No. 9 Mules Face Newman in Three-Game MIAA Series March 18-19 in Arkansas City

UCM Probable Starting Pitchers vs. Newman

Game 1: RHP Collin Jones (3-0)
Game 2: RHP Max Abramovich (0-0)
Game 3: RHP Jacob Merithew (1-0)

First Pitch

No. 9-ranked Central Missouri Mules baseball (16-3, 10-0 MIAA) is scheduled to continue MIAA play with a three-game series against the Newman Jets (14-9, 4-6 MIAA) March 18-19 in Arkansas City, Kan., at Cowley Country CC Baseball Field. The Mules and Jets will play the series opener at 4 p.m. Friday, March 18, before wrapping up the series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday, March 19. The games were originally slated to be played March 18-20 in Wichita, Kan., but the schedule and site were altered due to inclement weather Friday.
The Mules, who are on an 11-game winning streak, are coming off a 6-2 victory at Missouri Western in an MIAA contest Wednesday, March 16, in St. Joseph, Mo.
UCM is ranked ninth in the latest Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II Poll and are 10th in the latest NCBWA Division II Poll.
Through 19 games, Central Missouri is led at the plate by infielders John Prudhom (.364 avg., 24 H, 16 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 21 RBI, .652 SLG%, 13 BB, .482 OB%, 3 SB), Harrison Schnurbusch (.328 avg., 22 H, 19 R, 5 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 20 RBI, .537 SLG%, 8 BB, .410 OB%, 7 SB) and Cole Moore (.333 avg., 22 H, 18 R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, .500 SLG%, 11 BB, .429 OB%, 2 SB), and outfielder Michael Chrisman (.348 avg., 24 H, 21 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 9 BB, .478 SLG%, .446 OB%, 6 SB).
On the mound, UCM is paced by starting RHPs Collin Jones (3-0, 2.49 ERA, 25.1 IP, 21 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 9 BB, 19 SO) and Max Abramovich (0-0, 4.22 ERA, 21.1 IP, 17 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 9 BB 16 SO), and relievers Tyler Kotsis (3-0, 0.00 ERA, 14.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 10 SO), Caleb Rogge (1-0, 2.16 ERA, 1 SV, 8.1 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 SO) and Brady Gavin (1-1, 2.25 ERA, 1 SV, 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO).
As a team, the Mules are hitting .316 while limiting opponents to a .208 batting average. Central Missouri has a team ERA of 3.50 and a team fielding percentage of .966.
In the latest MIAA team statistics, UCM leads the conference in pitching (3.50 ERA) and ranks third in both batting (316) and fielding (.966).
Jones is third in the conference in pitching through five starts with his 2.49 ERA while Abramovich is 11th with his 4.22 ERA in five starts. Abramovich ranks fifth in the MIAA in opposing batting average (.213) while Jones is seventh (.219).

Last Time Out for the Mules

No. 9-ranked Central Missouri Mules baseball upped its winning streak to 11 games with a 6-2 victory at Missouri Western Wednesday, March 16 at the Spring Sports Complex.
John Prudhom went 2-for-3 and hit a two-run homer, while Jacob Steele went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, and Brennen van Breusegen posted a 2-for-4 showing with a double, leading Central Missouri at the plate for the game.
Central Missouri reliever Conner Wolf (1-0) earned the victory on the mound after tossing two scoreless innings and giving up only two hits with five strikeouts and zero walks.
The Mules got the bats going early, scoring two in the top of the first after Prudhom crushed a ball over the left field wall for a two-run home run, his team high fifth of the season.
The Griffons trimmed the UCM lead in half, 2-1, with a run in the bottom of the first, but Central Missouri answered with a run of its own in the top of the second, increasing its lead to 3-1 on an RBI sacrifice bunt from Ethan Imel that drove in Aiden Watson.
Once again Missouri Western responded, cutting the Mule lead to 3-2 with a run in the bottom of the second.
Central Missouri, yet gain, had an immediate answer, building its advantage to 5-2 with a pair of runs in the top of the third when Steele belted a two-RBI double to right-center, scoring Garrett Pennington and Prudhom.
Watson provided the final run of UCM in the top of the sixth, hitting a sac fly to out to left field, bringing in Pennington for the 6-2 lead.
The Griffons outhit the Mules in the game, 10-9, but committed four errors, compared to zero miscues for Central Missouri.

Notable Streaks

John Prudhom is on a team-best 12-game hitting streak going into Wednesday's game at Missouri Western. Brennen van Breusegen has a seven-game hitting streak while Carter Young is on a six-game hitting streak.
Prudhom has reached base safely in each of his last 16 games -- a team-best -- while van Breusegen has reached in his last 11 games and Young in his last 10 contests.

Fourth Inning Success

Through 19 games, the Mules are outscoring opponents in the fourth inning, 32-3. Other notable innings that UCM is outscoring adversaries in so far in 2022 include the first (31-11) and seventh (20-4). The only innings Central Missouri has been outscored in after 19 contests are the third, 20-18, and the sixth, 17-7.

Quick Hits

Central Missouri totaled 46 wins in 2021. The Mules have won at least 30 games in all seven full seasons under Coach Crookes. They won 20 of 23 games in 2020 before the season was cut short.
The team made their 19th trip to the NCAA-II World Series in 2021.
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 (2018, 2019, 2021).

Series History

The three-game series at Newman will be meetings 7-9 in the all-time series. The Mules are a perfect 6-0 in the series. Last season, UCM swept a three-game series vs. the Jets in Warrensburg, winning 14-5, 13-0 in seven innings and 11-6.

UCM During the Crookes Era

Kyle Crookes has a 272-102 (.727) record now in his eighth season as head coach at Central Missouri.
Crookes is currently third all-time in coaching wins at UCM and is the fifth head coach to ever win 200 games. Crookes is 39 wins behind the second winningest coach in program history, Tom Myers, who went 311-91 (.774) in seven seasons as the Mules' head coach from 2008-2014.
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 six MIAA Championships, three regular season and three tournament.
He also has three regional championships to his credit in 2016, 2019 and 2021.
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, six All-American and four 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 2022 season marks the 66th in the storied history of Mules Baseball. During that span the Mules have compiled a 2,031-788-9 record in 2,828 games played.
The Mules have won 40 or more games 20 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, 14 MIAA tournament championships, captured 19 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)
14 MIAA Tournament Titles
19 Regional Championships
17 Regionals as host site
16 Top Five national finishes
5 Third place finishes
2 National Runners Up finishes
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 2020s.
The Mules are 999-272 (.786) 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.

Up Next

Central Missouri returns home to Crane Stadium/Tompkins for a pair of midweek games against No. 6/9 Colorado Mesa Tuesday, March 22, at 4 p.m. and Wednesday, March 23, at 1 p.m.

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