First Pitch
• The third-ranked Central Missouri Mules welcome William Woods to Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field for a non-conference game on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
• The game was added after the start of the season to help fill the open dates left by Lincoln dropping its baseball program.

Quick Hits
• During the Mules' seven-game winning streak they have out-scored opponents 48-14.
• The Mules hit .643 (9-for-14) with runners on third and less than two outs against Fort Hays State. They also hit .340 (16-for-47) with runners in scoring position. UCM held the Tigers to a .231 average with runners in scoring position and a .147 average with runners on base.
• This is Central Missouri's first 3-0 start to conference play since 2013.
• Central Missouri was picked to finish first in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Central Missouri's 43 wins in 2016 were its most since 2012, when it totaled 48.

The Series
• This will be the first ever meeting between Central Missouri and William Woods.

William Woods
• William Woods enters the non-conference matchup at 5-11 overall and 1-2 in American Midwest Conference action.
• The Owls are batting .260 as a team with 21 doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 63 RBI.
• Josh Nicol and Patrick Dillon lead the team with .323 batting averages. Nicol also has one home run and eight runs batted in.
• Tyler Cunningham and Jalen Poindexter lead the team with two home runs apiece and Cunningham also has a team-best 11 RBIs.
• The WWU pitching staff has a 5.17 earned run average through 16 games. They've struck out 101 batters and walked 34 in 109.2 innings of work.
• Tristan Steffens is 1-0 with a 2.38 ERA in four appearances and one start.
• Chase Feucht (0-3, 3.80 ERA) and Ryan Phillips (2-2, 4.70) have each made four starts. Phillips leads the staff with 20 strikeouts in 23.0 innings pitched.
• Opponents are batting .293 against William Woods pitchers.
• The Owls sport a .953 team fielding percentage. They've turned 10 double plays and have committed 23 errors on the season.

The Mules
• Central Missouri is 10-2 overall and 3-0 in MIAA play after sweeping three games from Fort Hays State last weekend.
• The Mules are batting .289 as a team with 25 doubles, nine triples, three home runs and 64 RBI.
• Justin Graff-Row is batting a team-best .400 with three doubles, two triples and six RBI.
• Erik Webb is hitting .394 with four doubles, three triples and leads the team with 11 runs batted in.
• Blake Wilfong is hitting .344 with a pair of doubles and four driven in.
• Travis Stroup leads the team with two home runs and is second on the team with 10 RBI while batting .318.
• The pitching staff has a 2.14 earned run average over 105.0 innings pitched. They've struck out 90 and walked 31 over that span. As a staff, the Mules are holding opponents to a .209 batting average.
• Taylor Burns is 2-0 with a 0.48 ERA in three relief appearances and one start. He has 17 punchouts in 18.2 innings of work while limiting opponents to a .169 batting average.
• Steven D'Amico is 2-0 with a 1.23 earned run average in four total appearances and two starts. He's tied with Burns for the team lead with 17 strikeouts in 22.0 innings pitched. He's walked only three in that span and also has one of the team's two saves.
• Luke Mercer is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in four relief appearances. He has fanned five in 5.0 innings.
• The Mules have a .957 team fielding percentage. They've turned 11 double plays and committed 20 errors on the season.

Mules picked to finish first in MIAA Preseason Poll
• Central Missouri was picked to finish first in the MIAA according to the 14 league coaches in the preseason poll released last Friday. The Mules received nine of 13 first place votes and tallied 140 points to sit atop the poll. Emporia State was second with Missouri Western third, followed by Missouri Southern and Washburn to round out the top five.
• UCM is scheduled to open MIAA play Feb. 24-26, hosting Fort Hays State at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.

Last time out
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Feb. 25, 2017) -- Third-ranked Mules Baseball completed a series sweep of Fort Hays State with a 10-2 win in the finale on Saturday afternoon at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field. The Mules are now 10-2 overall and 3-0 in MIAA play this season.
    UCM struck early again, plating a run in the first on Travis Stroup's double off the wall in center field to grab the early lead. The Mules added to the lead in the second, scoring three times for a 4-0 advantage. Matt Elliott brought home a run with a sacrifice fly to left and two more runs came home on a fielding error by the Tigers (6-7, 0-3 MIAA).
    Fort Hays State got on the board in the third, pulling within 4-1 on Bryce Whitchurch's RBI single. UCM answered in the home half to lead 5-1 when Miles Orscheln brought home Erik Webb with a sac fly.
    The Tigers plated another run in the fourth on Dayton Pomeroy's RBI single, but the Mules responded with four runs of their own in the home half to grab a 9-2 lead. Matt Elliott hit a two-run home run to right center to start the scoring before Webb and Jackson Schnurbusch each singled home runs.
    Central Missouri capped the scoring in the fifth on Webb's RBI groundout.
    That was more than enough for the UCM pitcher. Steven D'Amico (2-0) picked up the win, tossing five innings and allowing two runs on five hits. Brandon Reid tossed two innings of scoreless relief with Luke Mercer and Andy Muehlberger finishing the game off with a scoreless inning a piece.
    Sam Capps (1-1) took the loss for Fort Hays State, giving up seven runs on five hits in three innings of work.

Mules in the Polls
• Central Missouri is ranked third in the ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Preseason Poll and  is No. 2 in the first NCBWA regular season poll.
• UCM is ranked No. 1 in the NCBWA Central Region poll as well.
• The Mules come in at No. 21 in the D2BaseballNews.com poll and are unranked in the Perfect Game poll.

Mules in non-conference action
• Central Missouri is 7-2 in non-conference action this season after sweeping all three games at the Houston Winter Invitational.
• The Mules are 25-19 overall in non-conference action during Crookes' three seasons.

Mules in MIAA play
• The Mules are 3-0 in MIAA play following their conference-opening sweep of Fort Hays State last weekend.
• UCM  finished 32-7 in MIAA play last season and is 58-20 in conference play under Kyle Crookes.
• The Mules won their fifth MIAA Regular Season Championship in the last seven years and the 25th overall in program history last season.

The Mules at home
• The Mules are 3-0 at home after sweeping Fort Hays State last weekend in the first home series of 2017.
• UCM went 19-3 in home games last season and is 37-8 at home under Crookes.
• The Mules are 777-152-1 (.836) in 930 games played in their 42nd season playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.

Mules on the road
• The Mules are 1-1 on the road this year after splitting games at Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State back on Feb. 11.
• The Mules went 14-5 on the road in 2016 and are 27-19 on the road under head coach Kyle Crookes.

Mules in neutral site games
• UCM is 6-1 in neutral site games this season after three wins at the Houston Winter Invitational at Minute Maid Park.
• The Mules were 10-7 in neutral site games last year and are 18-11 in neutral site games under Crookes.

Keys to success
• For the Mules in 2016, a big key to success was scoring early. The Mules were 30-8 when scoring first and 21-4 when they scored in the first inning. So far in 2017, the Mules are 7-1 when scoring first and 4-1 when scoring in the first inning.
• With the MIAA's top pitching staff last year the Mules were almost unbeatable when they held a late lead. UCM was 34-4 when leading after six innings and 31-2 when leading after the eighth. In 2017, the Mules are 7-0 when leading after six innings.

Moving On
• Four pitchers from last year's squad are now playing in the professional ranks. Grant Gavin (Kansas City Royals - 29th round) and Lucas Williams (Houston Astros - 40th round) were both selected in the MLB Amateur Draft, while Tyler House (Tampa Bay Rays) and Ethan Westphal (Colorado Rockies) both signed free agent deals after the season.

UCM during the Crookes era
• Kyle Crookes has a 83-39 (.680) record in his third season as head coach at Central Missouri.
• Last season he won his first conference championship as head coach at UCM and the second title overall during his time in Warrensburg.
• During his first two seasons at the helm, 20 players have earned All-MIAA honors, including three First Team nods. Four players have earned All-Region honors and two players have been selected in the MLB Draft.
• 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 2017 season marks the 62nd in the storied history of Mules Baseball. During that span the Mules have compiled a 1,842-725-9 (.717) record in 2,576 games played.
• The Mules have won 40 or more games 18 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 17 regional titles and two national championships.

Mules Baseball by the Numbers
• 28 NCAA Regional Appearances (21 of the last 23 years)
• 25 MIAA Titles (17 of the last 23)
• 21 MIAA Tournament Titles (17 of the last 23)
• 17 Regional Championships
• 15 Regionals as host site
• 14 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 811-214 (.791) in 1,025 games since the year 2000. An average of 47 wins per season over the last 17 years.

A Tradition of Excellence in Athletics
• Entering the 2016 fall semester, Central Missouri has won a combined 207 MIAA regular season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• Last year, UCM captured two MIAA regular season titles, three MIAA Tournament crowns and three NCAA Regional Championships.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 153 MIAA championships, more than any other league school.
• Central Missouri has won eight national championships during Hughes' tenure (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 232 student-athletes named to the 2015-16 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 28 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.
• 19 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• UCM had seven student-athletes earn Academic All-Region awards in their respective sports with four of those earning CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.
• Since the year 2000, UCM is sixth in NCAA-II with 53 Academic All-Americans.
• Two UCM student-athletes were awarded prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships last year.

Upcoming
• The Mules head to Pittsburg State this weekend for a three-game MIAA set with the Gorillas beginning on Friday, March 3 at 2 p.m.
• UCM returns home next weekend, March 10-12 to host Central Oklahoma. The series gets underway on Friday night at 6 p.m.