Mules head to Pitt State for weekend series

First Pitch
• The third-ranked Central Missouri Mules head to Pittsburg, Kan. this weekend for a three-game MIAA set against Pittsburg State.
• The series gets underway on Friday at 2 p.m. with both Saturday and Sunday's games slated for 1 p.m. first pitches.

Quick Hits
• During the Mules' eight-game winning streak they have out-scored opponents 57-18.
• 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
• The Mules and Gorillas have met 81 times on the diamond with Central Missouri holding a 69-12 lead in the all-time series.
• The Mules swept a three-game series from Pittsburg State last year in Warrensburg, winning by scores of 2-1, 8-0 and 12-1.
• The Mules have won seven straight games against the Gorillas.
• This will be the first meeting between the two schools with former UCM head coach Tom Myers leading the Gorilla program.

Pittsburg State
• Pittsburg State enters the weekend series at 6-9 overall and 0-3 in MIAA play following a 6-3 loss at Rogers State on Wednesday. The Gorillas were swept by Emporia State in their MIAA-opening series last weekend.
• The Gorillas are batting .320 as a team with 32 doubles, nine triples, 18 home runs and 111 RBI.
• Dallas Reed leads the team in hitting with a .431 batting average. He also has a team-best eight doubles to go along with two home runs and 18 RBI.
• Colton Pogue is batting .420 with a team-leading six home runs and 23 runs batted in.
• Ethan Schlesener is batting .409 and Andrew Vogelbaugh has three home runs and 12 runs batted in.
• Six players are batting .304 or better and five players have at least 11 RBI for Pittsburg State.
• The PSU pitching staff has a 7.85 earned run average through 15 games. They've struck out 128 batters and walked 86 in 120.1 innings of work.
• Cort Lesmeister carries a 2.00 ERA in 10 relief appearances.
• Cody Whiting leads the team with 18 strikeouts in 18.0 innings pitched. He is 2-1 with a 7.00 earned run average in four starts.
• Nick Brown is 0-2 with a 12.60 ERA in four starts. He has 16 punch outs in 10 innings of work.
• Opponents are batting .303 against Pittsburg State pitching.
• The Gorillas sport a .948 team fielding percentage. They've turned 11 double plays and have committed 27 errors on the season.

The Mules
• Central Missouri is 11-2 overall and 3-0 in MIAA play after beating William Woods on Tuesday night.
• The Mules are batting .292 as a team with 27 doubles, nine triples, three home runs and 70 RBI.
• Justin Graff-Rowe is batting a team-best .405 with three doubles, two triples and eight RBI.
• Erik Webb is hitting .382 with four doubles, three triples and is tied for the team lead 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 tied with Webb for the team RBI lead with 11 while batting .306.
• The pitching staff has a 2.29 earned run average over 114.0 innings pitched. They've struck out 102 and walked 34 over that span. As a staff, the Mules are holding opponents to a .214 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 .960 team fielding percentage. They've turned 12 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.

Girrens named MIAA Pitcher of the Week
• Junior right-hander Zach Girrens earned MIAA Pitcher of the Week honors after his complete-game three-hit performance against Fort Hays State. The Spring Hill, Kan. native scattered three hits and struck out seven in a 10-0 series-opening win over the Tigers last week. He allowed just one base runner to reach second all day.

Last time out
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Feb. 28, 2017) -- The third-ranked Mules got two RBI apiece from Justin Graff-Rowe and Connor Sorge to beat William Woods 9-4 in non-conference action on Tuesday afternoon at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field. With the win the Mules run their win streak to eight games.
    William Woods (5-12) struck first with a pair of runs on three straight hits to open the top of the first. Alex St. Pierre led off with a single and scored on Jansen Smith's RBI double. Smith then scored on Tyler Cunningham's single to make it 2-0.
    The Mules (11-2) responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Mason Janvrin reached on a fielding error leading off, then using his speed scored all the way from first on a single to the gap on a hit-run to make it 2-1. Matt Elliott, after the RBI single, came in to score on a wild pitch to tie the game and Travis Stroup later stole home to give the Mules the lead.
    Two runs in the top of the fourth gave the Owls a 4-3 lead, but the Mules came right back with three of their own to take a 6-4 edge. Connor Sorge had an RBI double to tie the game. Stroup brought home a run on a fielder's choice and Janvrin scored on a balk.
    UCM added three more in the seventh for the 9-4 advantage. Sorge had an RBI single and Graff-Rowe brought home two more with a sharp single past the third baseman.
    Ross Juliana (1-0) earned the win after tossing 3.1 innings of one-hit relief. Stanton Lohrengel and Albertus Barber both tossed scoreless innings of relief as well.

Mules in the Polls
• Central Missouri is ranked third in the first ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll of the regular season and  is No. 2 in the NCBWA poll.
• UCM is also ranked No. 1 in the NCBWA's Central Region poll.
• The Mules come in at No. 18 in the D2BaseballNews.com poll and No. 20 in the Perfect Game poll.

Mules in non-conference action
• Central Missouri is 8-2 in non-conference action this season after the win over William Woods.
• The Mules are 26-19 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 4-0 at home after the 9-4 win over William Woods.
• UCM went 19-3 in home games last season and is 38-8 at home under Crookes.
• The Mules are 778-152-1 (.836) in 931 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 5-1 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 8-0 when leading after six innings.

UCM during the Crookes era
• Kyle Crookes has a 84-39 (.683) 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.

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.

Mules Baseball History
• The 2017 season marks the 62nd in the storied history of Mules Baseball. During that span the Mules have compiled a 1,843-725-9 (.717) record in 2,577 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 812-214 (.791) in 1,026 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 return home next weekend, March 10-12 to host Central Oklahoma. The series gets underway on Friday night at 6 p.m. Saturday's game will start at 2 p.m. with Sunday's series finale slated for 1 p.m. first pitch.
• UCM travels to Springfield, Mo. on Tuesday, March 14 for a non-conference matchup with Drury. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. at Meador Park.