WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Feb. 13, 2019) - Central Missouri Mules Baseball will play its first home games of the 2019 season this week at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field. There will be free admission for both days. 

Opponent
Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles (0-0)

Where
Warrensburg, Mo. - Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field

When
Wednesday-Thursday, Feb. 13-14
Wednesday, Feb. 13 - 1 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 14 (DH) - 10 a.m.

On the Air
• Live stats for all games will be available at www.ucmathletics.com

First Pitch
• Central Missouri hosts their home opener this weekend against Minnesota Crookston.
• Game dates and times have already been altered due to the weekend forecast. The Friday-Sunday series will now be played with a single game Wednesday at 1 p.m. and a double-header Thursday, Feb. 14 beginning at 10 a.m.
• Game one of the doubleheader will be a seven-inning game followed by a nine-inning game two.

Quick Hits
• Central Missouri totaled 39 wins last year. The Mules have won at least 30 games in all four seasons under Coach Crookes.
• The team improved by seven wins and won an MIAA title and returned to the NCAA postseason in 2018.
• 2018 also marked the 25th straight season UCM has won 30 or more games.
• The Mules have finished with a winning record in each of the last 32 seasons. 
• This year Central Missouri is off to a 2-4 start following 1-2 trips to the Houston Winter Invitational and three-game series with Colorado-Colorado Springs.
• This week will be the home opener for Mules Baseball. 

The Series
• These two teams have met just twice before and none of those were in this decade.
• Both games were played in Warrensburg where UCM won 16-10 in 2002 and 13-2 in 2003. 

Minnesota Crookston
• These will be the first games of 2019 for Minnesota-Crookston.
• The team was picked 10th in the Northern Sun preseason coaches poll following a 24-27 2018 campaign and 10-22 record in Northern Sun play.
• They do however return the Northern Sun preseason Player of the Year, Reed Hjelle. Hjelle was the ABCA Central Region Player of the Year in 2018 and a ABCA Third Team All-American. He hit .436 with 10 home runs and 50 RBI.
The following information is courtesy of the Northern Sun:
• UMC enters their fifth season under Head Coach Steve Gust in 2019. 
• Minnesota Crookston had some major wins last season with upsets over top programs in Seton Hill University, and Northwood University in non-conference play, but they struggled to get going in NSIC play. The Golden Eagles are looking to get back to the NSIC Tournament for the third time in four years. 
• Minnesota Crookston is led by returning NSIC Player of the Year Reed Hjelle, who hit .436 with 10 home runs and 50 RBI last season. 
• The Golden Eagles also return starters Jonathan Lund, Wyatt Peppel, and Ben Thoma from the 2018 team. 
• On the mound, Minnesota Crookston welcomes back returning starters Jayden Grover and Zach Rustad. Grover was 4-4 with a 5.56 ERA in 2018, while Rustad went 2-6 with a 5.98 ERA. 
• Out of the bullpen, Louis Gerzin leads the way after posting a 3.50 ERA in 18.0 innings as a junior. 
• Minnesota Crookston also has several newcomers who look poised to contribute at the plate and on the bump.

Schedule Changes
• It wouldn't be baseball season without some schedule changes. Due to poor weather in the forecast, the originally  scheduled weekend series with the Golden Eagles was pushed to Wednesday and Thursday. 
• Additionally, the Mules have moved their next home game against Missouri S&T to Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m.

Individual Milestones
• Starter Ben Kelsch is six strikeouts away from 100.
• With one more save, Luke Mercer will have 10 for his career. He is two away from cracking the all-time top-10
• Junior Erik Webb needs 10 RBI to reach 100. 

Who's Hot?
• Erik Webb has continued to rake. He has a hit in all six games and drove in four runs last weekend in Colorado. All four of his hits went for extra bases. 
• Zak Whalin had a home run and four RBI in seven at bats in Colorado last weekend. 
• Coby Seiz made a pair of scoreless appearances. He entered game one and earned his first save of the season, leaving the tying run on third and getting the final out. He then threw three scoreless innings in game two.

MIAA Leaders
• Erik Webb is third in the MIAA with a .875 slugging percentage. He is also fourth in hits with 10 and second in RBI with nine.
• Mason Janvrin is also in the top-10 in hits, tied for eighth with nine. His three stolen bases are also second in the league.
• Coby Seiz is one of seven MIAA pitchers yet to allow a run this season. With six innings pitched, only two others have a 0.00 ERA and more innings.
• Jonathan Sprinkle is 10th in the league with a .182 batting average against. 

New Faces
• In total, 33 Mules have already played this season, 17 pitchers and 16 position players.
• Of those 33, 16 did not play for UCM last year. 

Mules in the Polls
• Central Missouri was picked to finish first in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll
• The Mules enter the season in the top-25 in a pair of national polls. They are 20th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association and 22nd in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. 

Mules in Non-Conference Action
• UCM went 9-3 in non-conference games during the 2018 regular season. 
• They are off to a 2-4 start this year. 
• The Mules are 37-28 overall in non-conference action during Crookes' four seasons.

Mules in MIAA Play
• The Mules finished 24-12 in MIAA play last season and are 102-45 in conference play under Kyle Crookes.
• The Mules finished third in the regular season standings in 2017. They have won 25 overall regular season championships in program history and 12 MIAA Tournament titles. 

Mules at Home
• The Mules went 24-4 in home games during the 2018 season.
• Central Missouri is 69-16 at home under Crookes.
• The Mules are 812-160-1 (.835) in 973 games played in 43 seasons playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
• Central Missouri was the host and winner of the 2018 MIAA Championship Tournament. 

Mules on the Road
• The Mules went 12-9 on the road in 2018
• They are 1-2 to start this season.
• The Mules are 52-42 on the road under head coach Kyle Crookes. 

Mules in Neutral Site Games
• UCM went 3-4 in neutral site games last season.
• In three games this season, UCM is 1-2 at neutral sites. 
• The Mules are 23-20 in neutral site games under Crookes.

UCM During the Crookes Era
• Kyle Crookes has a 146-76 (.657) record now in his fifth season as head coach at Central Missouri.
• In 2016, he won his first conference championship as head coach at UCM and the second title overall during his time in Warrensburg.
• During his first three seasons at the helm, 30 players have earned All-MIAA honors, including seven First Team nods. Seven players have earned All-Region honors, one All-American and two players have been selected in the MLB Draft.
• Coach Crookes added another MIAA Tournament Championship in 2018 and another 10 All-MIAA selections and one to the First Team, bringing the totals to 40 All-MIAA selections and eight to the First Team. 
• 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 2019 season marks the 63rd in the storied history of Mules Baseball. During that span the Mules have compiled a 1,905-762-9 (.714) record in 2,675 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
• 29 NCAA Regional Appearances (22 of the last 25 years)
• 25 MIAA Regular Season Titles (17 of the last 25)
• 22 MIAA Tournament Titles (18 of the last 25)
• 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 874-251 (.777) since the year 2000. An average of 46 wins per season over the last 19 years.

A Tradition of Excellence in Athletics
• Central Missouri has won a combined 215 MIAA conference championships in 14 league sports entering 2018-19 to lead all schools.
• The Mules Baseball MIAA Tournament Championship in 2018 was their 22nd in team history and the second MIAA Tournament Championship Central Missouri has won last year, joining Jennies Soccer.
• Last fall, Central Missouri Jennies Soccer won their first NCAA Division II National Championship with a 1-1 (5-3 PK) win over Carson-Newman. 
• Last winter, Central Missouri Jennies Basketball captured their 11th MIAA regular season championship and seventh Central Region crown. They defeated Ashland, 66-52, to win the 2018 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship, the second in program history.
• In 2016-17, UCM captured three MIAA regular season titles, one MIAA Tournament crown and two NCAA Regional Championships.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 161 MIAA championships, more than any other league school entering the 2018-19 year.
• Central Missouri has won 10 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, women's indoor and outdoor track & field in 2015, women's soccer in 2017 and women's basketball in 2018, and 12 national championships overall.
• In 2016-17, Central Missouri won the inaugural MIAA's Commissioner's Cup trophy for the conference's top overall athletic department. They followed that up by winning the 2017-18 Commissioner's Cup as well.

A Tradition of Excellence in the Classroom
• Central Missouri had 256 student-athletes named to the 2017-18 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 35 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.
• 10 had five student-athletes earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in their respective sports. 
• All-time UCM is third in NCAA-II with 114 Academic All-Americans.

Upcoming
• Central Missouri plays a single home game Wednesday, Feb. 20 against Missouri S&T with a 2 p.m. first pitch. This game was originally scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 19.