of the season.
Andy Muehlberger (1-0) picked up his first win as a Mule after tossing 1.1 innings of one-hit relief. Over the last two games of the series, Muehlberger pitched three innings of one-hit relief and threw just 26 pitches.
JJ Benes also pitched an inning of scoreless relief.
   Carson Smith (3-3) took the loss for Northwest Missouri after allowing one run on three hits in one inning of relief.
   Farrell finished the day 4-for-4 with two doubles, three RBI and a pair of runs scored. Alexander and Schnurbusch had two hits apiece and Distler drove in a pair.
Mules in MIAA play• The Mules are 13-3 in MIAA play this season after sweeping Northwest Missouri over the 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 9-1 at home after sweeping a three-game set from NWMSU over the weekend.
• Central Missouri was 15-5 at home during the 2015 season.
• The Mules are 764-150-1 (.836) in 915 games played in this, their 41st season playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
Mules on the road• The Mules are 5-3 on the road this season after rallying to beat Lindenwood 4-3 in 11 innings on March 22.
• 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.
UCM during the Crookes era
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Kyle Crookes has a 45-30 (.600) 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 1,804-716-9 (.715) record in 2,529 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 773-205 (.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 travel to Lincoln this weekend for a three-game set. The series gets underway on Friday, April 1 at 3 p.m.
• UCM heads back to Lindenwood on Tuesday, April 5 to wrap up the three-game series between the two schools.
