First Pitch• The Central Missouri Mules head to Jefferson City to take on Lincoln in a three-game MIAA series.
• The series gets underway on Friday at 3 p.m. at the LU Baseball Field. Saturday's game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch and Sunday's series finale will start at noon.
• 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• All of this season's home games and select road 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 Lincoln 98-7, including a 4-0 mark under
Kyle Crookes.
• The Mules swept a four-game series from the Blue Tigers in Warrensburg last year. UCM won 4-3, 14-2, 27-4 and 14-0.
• The Mules are 9-1 in the last 10 games against Lincoln in Jefferson City.
Lincoln• Lincoln enters the series at 1-26 overall and 0-17 in MIAA play after falling to Southwest Baptist 19-5 on Tuesday night in Jefferson City.
• The Blue Tigers are led by first-year head coach Mike DeMilia.
• Lincoln is hitting .255 as a team with 32 doubles, five triples, 17 homers and 109 RBI.
• Alex Ludwick is leading the team in hitting with a .386 batting average. He has a team-best six doubles, is tied for the team lead with four home runs and also leads with 18 RBI.
• Mike Million is hitting .363 with two doubles, two triples, four homers and 15 driven in.
• Laban Petzoldt bats .321 with a pair of extra-base hits.
• Mason Price also has four home runs on the year and has knocked in 16 runs, while hitting .286.
• The Lincoln pitching staff has an 15.10 ERA in 27 games and 199.2 innings pitched. The staff has walked 161 and struck out 115 during that span. Opponents are hitting .415 against LU.
• Daniel Castillo is 0-0 with an 8.59 ERA in eight appearances and one start. He's fanned 16 in 14.2 innings pitched.
• Zach Maskill leads the team with 20 strikeouts in 33.2 innings pitched. He is 0-5 with a 9.62 earned run average in eight appearances and six starts.
• Trevor Schnieders is 1-4 with a 17.61 ERA in five appearances and four starts.
• Eight different pitchers have started games for the Blue Tigers this season.
• The Blue Tigers have a .937 team fielding percentage. They've committed 56 errors and have turned 16 double plays on the year.
The Mules• Central Missouri enters the weekend series at 16-8 overall and 14-3 in MIAA play after
beating Lindenwood 5-1 on Tuesday night.
• The Mules are hitting .263 as a team with 37 doubles, 10 triples, 25 home runs and 138 RBI.
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Jake Alexander is hitting .352 with seven doubles, a triple, two home runs and 19 RBI. He has a .427 on-base percentage.
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Dylan Farrell is hitting .346 with six doubles, three home runs and a team-leading 20 runs driven in.
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Derek Cornell is hitting .313 with seven extra-base hits and 19 RBI.
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Bennett Oliver leads the team in home runs with seven and has knocked in 17 runs, while hitting .281.
• The pitching staff has a 3.60 team ERA through 24 games and 212.1 innings pitched. The staff has 220 strikeouts and 92 walks during that span.
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Ethan Westphal is 4-1 with a staff-leading 2.06 ERA in seven appearances and six starts. He leads the team with 53 strikeouts in 43.2 innings pitched and is holding opponents to a .187 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 4.40 ERA in 12 relief appearances. He has struck out 17 batters in 14.1 innings pitched.
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Lucas Williams is 2-1 with a 2.85 earned run average in nine appearances. He has 18 K's in 19 innings pitched.
• The UCM defense has a .968 fielding percentage and has committed 29 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 .308 with runners in scoring position and .603 with runners on third and less than two outs.
• The Mules currently rank 13th in the MIAA in batting with a .263 team average, but they are first in pitching (3.60 ERA) and third in fielding (.968 fld%).
Season and single-game tickets available online• All-season passes and single-game tickets for Mules Baseball are available online at UCMathletics.com/tickets or at the UCM Athletic Ticket Office in room 101 of the Multipurpose Building.
• Season passes for all 11 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 29, 2016 - (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) -- The Mules got another solid outing from
Ethan Westphal and five extra-base hits from the offense as they beat Lindenwood 5-1 on Tuesday night to run their win streak to five games.
   Westphal (4-1) tossed seven solid innings, scattering five hits and allowing one unearned run to pick up his fourth win of the season. He struck out 10 and walked three in the game.
Lucas Williams and
Grant Gavin tossed the final two innings, allowing just one hit and striking out a pair.
   The Mules (16-8, 14-3 MIAA) jumped in front 1-0 in the third on
Dylan Farrell's RBI sacrifice bunt. The Lions (11-14, 5-12 MIAA) came right back to tie the game in the top of the fourth on Jackson Fuller's sacrifice fly.
   The Mules regained the lead for good in the bottom of the frame when
Blake Wilfong drew a bases-loaded walk to force in
Derek Cornell.
   The 2-1 lead stood until the seventh when the Mules tacked on two more runs.
Travis Able led off the inning with a triple and scored on Farrell's triple to center to make it 3-1.
Bennett Oliver doubled to the gap in right center to bring home Farrell and UCM led 4-1.
   The Mules added another run in the eighth to make it 5-1.
Matt Safranek reached on an error to lead off the inning. Went all the way to third on a throwing error on a pick off attempt and scored on Wilfong's sac fly to center.
   Farrell and Wilfong each drove in a pair of runs for the Mules, while Oliver and
Cole Distler had two hits apiece.
Mules in MIAA play• The Mules are 14-3 in MIAA play this season after beating Lindenwood 5-1 on Tuesday night in Warrensburg.
• 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 10-1 at home after beating Lindenwood on Tuesday night. UCM has won four straight at Crane Stadium.
• Central Missouri was 15-5 at home during the 2015 season.
• The Mules are 765-150-1 (.836) in 916 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•
Kyle Crookes has a 46-30 (.605) 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 1,805-716-9 (.715) record in 2,530 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 774-205 (.791) 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 head back to Lindenwood on Tuesday, April 5 to wrap up the three-game series between the two schools. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Lou Brock Sports Complex in St. Charles.
• UCM returns home to host Emporia State in a three-game series beginning on Friday, April 8 at 6 p.m.
