First Pitch
• The 26th-ranked Central Missouri Mules head to St. Charles on Tuesday night to wrap up their three-game series with Lindenwood. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at the Lou Brock Sports Complex.
• 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 Lindenwood 22-8 and a 3-3 mark under Kyle Crookes.
• UCM has won the first two meetings this season, 4-3 in 11 innings in game one and 5-1 last week in Warrensburg.
• 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 13-15 overall and 7-13 in MIAA play after taking two out of three games from Missouri Western over the weekend.
• The Lions are 7-6 at home this season.
• Lindenwood is led by eighth-year head coach Doug Bletcher. He has a 270-187-1 mark while leading the Lions and a 610-338-2 record in his 17th season as a head coach.
• Lindenwood is hitting .289 as a team with 47 doubles, 11 triples, 24 homers and 187 RBI.
• Nathan Prindle leads the team with a .409 batting average. He also leads the team with 13 doubles and eight home runs and 35 RBI.
• Mike Ehrhard is batting .340 to go along with seven doubles, six home runs and 29 RBI.
• Drew Quinones is hitting .327 with 10 extra-base hits and is second on the team with 30 runs driven in.
• Five Lions are hitting .316 or better.
• The Lindenwood pitching staff has an 6.54 ERA in 28 games and 231.1 innings pitched. The staff has walked 135 and struck out 193 during that span. Opponents are hitting .285 against LWU.
• Connor Law is 4-1 with a 2.68 ERA in 10 appearances and seven starts. He leads the team with 40 strikeouts in 43.2 innings pitched.
• Brendan Feldmann is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA in four appearances and two starts.
• Andrew Eilers is 2-1 with a 3.78 ERA in eight total appearances and three starts.
• Devin Breihan is 0-0 with a 9.33 earned run average in 11 relief appearances. He has two of the team's four saves.
• The Lions have a .956 team fielding percentage. They've committed 47 errors and have turned 31 double plays on the year.

The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the midweek game at 19-8 overall and 17-3 in MIAA play after sweeping Lincoln over the weekend.
• The Mules are hitting .281 as a team with 42 doubles, 10 triples, 32 home runs and 182 RBI.
• Dylan Farrell is hitting .367 with six doubles, a triple and six home runs and 26 RBI. He leads the team in batting avg. and runs batted in.
• Jake Alexander is hitting .352 with seven doubles, a triple, two home runs and 21 RBI. He has a .430 on-base percentage.
• Derek Cornell is hitting .340 with eight extra-base hits, including three home runs and 25 RBI.
• Bennett Oliver leads the team in home runs with eight and has knocked in 24 runs, while hitting .297.
• The pitching staff has a 3.44 team ERA through 27 games and 235.1 innings pitched. The staff has 253 strikeouts and 97 walks during that span.
• 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.
• Tyler House is 5-0 with a 3.07 ERA in eight starts. He's struck out 41 batters in 44.0 innings pitched and is holding opponents to a .210 batting average.
• Carlos D'Armas is 2-1 with a 4.29 ERA in eight starts. He's fanned 46 batters in 42.0 innings pitched.
• 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.
• 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.
• Lucas Williams is 2-1 with a 2.84 earned run average in nine appearances. He has 18 K's in 19 innings pitched.
• The UCM defense has a .970 fielding percentage and has committed 30 errors on the season. The Mules have turned 18 double plays on the year.

Worth Noting
• The Mules hit .438 with runners in scoring position against Lincoln, and .760 with runners on third and less than two outs in the series.
• During MIAA play, the Mules are hitting .335 with runners in scoring position and .645 with runners on third and less than two outs.
• The Mules currently rank 11th in the MIAA in batting with a .281 team average, but they are first in pitching (3.44 ERA) and fielding (.970 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 out
April 3, 2016 - (JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.) -- The Mules hit three home runs to slug their way past Lincoln 13-5 on Sunday afternoon at the LU Baseball Field, completing the three-game sweep.
    The Mules (19-8, 17-3 MIAA) got out to an early lead scoring four times in the top of the first. Lincoln (1-29, 0-20 MIAA) scored one in the first on a solo home run and another run in the second to pull within 4-2. The Blue Tigers plated another run in the third to pull within 4-3.
    UCM pushed the lead back to two at 5-3 on a Miles Orscheln RBI triple in the fifth, but Lincoln tied the game in the sixth with a two-run home run. UCM went back in front for good in the seventh, plating five runs to take a 10-5 lead. John Fairchild hit a three-run home run and Dylan Farrell added a solo shot for UCM.
    The Mules pushed the lead to 13-5 in the top of the ninth on a Farrell three-run shot, his second of the day.
    Ross Juliana (1-1) picked up the win in relief for the Mules.

Mules in MIAA play
• The Mules are 17-3 in MIAA play this season after sweeping Lincoln over the weekend in Jefferson City.
• 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 8-3 on the road this season after sweeping Lincoln in a three-game set 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.

Mules in the rankings
• The Mules moved in to the national rankings for the first time this season. UCM is ranked No. 26 in the ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Top 30 poll.

UCM during the Crookes era
• Kyle Crookes has a 49-30 (.620) 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 1,808-716-9 (.716) record in 2,533 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 777-205 (.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 return home to host Emporia State in a three-game series beginning on Friday, April 8 at 6 p.m.
• UCM hosts Southwest Baptist on Wednesday, April 13 for the first game of a three-game midweek series.