Top Two in MIAA Collide in Weekend Series

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (April 3, 2019) - The top two in the MIAA Baseball standings will square off this weekend when the second place Mules take on first place Missouri Southern.

Opponent
Missouri Southern Lions (23-8, 14-4 MIAA)

Where
Joplin, Mo. - Warren Turner Field

When
Friday-Sunday, April 5-7
Friday - 6 p.m.
Saturday - 1 p.m.
Sunday - 1 p.m.

On the Air
• Live stats for all games are available at www.ucmathletics.com
• There will also be live video of all three games that can be found on the Central Missouri BlueFrame Portal page at www.themiaanetwork.com/ucmmules

First Pitch
• Central Missouri continues their six game road trip this weekend as they head to Joplin, Mo. to take on MIAA leading Missouri Southern.
• Last week, the Mules went 2-1 at Pittsburg State to start the roadtrip.
• The Mules have won two of three in each of their last three MIAA series. 

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. 
• The Mules finished third in the regular season standings a year ago and were the MIAA Tournament Champions, advancing to the NCAA Regional for the 29th time. 

The Series
• All-time the Mules are 81-23 against Missouri Southern. 
• A year ago, UCM won two of three against the Lions at home.
• Under Coach Crookes, the Mules are 8-5 when taking on Pittsburg State.
• The last time the Mules met Pitt State in Joplin, the Mules took two of three in 2017.

Missouri Southern
• The Lions are leading the MIAA with a 14-4 conference record. 
• They are 23-8 overall and ranked 12th in the latest NCBWA top-25 poll. 
• Missouri Southern is the only team in he MIAA in the top-three in team batting average and team ERA. The Lions are third hitting .291 while their staff ranks second with a 3.91 ERA.
• The Lions have two of the top strikeout pitchers in the league in Zach Parish and Will Bausinger.
• Parish is 5-0 this season with a 2.57 ERA and MIAA leading 83 punchouts. His counterpart Bausinger is 4-2 with a 2.25 ERA and 64 strikeouts.
• Zac Shoemaker has also started nine games and is 3-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 52 innings. 
• Cam Bednar has been the team's closer with five saves.
• At the dish, Dexter Swims is hitting .400 with a team-best 50 hits. He's got 11 doubles along with 31 runs scored and 22 runs batted in.
• Freddie Landers has hit six home runs with 21 RBI.
• On the bases, the Lions have stolen 34 bases in 42 attempts. Davin Gummere leads the team wit seven.
• Ryan Hunter was last week's MIAA Hitter of the Week. He hit .571 with two home runs and five runs batted in while reaching base 50% of the time.
• Defensively, the Lions rank third in the league with a .968 fielding percentage. 

Individual Milestones
• Luke Mercer needs one more save to crack the all-time top-10. He currently has 10. 
• Mason Janvrin is 13 stolen bases away from reaching the Mules all-time top 10. 
• With four more innings, Mason Green will hit 50 and Ben Kelsch is one away from 150.
• Bryce Kearns is one more inning away from 50. 
• Erik Webb is tied for 8th all-time in home runs with 27. He is one away from 7th place. 
• Harrison Schnurbusch is nine hits away from 100 in his career. 
• Zak Whalin needs four more RBI to get to 50.

Who's Hot?
• Two Mules have prolonged reached base streaks going to start the year. Erik Webb lost his 28-game hitting streak last week. That matched the longest for UCM since 2000. Webb still has a 29-game reached base streak in tact.
• Mason Janvrin has reached base in all 30 games to start the 2019 season. Dating back to the end of the 2018 season, Janvrin has reached base in 42 straight games. 
• The last two weeks Alex Madera is hitting .417 and reaching base at a 48% clip. 
• Zak Whalin and Donovan Ditto each have five RBI in their last six games.
• Mason Green is sporting a 0.64 ERA in his last two starts with 15 strikeouts in 14 innings.
• The Mules bullpen has been lights out the last two weeks wit a 0.48 ERA in 18.2 innings pitched. Jonathan Sprinkle has seven strikeouts while Coby Seiz and Bryce Kearns each have six.

MIAA Leaders
• As a team, the Mules lead the MIAA with a .323 batting average, the only team above .300 in the league.
• Four Mules are in the top-10 in the MIAA in hitting. Zak Whalin is second at .427. Erik Webb is third at .416, Mason Janvrin fifth at .405 and Alex Madera 10th at .368. Of the six MIAA players hitting over .400, three are on the Mules
• Janvrin also leads the league in runs scored (37) and is second in stolen bases (22) and hits (51).
• Webb's .823 slugging percentage is tops in the league as are his 37 runs batted in and 10 home runs.
• Michael Sinks is tied for eighth in RBI with 25. 
• Donovan Ditto is second in the MIAA with nine hit-by-pitches. 
• Mason Green's 1.91 ERA is second in the MIAA and his .187 opponent batting average is third. His five wins are tied for the most in the MIAA. 
• Ben Kelsch has collected 22 punchouts looking, which leads the MIAA. 
• Jonathan Sprinkle has collected four saves which is fourth. 

Mules in Non-Conference Action
• UCM went 9-3 in non-conference games during the 2018 regular season. 
• They are off to an 8-4 start this year. 
• The Mules are 43-28 overall in non-conference action during Crookes' four-plus seasons.
• The Mules have one more nonconference game left. They play at William Jewell April 24.

Mules in MIAA Play
• Just past the midway point of the conference season, the Mules are 12-6 after taking two of three against Washburn.
• The Mules finished 24-12 in MIAA play last season and are 114-51 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
• So far, UCM is 14-4 this season when playing at Crane Stadium.
• The Mules went 24-4 in home games during the 2018 season.
• Central Missouri is 81-19 at home under Crookes.
• The Mules are 824-163-1 (.834) in 987 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 5-4 this season in true road games.
• The Mules are 56-44 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 164-82 (.667) 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 1,923-768-9 (.714) record in 2,700 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 892-257 (.776) 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.
• UCM added another MIAA trophy in 2019 as the Mules Indoor Track and Field team won their first conference title since 2013. 
• 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
• The Mules will return home for six straight games starting Friday, April 12 when they take on Lindenwood in a three-game set.