Baseball Ranks in Top 10, Prepares For Weekend Series

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Feb. 20. 2020) - The first regular season baseball polls of 2020 came out this week. Central Missouri remains in the top-10 at No. 8 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association.

The Mules are off to an 8-3 start following consecutive 3-1 series wins over Arkansas Tech and the University of Mary. 

All five teams in the top-five received at least one first-place vote. Angelo State is the No. 1 team with 13 first-place votes. Southern Arkansas moves from unranked to second. North Greenville is third followed by UC San Diego and Florida Southern.

This week the Mules continue a 15-game homestand when they take on Concordia-St. Paul.

Opponent
Concordia-St. Paul (0-0)

Where
Warrensburg, Mo. - Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field

When
Friday-Saturday, Feb. 21-22
Friday, Feb. 21 - 1 p.m. (doubleheader)
Saturday, Feb. 22 - 12 p.m.

First Pitch
• Central Missouri is in the midst of a 15-game homestand continuing this week against Concordia-St. Paul.
• The Mules went 3-1 last week against the University of Mary and are 6-2 so far during the homestand.
• These games were originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday before being moved up due to weather. 
• Central Missouri won their 26th MIAA regular season championship in 2019, going 24-9 in the league. 
• They followed that by winning their 23rd MIAA Tournament Championship going 4-1 in Pittsburg, Kan.
• UCM then went on to win the 2019 Central Region Championship. They went 3-0 in Warrensburg with all three wins coming over MIAA teams. They defeated Augustana two games to none in a best two-of-three series to advance to 2019 National Championship where they finished third.

Quick Hits
• Central Missouri totaled 46 wins last year. The Mules have won at least 30 games in all five seasons under Coach Crookes.
• The team made their first trip to the NCAA Division II World Series since 2016 and their 18th overall.
• The Mules 46 wins last season marked the 26th straight season UCM has won at least 30 games and was the most under Coach Kyle Crookes in his five years at the helm.
• The Mules have finished with a winning record in each of the last 32 seasons. 
• The Mules have won back-to-back MIAA Tournament Championships.

On the Air
• Live stats for all games will also be available at www.ucmathletics.com
• Saturday's single game will also be broadcast live on 98.5 The Bar and 1450 KOKO with Bob Jackson calling the action live from Crane Stadium.

The Series
• The Mules Concordia-St. Paul have met just once previously with the Mules winning 7-4 back in 2004.
• This will be their first matchup in Warrensburg as the first was played on a neutral site. 

Concordia-St. Paul
• Although the Mules have already played in eight games this season, the series will mark the beginning of the 2020 campaign for Concordia-St. Paul.
• Last year, the Golden Bears went 21-27 overall and were 12-23 in the Northern Sun. 
• In the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, the Golden Bears were picked to finish ninth.
• CSP had trouble scoring runs last season averaging less than four per game. They hit .244 as a team with just 21% of their hits going for extra bases.
• The Golden Bear staff ERA was over 5.00 at 5.08. 
• Defensively, CSP was solid with less than one error per game and a .972 fielding percentage.
• The Concordia roster is completely revamped from a year ago. On the pitching side, They lost 38 starts of their 48 games played. Two-way player Ryan Christopher started six games last year with a 5.96 ERA in just 25.2 innings pitched. At the plate, Christopher hit .292 with a team-best 25 RBI.
• The only other regular returning to the CSP lineup is Patrick Bordewick. He led the Golden Bears hitting .301 and carried a .410 slugging percentage.
• Concordia does return three of their top relief pitchers. Shane Benson had a 2.00 ERA in 13 appearances and 18 innings. Luke DeGrammont also got into 13 games and stuck out 21 in 20.1 innings and Blake Stelzer threw 32.2 innings in 12 appearances with a 3.03 ERA and 35 punchouts.

2019 Post Season Awards
• Erik Webb became the 10th MIAA Player of the Year in team history and the first since Bret Schwartz in 2012. 
• Webb was joined by fellow outfielder Mason Janvrin on the All-MIAA first team, and relief pitcher Jonathan Sprinkle. 
• Three Mules made the All-MIAA Second Team: starting pitcher Mason Green, catcher Zak Whalin and shortstop Alex Madera. 
• Harrison Schnurbusch at third base and Michael Sinks at utility were selected to the Third Team and Ben Kelsch (SP), Cole Taylor (1B) and Donovan Ditto (2B) made All-Conference Honorable Mention.
• Janvrin also earned his 2nd straight MIAA Gold Glove in centerfield. 
• Webb was also named the D2CCA, NCBWA and ABCA Central Region Player of the Year. All three publications made him a First Team All-American as well. 
• Jonathan Sprinkle, Mason Janvrin and Mason Green all have earned All-Region Awards. Sprinkle a D2CCA, NCBWA and ABCA First Team seletion, Janvrin Second Team D2CCA and NCBWA and First Team ABCA and Green a Second Team ABCA honoree. Janvrin was also an ABCA Second Team All-American.

Individual Milestones
• Donovan Ditto is six hits away from 100.
• Erik Webb is just three hits shy of cracking the UCM all-time top-10 in hits. He stands at 236. Webb is currently tied for second in career doubles with 61, just five off the all-time mark. He is just one triple away from the UCM career record and needs five more home runs to tie the UCM record. He is just one RBI away from ninth all-time at UCM.
• Alex Madera needs two more RBI to get to 50 and five hits for 100.
• Cole Taylor will get to 50 runs with three more. 
• Collin Jones is three strikeouts away from 100. 
• Evan Rathburn needs eight more strikeouts for 50. 

Mules in the Pros
• Mason Janvrin became the 34th Mule to be drafted and the third under Coach Crookes. Janvrin was taken with the first pick in round 14, pick number 408 by the Baltimore Orioles. 

Mules in Non-Conference Action
• The Mules played to a 10-4 non-conference regular season record in 2019. They went 12-3 in nonconference postseason games. 
• The Mules are 64-35 overall in non-conference action during Crookes' five-plus seasons.
• UCM is 8-3 in non-conference action to start 2020. 

Mules in MIAA Play
• The Mules won the MIAA with a 24-9 record. It's their 26th MIAA Regular Season Conference Championship. They also have 23 MIAA Conference Tournament Championships with back-to-back Tournament Championships in 2018-19. 
• The Mules are 121-53 in conference play under Kyle Crookes.

Mules at Home
• UCM went 27-5 last season when playing at Crane Stadium.
• The Mules went 24-4 in home games during the 2018 season.
• Central Missouri is 105-23 at home under Crookes.
• The Mules are 844-167-1 (.835) in 1,011 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 and hosted half of the NCAA Central Region Tournament where they went 3-0.

Mules on the Road
• The Mules were 14-7 this season in true road games.
• They went 12-9 on the road in 2018.
• The Mules are 66-45 on the road under head coach Kyle Crookes. 

Mules in Neutral Site Games
• In 16 games last season, UCM went 11-5 at neutral sites. 
• The Mules are off to a 2-1 start in neutral site games in 2020.
• UCM went 3-4 in neutral site games in 2018
• The Mules are 36-23 in neutral site games under Crookes.

Runnin' With the Mules
• Through seven games, the Mules are second in the MIAA with 29 stolen bases. They also lead the league with nine triples. 
• Josh Schumacher is tied for second in the league with six stolen bases. Brennan vanBreusegen has five and Erik Webb four. 

Impressive Debuts
• Two Mule transfers have made their debuts this season to rave reviews. On the mound, Jordan Fowler has a 1.20 ERA and two wins in 15 innings with 18 strikeouts. 
• At the plate, Dusty Stroup is leading the team hitting .382 with six doubles. Those six doubles put him sixth in all of Division II. 

Starting Success
• Mules starting pitchers have been superb this season. They've allowed just eight earned runs in 56 innings for a 1.29 ERA. 
• Mason Green is yet to allow an earned run in 15 innings and has struck out 45.
• Jordan Fowler has a 1.20 ERA and Collin Jones a 1.80 ERA. Jones struckout a career-high 11 against Mary last weekend.
• Jonathan Sprinkle is racking up the strikeouts. Through 11 innings, he has 18 which which is an average of 14.7 per nine innings. 
• With 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings, the Mules are 9th in the nation.
• The Mules are also ninth in Division II in hits allowed per nine innings at 6.07

Defense First
• Central Missouri's defense has come a long way. Through 11 games they have a .976 fielding percentage which ranks 26th in Division II and third in the MIAA. The Mules are in the Division II top-10 in double plays with nine.
• The Mules have committed nine errors in 11 games.

Scoring Early
• The Mules have scored 10 runs in the first inning so far this season, their most in any inning. 
• They have scored in the opening inning in six of 11 games and are 4-2 when scoring in the first.
• In all eight wins, the Mules put the first run on the board. 

UCM During the Crookes Era
• Kyle Crookes has a 198-91 (.684) record now in his sixth season as head coach at Central Missouri.
• Crookes is currently fifth all-time in coaching wins at UCM and will become the fifth head coach to ever win 200 games with two more. Crookes is currenly 11 wins behind Darin Hendrickson for fourth at Central Missouri.
• In 2016, he won his first conference championship as head coach at UCM. He added a tournament title in 2018 and his second regular season championship in 2019.
• Crookes is up to four MIAA Championships, two regular season and two tournament following 2019.
• He also has two regional championships to his credit in 2016 and 2019.
• During his five+ seasons at the helm, 52 players have earned All-MIAA honors, including 11 First Team nods and Player of the Year Erik Webb in 2019. Ten players have earned All-Region honors, three All-American and three 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 2020 season marks the 64th in the storied history of Mules Baseball. During that span the Mules have compiled a 1,957-777-9 (.715) record in 2,743 games played.
• The Mules have won 40 or more games 19 times, including 14 straight seasons from 1999-2012, and have won 50 or more games nine times.
• The Mules have won or shared 26 MIAA regular season championships, 23 MIAA tournament championships, captured 18 regional titles and two national championships.

Mules Baseball by the Numbers
• 30 NCAA Regional Appearances (23 of the last 26 years)
• 26 MIAA Regular Season Titles (18 of the last 26)
• 23 MIAA Tournament Titles (19 of the last 26)
• 18 Regional Championships
• 16 Regionals as host site
• 16 Top Five national finishes
• 5 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 30 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 923-265 (.777) since the year 2000. An average of 46 wins per season over the last 20 years.

A Tradition of Excellence in Athletics
• Central Missouri has won a combined 219 MIAA conference championships in 14 league sports entering 2019-20 to lead all schools.
• UCM has since added two more MIAA Championships trophies thus far in 2019-20 with the Mules Football and Jennies Soccer regular season titles.
• The Mules Baseball MIAA Tournament Championship in 2019 was their 23rd in program history along with 26 regular season, and they have now won back-to-back MIAA Tournament Championships. 
• In 2017-18, Central Missouri won two National Championships. Jennies Soccer won their first NCAA Division II National Championship with a 1-1 (5-3 PK) win over Carson-Newman. Jennies Basketball then 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.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 165 MIAA championships, more than any other league school entering the 2019-20 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 350 student-athletes named to the 2018-19 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 33 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.
• 23 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• 5 had student-athletes earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors in their respective sports and 3 Academic All-Americans.
• All-time UCM is third in NCAA-II with 119 Academic All-Americans.
• Mason Janvrin became the sixth CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year in 2019. 
• Before the NCAA Championship, Mason Janvrin was named the NCAA Elite 90 Award winner as the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at the NCAA finals site.