WARRENSBURG, Mo. (May 25, 2021) - Central Missouri Mules Baseball starts their quest for a third National Championship this weekend as they host the 2021 Central Region Championship. The Mules are one of six teams in the double-elimination tournament played at Crane Stadium in Warrensburg. The winner will be one of eight teams to advance to the NCAA Division II College Baseball World Series.
Teams
No. 1 Central Missouri Mules (39-6, 30-3 MIAA) - MIAA Tournament / Regular Season Champions
No. 2 Augustana Vikings (36-11, 27-9 NSIC) - At-Large
No. 3 Minnesota State Mavericks (37-8, 28-6 NSIC) - NSIC Tournament / Regular Season Champions
No. 4 Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys (28-15, 23-10 GAC) - GAC Regular Season Champions / At-Large
No. 5 Southern Arkansas Muleriders (27-14, 23-10 GAC) - At-Large
No. 6 Henderson State Reddies (26-17, 18-15 GAC) - GAC Tournament Champions
Where
Warrensburg, Mo. - Crane Stadium / Tompkins Field
When
Thursday-Sunday, May 27-30
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, 1450 KOKO and www.warrensburgradio.com
Tickets
• Individual day tickets are on sale for $5 online or at the gate. Seniors (60+) are $4, youth (6-18) and students with valid ID are $3 and UCM students get in FREE!
First Pitch
• Central Missouri is hosting the 2021 NCAA Central Region Championship. They are the No. 1 seed in the six-team, double-elimination tournament. All games will take place this upcoming weekend.
• The Mules have won the MIAA regular season for the 27th time in program history and picked up their 24th MIAA Tournament Championship.
• 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-to-back MIAA Tournament Championships in 2018, 2019 and 2021 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 Henderson State, the Mules are 17-5
• All-time against Minnesota State, the Mules are 19-7
• All-time against Augustana, the Mules are 3-1
• All-time against Southern Arkansas, the Mules are 6-9
• All-time against Arkansas Tech, the Mules are 13-8
The Opponents
• Henderson State was the No. 7 seed in the GAC Tournament and pulled off the upset to earn the league's automatic bid. The Reddies are 26-17. Joe Myers leads the team with 12 home runs and 50 runs batted in. HSU carries a 5.24 staff ERA. Spencer Taack is 7-1 with a 4.13 ERA and 71 strikeouts to lead the rotation.
• Arkansas Tech won the GAC regular season at 23-10. They earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Wonder Boys have hit 52 home runs and have a .330 team batting average. Trace Maddux is hitting .412 with a team-high 61 hits and 49 RBI. ATU has a 4.07 staff ERA. Patrick Miner is 9-2 with a 3.46 ERA.
• At 27-14 Southern Arkansas is the No. 5 seed. They lead the GAC with a .421 on-base percentage and 82 stolen bases. Austin Baker is hitting .408 with 64 hits and 21 stolen bases with a .518 on-base. Brett McGee's 12 home runs and 41 RBI lead SAU. Jacob Womack is 7-1 on the year with a 3.89 ERA.
• Augustana won the NSIC regular season at 27-9. They're hitting .328 with a 3.71 staff ERA. Ryan Jares has a 1.56 ERA in 63.1 innings pitched with 88 strikeouts. Will Olson has powered 15 home runs. Four different Vikings have driven in 40+ runs this season. Their 121 stolen bases are 2nd-most in the NCAA.
• NSIC Champions Minnesota St. are the No. 3 seed. They're led on offense by NSIC Player of the Year Joey Werner who's hitting .439 with 12 HR and 54 RBI. Hunter Even has been the ace out of the bullpen with a 1.31 ERA in 16 appearances. Collin Denk & Jon Ludwin have sub-2.00 ERA's in more than 60 IP.
Individual Milestones
•
Erik Webb is now the Mules all-time leader in hits, doubles, triples, home runs, and RBI. With 250 runs scored, Webb is second all-time at UCM.
•
Mason Green is second all-time at UCM with 240 strikeouts and is 37 behind first place. With 5 more strikeouts, Green will be just the sixth Mule to strikeout 100 batters in a season. At 24-0, he has the most wins without a loss in Mules history and the 8th most all-time wins.
•
Mason Green is 1.2 and
Collin Jones 1.1 innings away from hitting 200 career innings pitched.
•
Dusty Stroup is tied for 7th all-time in career and is 4th in single season home runs.
•
Micah Evans needs two 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.
• Tyler Kulhmann is less than an inning away from pitching 50 innings in his UCM 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 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 6-1 in 2021 after going 3-0 at the MIAA Tournament.
• 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 .318 and have 130 two-out RBI.
Dusty Stroup leads the team with 22 two-out RBI.
Josh Schumacher and
Donovan Ditto are hitting over .400 with two outs with at least 30 at bats.
Streaking Mules
•
Micah Evans has the current longest Mule reached base streak. He's gotten on base in 37 straight games. The longest single-season reached base streak in Mules history is 57 straight games in 2010. Mason Janvrin reached base in 68 straight games between the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
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 249-97 (.720) 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 8 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 and tournament championship.
• Crookes is up to five MIAA Championships, three regular season and three 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. 16 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 2,008-783-9 (.719) record in 2,800 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, 24 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)
• 24 MIAA Tournament Titles (20 of the last 27)
• 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 978-269 (.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 five more.
• The 1st MIAA trophies of 2020-21 were handed out at the MIAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. The Jennies won their 9th 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 earlier this May. The Mules capped it off with another MIAA Baseball Tournament Championship.
• 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 three straight 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 174 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.
