Baseball To Host Bearcats, Military Appreciation Day

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (April 23, 2021) - Central Missouri Mules Baseball finishes up a six-game homestand this weekend. It'll be a busy weekend for the Mules as they'll also be officially breaking ground on the new Crane Stadium Expansion Project Saturday, and hosting Military Appreciation Day Sunday.

Opponent
Northwest Missouri Bearcats (12-18, 10-14 MIAA)

Where
Warrensburg, Mo. - Crane Stadium

When
Saturday-Sunday, April 24-25
Saturday, April 24 - 1 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, April 25 - 1 p.m.

On The Air
• This weekend's games can be heard live on 98.5 The Bar and streaming online at www.warrensburgradio.com
• Saturday's games will also be aired live for free on the MIAA Digital Network

Military Appreciation Day
• All military personnel and their families receive fre admission to the game.
• On hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch is Colonel Kyle Wilson, Commander 509th Bomb Wing.
• Whiteman Air Force Base Honor Guard will present the colors for our National Anthem. 

First Pitch
• Central Missouri wraps up a six game homestand this weekend taking on Northwest Missouri. The Mules started the homestand sweeping Central Oklahoma last weekend. 
• After this weekend, the Mules will have just one more home series left on the schedule before the start of MIAA and NCAA postseason play. 
• 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 Northwest Missouri the Mules are 147-71. The two schools were charter members of the MIAA in 1912 and are the only two remaining. 
• The Mules' 147 wins against the Bearcats are their most against any team. 
• The two teams last met in 2019 with the Mules taking two of three games at home. 
• Under Coach Crookes the Mules are 11-6. 

Northwest Missouri 
• Northwest Missouri State stumbles into Warrensburg having lost six straight games. Last weekend the Bearcats were swept on the road by Fort Hays State.
• The Bearcats are trying to hang on to a playoff spot in the MIAA as they are currently in eighth place at 10-14, two games up on three teams with 8-16 records. 
• Northwest has the worst offense in the MIAA. They are last in the league in average, on base percentage and next to last (by .01%) in slugging percentage. 
• The pitching has been much better as their 6.96 team ERA is ninth in the MIAA and their .957 fielding percentage is next to last.
• Peter Carlson has been and all-or-nothing offensive player for them leading the team with eight home runs and 26 runs batted in. When he isn't hitting home runs, he's been making outs with a .224 batting average and .294 on base percentage. He has 24 hits in 29 games with eight going over the fence.
• Spencer Hanson has been their best starting pitcher with a 4.95 ERA in eight starts. Max Spitzmiller leads the staff with 46 strikeouts. 

Individual Milestones
• Erik Webb is third all-time at UCM in hits. He stands at 303, and is 3 behind second place, 9 behind the all-time record. He set the all-time MIAA career home run record last weekend hitting his 53rd and now has 59. He is also the Mules all-time leader with 19 career triples and 73 doubles. He needs one more RBI to take over the Mules lead. With 240 runs scored, Webb is second all-time. The same UCM records Webb is chasing in career hits, runs and RBI are also MIAA records. 
• Mason Green is fifth all-time at UCM with 204 strikeouts and needs eight more to get to fourth. One more win will also give him 20
• Conor Dryer is 11 strikeouts away from 100 for his career. 
• Dusty Stroup needs two more home runs to get into the Mules all-time top-10. 
• Micah Evans needs 12 more runs to score 100 and 16 more hits to get to 100. 
• One more out will get Evan Rathburn to 50 innings pitched at UCM. With two more saves, he'll enter both the single-season and career top-10 lists. 
• Cole Taylor is five runs and four RBI away from 100 in his career. 

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. 
• Grant Gavin was selected in the 29th round of the 2016 draft and is currently with the Royals AA affiliate. 

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 163-55 in conference play under Kyle Crookes.
• At 23-1 the Mules are well atop the MIAA standings. They have a chance to clinch at least a share of the MIAA Regular Season Championship this weekend as they are up six games with nine to play. 

Mules at Home
• Last season, UCM was 13-2 in 15 games played at home. They are off to a 13-2 start so far in 2021.
• UCM went 27-5 in 2019 when playing at Crane Stadium.
• Central Missouri is 125-25 at home under Crookes.
• The Mules are 864-169-1 (.839) in 1,031 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 82-46 on the road under head coach Kyle Crookes. 
• Central Missouri has started out 11-1 on the road in 2021. They are averaging more than 11 home runs per game with 35 home runs, nearly three home runs per game.

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.

Mules Winning Streak
• Central Missouri has won 22 straight games dating back to Feb. 27. It's their longest winning streak since 1999 and the second longest in team history.
• The Mules are five wins shy of the team record 27 straight wins set in 1996.
• Another UCM streak is in jeopardy. The Mules consecutive game hitting streak of 32 straight set in 1998 is being chased down by Erik Webb. Webb's hit safely in 27 straight games, five behind the record. It's the second longest hitting streak of Webb's career. He hit safely in 28 straight in 2019. 

Do It With Two
• Central Missouri has been getting plenty of production with two-outs in an inning. They're hitting .326 and have 91 two-out RBI. Micah Evans and Dusty Stroup share the team lead with 16 two-out RBI. Evans and Alex Madera are each hitting over .400 with two outs with at least 30 at bats. 
• Mule pitchers are holding opponents to just a .237 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 15 at bats with two outs. 

Defense First
• Central Missouri has turned themselves into an excellent defensive ballclub. The Mules are climbing up the NCAA rankings in fielding percentage and currently lead the MIAA and are sixth in the country.
• The Mules haven't made an error in their last six games and have just one in their last 11. 

UCM During the Crookes Era
• Kyle Crookes has a 237-95 (.714) 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 20 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 1,996-781-9 (.718) record in 2,786 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 966-267 (.783) 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 225 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. Mules Golf picked up their 23rd MIAA Championship trophy this spring.
• Central Missouri Jennies Basketball added the first NCAA Regional Championship in 2020-21, their 8th in team history as they advanced to the Final 4. 
• 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 171 MIAA championships, more than any other league school during that time. 
• 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.