WARRENSBURG, Mo. (March 10, 2021) - Central Missouri Mules Baseball will look to get their games against Fort Hays State in early this week. UCM has already moved their weekend series up to Thursday and Friday.
Opponent
Fort Hays State Tigers (2-8, 2-4 MIAA)
Where
Warrensburg, Mo. - Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field
When
Thursday-Friday, March 11-12
Thursday, March 11 (DH) - 1 p.m.
Friday, March 12 - TBA
First Pitch
• Central Missouri continues on with a six-game homestand against Fort Hays State this weekend in Warrensburg.
• Last weekend, the Mules swept Newman in a three-game series, scoring 10+ runs in all three games as they improved to 5-1 in the MIAA.
• Last year, the Mules played just eight conference games and won them all before the season was shut down due to COVID-19.
• 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.
Mules In The Rankings
• Central Missouri moved up six places this week in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's of America (NCBWA) top-25 poll. The Mules moved up to 14th after their 3-0 series sweep of Newman last weekend.
Quick Hits
• Central Missouri totaled 46 wins in 2019 The Mules have won at least 30 games in all five full seasons under Coach Crookes. They won 20 of 23 games in 2020 before the season was cut short.
• The team made their first trip to the NCAA Division II World Series since 2016 in 2019 and their 18th overall.
• The Mules have finished with a winning record in each of the last 33 seasons.
• The Mules have won back-to-back MIAA Tournament Championships.
The Series
• All-time against Fort Hays State, the Mules are 43-13.
• UCM has a 13-game winning streak against the Tigers dating have to 2016.
• Against Fort Hays State,
Kyle Crookes is 15-3.
Fort Hays State
• The Tigers are just 2-8 to start the season and 1-6 away from home. They've avoided getting swept in each of their first two MIAA series, taking game three 11-10 against Pittsburg State and 12-9 against Central Oklahoma.
• Pitching has been a problem for the Tigers who carry an 8.85 staff ERA. Starter Jake Campbell has done a nice job and is 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in 16.1 innings. He's struck out a team-high 20.
• Starting pitching hasn't been a problem so much as the bullpen. Starters have an ERA of 6.11 giving up 36 runs in 53 innings. The bullpen though has allowed 45 runs in 29.1 innings for a 13.81 ERA.
• At the plate, FHSU is hitting .247, near the bottom of the league. They've scored 57 runs and hit 11 home runs, which puts their offense in the top-half of the MIAA.
• Drake Angeron has been their catalyst. He's hitting .395 with 15 hits and six runs scored.
• Kade Wallace has driven in a team-high eight runs with two home runs.
• The Tigers .958 fielding percentage also ranks near the bottom of the conference. They've made 15 errors in 82.1 innings.
Individual Milestones
•
Erik Webb is fifth all-time in hits. He stands at 273, and is one behind fourth place and two behind third place. Webb currently shares the all-time record for doubles with 66. He set the all-time career home run record in the final game of 2020 and has 50 for his career. With two more he'll tie the all-time MIAA mark. He is also the Mules all-time leader with 18 career triples. He is now fourth at UCM in RBI with 191 and just eight behind a tie for second place. With 209 runs scored, Webb is seventh and six behind sixth place.
•
Donovan Ditto is four hits away from reaching 100 for his career.
•
Mason Green will enter the UCM top-10 in strikeouts with 19 more.
• Four more innings pitched will get
Collin Jones to 150.
•
Tyler Kuhlmann is five strikeouts away from 50.
• With one more run scored
Harrison Schnurbusch will reach 150.
•
Josh Schumacher is six hits away from 100 for his career. He's also three runs and five RBI away from 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 in 2019.
• Following 2020, Mule pitchers
Jordan Fowler,
Jonathan Sprinkle and
Evan Reifert all signed minor league free agent contracts with MLB clubs.
Mules in Non-Conference Action
• Central Missouri has seven nonconference games on their schedule. They finished their slate with a 4-3 record.
• The Mules are 72-38 overall in non-conference action during Crookes' six-plus seasons.
• UCM went 12-3 in nonconference games in 2020.
Mules in MIAA Play
• The Mules won the MIAA with a 24-9 record in 2019. It was 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 134-54 in conference play under
Kyle Crookes.
• UCM played just eight conference games in 2020 going 8-0. They are 5-1 to kick off 2021.
Mules at Home
• Last season, UCM was 13-2 in 15 games played at home. They are off to a 4-2 start so far in 2021.
• UCM went 27-5 in 2019 when playing at Crane Stadium.
• Central Missouri is 116-25 at home under Crookes.
• The Mules are 855-169-1 (.835) in 1,025 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 weren't on the road much in 2020, just five games, but they won all five averaging 18.2 runs per game.
• The Mules are 73-46 on the road under head coach
Kyle Crookes.
• Central Missouri has started out 2-1 on the road in 2021.
Mules in Neutral Site Games
• In 16 games in 2019, UCM went 11-5 at neutral sites.
• The Mules went 2-1 in neutral site games in 2020 and are 3-1 in 2021.
• The Mules are 39-24 in neutral site games under Crookes.
On the Base Paths
• The Mules have been playing aggressive on the bases all season long. They lead the MIAA with 24 stolen bases and 30 attempts
•
Micah Evans leads the MIAA having stolen eight bases, two more than anyone else in the league.
•
Dusty Stroup is right behind him going 6-6 in stolen base attempts this season.
Scoring Early
• After uncharacteristically falling behind in all four games in Houston, the Mules have broken out of that habit in a big way. UCM has now scored 23 runs in the first inning and 51 of their 96 have been scored in the first four innings.
• The Mules scored nine in the first inning Saturday against Newman and followed that up by scoring five against the Jets in the series finale Sunday.
UCM During the Crookes Era
•
Kyle Crookes has a 219-95 (.697) record now in his seventh season as head coach at Central Missouri.
• Crookes is currently fourth all-time in coaching wins at UCM and is the fifth head coach to ever win 200 games. Crookes is currently 39 wins behind Bob Tompkins for third 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 six+ 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 2021 season marks the 65th in the storied history of Mules Baseball. During that span the Mules have compiled a 1,978-781-9 (.716) record in 2,768 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 948-267 (.780) since the year 2000. An average of almost 47 wins per season over the last 20 years, the most of any team in Division II.
A Tradition of Excellence in Athletics
• Central Missouri has won a combined 224 MIAA conference championships in 14 league sports entering 2020-21 to lead all schools.
• The first MIAA trophies of 2020-21 were handed out at the MIAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Jennies won their ninth in team history.
• 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 169 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 and the Commissioner's Cup for 2019-20 as well.
A Tradition of Excellence in the Classroom
• Central Missouri had 275 student-athletes named to the 2019-20 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 31 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.
• 28 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• 4 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 122 Academic All-Americans.
•
Mason Janvrin became the sixth CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year in 2019.
• Before the 2019 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.
