Mules Wrap Up Road Trip at Pittsburg State

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (April 8, 2021) - No. 4 Central Missouri Mules Baseball marches on this week as they're now past the midway point in their season.

Opponent
Pittsburg State (16-7, 12-6 MIAA)

Where
Pittsburg, Kan. - Al Ortolani Field

When
Friday-Saturday, April 9-10
Friday, April 9 - 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 10 - 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 their second straight three-game series. This week they take on Pittsburg State in Kansas. 
• Last weekend, the Mules swept Missouri Southern to start their road trip as their winning streak reached 16 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 Pittsburg State, the Mules are 75-15
• The two teams last met in 2019 in Pittsburg. The Mules took the first two, including a 6-5 win in 10 innings, but the Gorillas got the finale 4-2. 
• The Mules also beat the Gorillas in 2019 in their second game of the MIAA Tournament. 
• Under Coach Crookes, the Mules are 10-3 against PSU. 

Pittsburg State
• Pittsburg State enters the series riding a four-game winning streak of their own. They've been one of the hotter teams in the MIAA having won 10 of their last 12. They are 16-7 on the year and 12-6 in the MIAA.
• The Gorillas though have only played .500 at home going 5-5. They are 11-2 on the road this season. 
• Pitt State is led offensively by Ryan Koval. He's hitting .362 with a team-high 34 hits. He's collected 15 extra-base hits with 8 doubles, three triple and four home runs.
• Garrett McGowan has been the biggest power bat in the Gorilla lineup. He leads the team with seven home runs and 30 runs batted in.
• The Gorillas are tied with the Mules for the MIAA lead in stolen bases. They've swiped 52. They've only been caught nine times, giving them an 85% success rate. 
• David Henderson has been the number one starter for PSU. He's thrown 37.1 innings, 13 more than anyone else on the staff. He's 5-1 with a 2.41 ERA and 30 strikeouts.
• Jackson Blancarte and Justin Root have been strong out of the bullpen for them with a combined 31 innings and six earned runs allowed. 

Individual Milestones
• Erik Webb is third all-time in hits. He stands at 292, and is 14 behind second place, 20 behind the all-time record. He set the all-time MIAA career home run record last weekend hitting his 53rd and now has 55. He is also the Mules all-time leader with 19 career triples. He is now second at UCM in RBI with 207 and just 7 behind the UCM record. With 229 runs scored, Webb is third all-time, 5 behind second place. 
• With three more strikeouts, Mason Green will move into a tie for ninth all-time at UCM.
• Collin Jones is eight strikeouts away from reaching 150. 
• Dusty Stroup needs six more RBI to get to 50 in his time with the Mules.
• Micah Evans is two RBI away from 50 in his career. 
• Four more hits will get Alex Madera to 150. He also needs one more base to get to 200 total bases.
• 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. 

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 157-55 in conference play under Kyle Crookes.
• UCM played just eight conference games in 2020 going 8-0. They are 17-1 to kick off 2021, scoring 10.5 runs per game.  

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 79-46 on the road under head coach Kyle Crookes. 
• Central Missouri has started out 8-1 on the road in 2021. They are averaging almost 11 runs her game and hitting .366 with 27 home runs - 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 16 straight games dating back to Feb. 27. It's their longest winning streak since winning 19 in 2011. 
• Eight times in their history the Mules have won 20 or more straight games. They won 27 straight in 1996. Of the eight 20+ win streaks, six of them were stopped at 21. 

Do It With Two
• Central Missouri has been getting plenty of production with two-outs in an inning. They're hitting .303 and have 66 two-out RBI. Garrett Pennington has been especially adept at extending innings. He's 9-18 with two outs while Dusty Stroup leads the team with 14 two-out RBI. 
• Mule pitchers are holding opponents to just a .238 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. 

UCM During the Crookes Era
• Kyle Crookes has a 231-95 (.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 26 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 1,990-781-9 (.718) record in 2,777 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 960-267 (.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.