Top-10 Matchup On Deck For Mules Baseball

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (April 1, 2021) - In a battle of the top-two teams in the MIAA, No. 5 Central Missouri puts its 13-game winning streak on the line.

Opponent
Missouri Southern Lions (18-3, 12-3 MIAA)

Where
Joplin, Mo. - Warren Turner Field

When
Friday-Saturday, April 2-3
Friday, April 2 - 2 p.m.
Saturday, April 3 - 1 p.m. (DH)

On the Air
Saturday's games will be streamed live for free on the MIAA Network. 

First Pitch
• Central Missouri is on the road for the first of six straight games this weekend starting Friday against Missouri Southern. 
• Last weekend, the Mules swept Washburn as their winning streak reached 13 straight games. 
• 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.

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 Washburn, the Mules are 85-25
• The two teams last met in 2019 in Joplin. They were quite high-scoring. UCM lost game two 17-16, before an epic comeback in game three of the series for an 18-16 win. UCM scored eight in the ninth and came back from down 11 after seven innings. 
• The two teams met three times in the postseason in 2019. They split during the MIAA tournament and the Mules defeated them 8-1 when hosting the regional. 

Missouri Southern
• The number two team in the MIAA behind the Mules is Missouri Southern. They are 18-3 on the season, 12-3 in the MIAA. 
• Last weekend they swept Fort Hays State including an 18-17 win in game three.
• The Lions are 8-1 playing at home this season. 
• Offensively Troy Gagan leads the MIAA and is second in the NCAA with 11 doubles on the year. He's hitting .424 to lead the Lions and also has eight home runs and 23 runs batted in.
• Tommy Stevenson is the reigning MIAA Hitter of the Week. He collected six hits in a game at Hays and drove in 12 runs last weekend. He's got 24 on the season.
• The Lions are headlined by their two aces on the mound Will Bausinger and Zach Parish. They've each thrown more than 43 innings this season. Bausinger is 5-1 wih a 2.98 ERA and 55 strikeouts. Parish is 6-0 with a 1.25 ERA and 63 strikeouts. He's striking out 13.08 batters per nine innings.
• Defensively, the Lions are tied for the league lead with a .974 fielding percentage. 

Individual Milestones
• Erik Webb is third all-time in hits. He stands at 286, and is 20 behind second place, 26 behind the all-time record. He set the all-time MIAA career home run record last weekend hitting his 53rd. He is also the Mules all-time leader with 18 career triples. He is now second at UCM in RBI with 202 and just 12 behind the UCM record. With 222 runs scored, Webb is fifth and one behind fourth place. 
• Donovan Ditto needs two hits for 100 in his career. 
• With seven more strikeouts, Mason Green will move into a tie for ninth all-time at UCM. 
• Dusty Stroup needs six more RBI to get to 50 in his time with the Mules.

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 had 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 143-54 in conference play under Kyle Crookes.
• UCM played just eight conference games in 2020 going 8-0. They are 14-1 to kick off 2021.  

Mules at Home
• Last season, UCM was 13-2 in 15 games played at home. They are off to a 10-2 start so far in 2021.
• UCM went 27-5 in 2019 when playing at Crane Stadium.
• Central Missouri is 122-25 at home under Crookes.
• The Mules are 861-169-1 (.836) in 1,028 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 76-46 on the road under head coach Kyle Crookes. 
• Central Missouri has started out 5-1 on the road in 2021. The are averaging nine runs per game on the road.

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 51 stolen bases and 66 attempts
• Micah Evans leads the MIAA having stolen 13 bases and Dusty Stroup is right behind him having swiped 10 in 11 attempts.

Do It With Two
• Central Missouri has been getting plenty of producton with two-outs in an inning. They're hitting .292 and have 51 two-out RBI. Garrett Pennington has been especially adept at extending innings. He's 9-17 with two outs and has a team-best 10 two-out RBI. 
• Mule pitchers are holding opponents to just a .224 batting average with two outs. Hunter Little has been the arm to get the Mules out of jams. He's given up just 2 hits in 13 at bats with two outs. 

UCM During the Crookes Era
• Kyle Crookes has a 228-95 (.706) 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 29 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 1,987-781-9 (.717) record in 2,774 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 957-267 (.782) 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.