First Pitch
• The 12th-ranked Central Missouri Mules open MIAA Tournament play as the No. 1 seed on Thursday afternoon. UCM will play eighth-seeded Northwest Missouri at 4 p.m. at the Lou Brock Sports Complex in St. Charles, Missouri.
• The 2016 season marks the 23rd straight year that UCM has won at least 30 games.
• The Mules won their 25th MIAA Regular Season Championship this year after being picked to finish third in the MIAA's Preseason Coaches' poll.
Mules Baseball on the air
• All of UCM's postseason games can be heard live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar 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 Northwest Missouri 141-67, including a 5-2 mark under
Kyle Crookes.
• UCM swept the regular season series; winning 16-6, 6-5, and 8-7 in Warrensburg.
Northwest Missouri
• Northwest Missouri enters the MIAA Tournament as the No. 8 seed. They are 24-26 overall and finished 19-20 in MIAA play.
• The Bearcats have lost seven straight games. They are 2-0 in neutral site games this season. They also went 2-1 in St. Charles, taking two of three from Lindenwood earlier this season.
• Northwest Missouri is led by 16th-year head coach Darin Loe. He has a 416-416 mark while leading the Bearcats and a 572-550 record in his 22nd season as a head coach.
• NWMSU is hitting .280 as a team with 87 doubles, 10 triples, 23 homers and 267 RBI.
• Kevin Handzlik leads the team with a .345 batting average in 42 games played. He has seven doubles, three home runs and 31 RBI.
• Ozzie Adams is hitting .311 with eight doubles, a pair of triples and 31 driven in.
• James Holler bats .298 and leads the team with eight home runs and 35 RBI.
• Nick Gotta is hitting .293 with 10 doubles, two triples, three homers and 33 driven in.
• Ten players have knocked in at least 12 runs.
• The Northwest Missouri pitching staff has an 5.14 ERA in 50 games and 427.1 innings pitched. The staff has walked 158 and struck out 359 during that span. Opponents are hitting .277 against NWMSU.
• Carson Smith is 4-3 with a 2.08 ERA in 24 relief appearances. He has all seven of the Bearcats' saves and limits opponents to a .211 batting average.
• Joseph Hietpas is 4-4 with a 4.28 earned run average in 14 starts and 80 innings pitched.
• Anthony Caenepeel is 5-9 with a 4.69 ERA in 16 starts that have spanned 103.2 innings. He leads the team with 90 strikeouts, while opponents bat .287 against him.
• The Bearcats have a .956 team fielding percentage. They've committed 81 errors and have turned 26 double plays on the year.
The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the MIAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed at 34-12 overall and 32-7 in MIAA play after sweeping Washburn last weekend.
• The Mules are hitting .300 as a team with 77 doubles, 23 triples, 62 home runs and 295 RBI.
•
Jake Alexander leads the team with a .385 batting average with 12 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 32 RBI. He has a .460 on-base percentage.
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Bennett Oliver is hitting .354 and leads the team in home runs with a UCM record-tying 20 and RBI with 45.
•
Derek Cornell is hitting .348 with 17 extra-base hits, including five home runs and has 34 RBI.
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Dylan Farrell is hitting .310 with eight doubles, two triples and 10 home runs and is second on the team with 37 RBI.
• Ten Mules have double figure RBI on the season.
• The pitching staff has a 3.88 team ERA through 46 games and 406.1 innings pitched. The staff has 389 strikeouts and 155 walks during that span.
•
Ethan Westphal is 8-2 with a staff-leading 2.96 ERA in 12 appearances and 11 starts. He leads the team with 82 strikeouts in 79.0 innings pitched and is holding opponents to a .211 batting average.
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Carlos D'Armas is 4-2 with a 4.20 ERA in 13 starts. He is second on the team with 78 strikeouts in 70.2 innings pitched. Opponents are batting .251 against him.
•
Tyler House is 5-2 with a 4.84 ERA in 13 starts. He's struck out 56 batters in 67 innings pitched and is holding opponents to a .257 batting average.
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Andy Muehlberger is 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA and two saves in 14 relief appearances. He has 10 strikeouts in 10.2 innings pitched.
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Grant Gavin leads the team with 10 saves to go along with a 4-2 record and a 2.96 ERA in 21 relief appearances. He has struck out 28 batters in 24.1 innings pitched.
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Lucas Williams is 3-1 with a 3.16 earned run average and two saves in 18 appearances. He has 28 K's in 31.1 innings pitched.
• The UCM defense has a .967 fielding percentage and has committed 58 errors on the season. The Mules have turned 30 double plays on the year.
Worth Noting
• The Mules hit just .262 with runners in scoring position during the Washburn series, but swept the three-game set.
• During MIAA play, the Mules hit .313 with runners in scoring position and .619 with runners on third and less than two outs.
• The Mules currently rank eighth in the MIAA in batting with a .300 team average, they are first in pitching (3.88 ERA) and fourth in fielding (.967 fld%).
Saving his way in to the record books
• With his two saves in the Washburn series,
Grant Gavin moved in to a tie for fifth place on the UCM single-season saves list with 10 and in to a tie for seventh place on the career saves list with 13.
• He is one save shy of third place on the single-season chart and one shy of sixth place on the career list.
• His 10 saves this season lead the MIAA and are 12th in NCAA Division II.
Blasting up the charts
• Senior
Bennett Oliver tied the UCM single-season home run record when he hit his 20th of the season last Saturday at Washburn. He tied Ben Slemmer, who set the record back in 1998. His 20 home runs are second best in the MIAA and sixth in Division II.
• The MIAA record for home runs in a season is 23, set by Emporia State's Eric Shortell in 2008.
• Oliver's 26 career home runs tie him for eighth all-time at Central Missouri. The career record for home runs is 44, set by Nathan Lipowicz (1997-00).
Mules in the MIAA Tournament
• The Mules are 2-2 in the MIAA Tournament under head coach
Kyle Crookes. UCM won their first round series in 2015 2-0 over Nebraska-Kearney, but then lost two straight at the tournament finals in Kansas City.
• UCM has captured 20 MIAA Tournament titles, including 16 of the last 22 years.
• Central Missouri's last MIAA Tournament crown came in 2012.
Last time out
May 8, 2016 - (TOPEKA, Kan.) --
Derek Cornell and
Cole Distler each drove in three runs and
Carlos D'Armas struck out seven over six innings as the 16th-ranked Mules completed a series sweep of No. 30 Washburn with a 10-2 win on Sunday.
   The Mules (34-12, 32-7 MIAA) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on Cornell's two-run single. Washburn (31-18, 26-13 MIAA) scored one run in the second and one in the third to tie the game 2-2.
   UCM went back in front for good with three runs in the top of the sixth. Cornell drove in the first run with an RBI groundout and Distler belted an opposite field two-run home run to give the Mules the lead.
Bennett Oliver added an RBI double in the seventh to make it 6-2.
   The Mules tacked on four more runs in the top of the ninth to break the game open. Distler had an RBI double to get things rolling.
Matt Safranek added a two-run single and he later scored on a
Jackson Schnurbusch single that was misplayed in right field.
   The Ichabods added one run in the bottom half of the frame on a Daniel Reilly RBI double, but that's all they would get.
   D'Armas (4-2) struck out seven over six innings to pick up the win. He allowed two runs on four hits while walking two.
Tayler Ross tossed 1.1 innings of one-hit relief with
Ben Kelsch recording one out.
Grant Gavin recorded the final four outs for his 10th save of the season. His 10 saves this season are tied for the fifth most all-time at UCM and his 13 career saves tie him for seventh all-time.
   Dan Gabler (3-2) took the loss for Washburn after allowing five runs on six hits over 5.1 innings.
   Six different Mules recorded two hits in the game as UCM out-hit Washburn 13-7.
Mules in MIAA play
• The Mules finished 32-7 in MIAA play this season after sweeping Washburn last weekend.
• The Mules won their fifth MIAA Regular Season Championship in the last seven years and the 25th overall in program history this season.
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 19-3 at home after after sweeping Missouri Western last weekend.
• Central Missouri was 15-5 at home during the 2015 season.
• The Mules are 774-152-1 (.835) in 927 games played in their 41st season playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
Mules on the road
• The Mules are 14-5 on the road this season after sweeping a three-game series Washburn last weekend in Topeka.
• The Mules are 26-18 on the road under head coach
Kyle Crookes.
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 is 4-8 in neutral site games under Crookes.
Mules in the NCAA Regional Rankings
• The Mules moved up one spot to No. 2 in this week's NCAA Regional rankings released on Wednesday. The top eight teams in the final poll earn bids to the Central Regional Tournament.
• The NCAA-II Baseball Selection Show will air on Sunday, May 15 at 9 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.
Mules in the rankings
• The Mules moved up four spots this week to No. 12 in the ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top 30 poll.
• The Mules jumped up 11 spots in the NCBWA Poll from No. 23 to No. 12 this week and jumped up four spots to No. 15 in the Perfect Game Baseball poll.
Mules vs. ranked opponents
• The Mules are 8-4 this season when facing a ranked opponent after sweeping a three-game set from No. 30 Washburn last weekend in Topeka.
UCM during the Crookes era
•
Kyle Crookes has a 64-34 (.653) record in his second season as head coach at Central Missouri.
• This season is his first conference championship as head coach at UCM and the second title overall during his time in Warrensburg.
• 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 1,823-720-9 (.716) record in 2,552 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 25 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)
• 25 MIAA Titles (17 of the last 23, including this year)
• 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 792-209 (.791) since the year 2000. An average of 46 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
• If the Mules beat Northwest Missouri they would advance to play the winner of No. 4 Missouri Western and No. 5 Missouri Southern on Friday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m. If they lose to NWMSU, they would play the loser of MWSU/MSSU on Friday at 12:30 p.m. in an elimination game.
