WARRENSBURG, Mo. (May 19, 2021) - Central Missouri Mules Baseball starts the championship rounds of the MIAA Tournament tomorrow afternoon. As the No. 1 seed, they'll be the first team on the field in the semifinal round.

Final Four
No. 1 Central Missouri Mules (36-6, 30-3 MIAA)
No. 4 Pittsburg State (28-14, 21-12 MIAA)
No. 6 Central Oklahoma (24-19, 16-14 MIAA)
No. 7 Rogers State (20-20, 14-19 MIAA)

Where
Joplin, Mo. - Warren Turner Field

When
Game 1 Thursday, May 20 - 12 p.m.

How to Watch
• All games of the MIAA Tournament will be aired live for free on the MIAA Network. Bob Jackson will have the call on the video stream as well as on radio at 98.5 The Bar and www.warrensburgradio.com

Tickets
• Individual day tickets are on sale for $10. Tournament passes can also be purchased for $28. 

Rankings
• In the final set of regional rankings, the Mules are the top ranked team. UCM is already hosting the six-team regional at Crane Stadium whether they qualify or not. A win in the MIAA Tournament will get the Mules the MIAA automatic bid to the regional. 
• The Mules play in the Central Region along with the rest of the MIAA, Northern Sun and Great American Conferences. Filling out the top-eight in the rankings are: Augustana (2), Minnesota State (3), Southern Arkansas (4), Oklahoma Baptist (5), St. Cloud State (6), Arkansas Tech (7), Minnesota-Crookston (8). 
• This Sunday will be the NCAA selection show announcing the full field for the Central Region Tournament.
• Central Missouri remains ranked second in the latest NCBWA top-25 poll. They received one first-place vote and are ranked second for the second straight week.

First Pitch
• Central Missouri advanced to the championship rounds of the 2021 MIAA Tournament. The Mules are one of four teams playing this weekend in Joplin, Mo. They are the number 1 seed and will play No. 4 Pittsburg State first. No. 6 Central Oklahoma and No. 7 Rogers State also advanced. 
• The Mules have won the MIAA regular season for the 27th time in program history. 
• 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 six 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 34 seasons. 
• The Mules have won back-to-back MIAA Tournament Championships in 2018 and 2019 and two straight MIAA Regular Season Championships in 2019 and 2021.
• The last time the Mules won three straight MIAA Tournament's was 2010-12. 

The Series
• All-time against Pittsburg State, the Mules are 78-15.
• All-time against Rogers State, the Mules are 5-1.
• All-time against Central Oklahoma, the Mules are 36-22.

The Opponents
• The Gorillas finished the regular season fourth in the MIAA at 21-12 and are 28-14 overall. The Gorillas dropped game one of their best-of-three series to Washburn before winning games two and three. After being swept by UCM, PSU finished the regular season 10-3. Utility player Dawson Pomeroy made the All-MIAA First Team. They also had second team starter David Henderson and outfielder Ryan Koval. 
• The number 7 seed Hillcats upset No. 2 Northeasten State defeating them 2-0 in their best-of-three series including a 10-9 comeback win after trailing 8-0. Rogers State is 20-20 on the season and 14-19 in the MIAA. They have a pair of All-MIAA outfielders in Brandon Bradshaw and Prescott Horn along with pitcher Brett Karalius and catcher Jonathan Soto.
• Like Pittsburg State, Central Oklahoma won games two and three in their opening round series to knock off No. 3 seed Missouri Southern. The Bronchos are 24-19 on the season and finished 16-14 in the MIAA. Their staff is led by Second Team All-MIAA selection Luke Anderson along with shortstop Kyle Crowl. Crown has a team-best 11 home runs and 38 RBI while Anderson has a 3.72 ERA with 73 strikeouts. 

Individual Milestones
• Erik Webb is now the Mules all-time leader in hits, doubles, triples, home runs, and RBI. With 248 runs scored, Webb is second all-time at UCM. The same UCM records Webb is chasing in career hits and runs are also MIAA records. 
• Mason Green is third all-time at UCM with 234 strikeouts and is two behind second place. With 5 more strikeouts, Green will be just the sixth Mule to strikeout 100 batters in a season. He's 43 behind the all-time mark. At 23-0, he has the most wins without a loss in Mules history and the 8th most all-time wins.  
• Mason Green is 6.1 and Collin Jones 7 innings away from hitting 200 innings pitched. 
• Conor Dryer is two strikeouts away from 100 for his career. 
• Dusty Stroup is tied for 8th all-time in career and tied for 4th in single season home runs. 
• Micah Evans needs four more hits to get to 100. 
• Evan Rathburn is tied for 10th in career & ninth in single season saves. One more will move him to 8th in both.
• Chase Plymell will reach 50 innings pitched with 1 more. 
• Alex Madera is 1 run shy of 100. His nine triples are 2nd most at UCM in a season, 2 behind 2nd place.

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 will begin 2021 at the Kansas City Royals Triple A affiliate in Omaha, Neb. 

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 are 170-57 in conference play under Kyle Crookes.
• At 30-3 the Mules clinched their 27th MIAA regular season championship. It's the sixth time in team history they've won at least 30 conference games. 
• 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. 

Mules at Home
• Last season, UCM was 13-2 in 15 games played at home. They are off to a 20-3 start so far in 2021.
• UCM went 27-5 in 2019 when playing at Crane Stadium.
• Central Missouri is 132-26 at home under Crookes.
• The Mules are 871-170-1 (.836) in 1,042 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 84-47 on the road under head coach Kyle Crookes. 
• Central Missouri finished the regular season at 13-2 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.

2,000 Wins
• Earlier this season, Central Missouri won their 2,000th game as a program defeating NSU 6-5. The Mules are just the 3rd NCAA Division II Baseball team to reach 2,000 program wins joining Florida Southern & Delta St. 

Do It With Two
• Central Missouri has been getting plenty of production with two-outs in an inning. They're hitting .321 and have 121 two-out RBI. Dusty Stroup leads the team with 22 two-out RBI. Josh Schumacher is hitting over .400 with two outs with at least 30 at bats. 
• Mule pitchers are holding opponents to just a .234 batting average with two outs to squash rallies. Hunter Little has been the arm to get the Mules out of jams. He's given up just 3 hits in 18 at bats with two outs. Opponents are 4-22 against Tyler Kuhlmann and 4-23 against Evan Rathburn, a .174 average. 

Streaking Mules
• Micah Evans has the current longest Mule reached base streak. He's gotten on base in 34 straight games.
• Josh Schumacher has the Mules longest hitting streak at 11 straight games. 

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 second in the country.

UCM During the Crookes Era
• Kyle Crookes has a 246-97 (.717) 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 11 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. The 2021 season brought Crookes his third MIAA regular season championship.
• Crookes is up to five MIAA Championships, three regular season and two tournament.
• He also has two regional championships to his credit in 2016 and 2019.
• During his six+ seasons at the helm, 63 players have earned All-MIAA honors, including 18 First Team nods and Players of the Year in Erik Webb in 2019 and Dusty Stroup in 2021. 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 2,005-783-9 (.718) record in 2,797 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 27 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)
• 27 MIAA Regular Season Titles (19 of the last 27)
• 23 MIAA Tournament Titles (19 of the last 26)
• 18 Regional Championships
• 17 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 975-269 (.784) 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 223 MIAA conference championships in 14 league sports entering 2020-21 to lead all schools. They've since added four more. 
• 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. Baseball won their 27th regular season title to add to their collection and Jennies won the MIAA Softball Tournament Championship earlier this May.  
• 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 and most recently, 2020-21 to earn four of the last five. 

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.