Isaiah Pani (19) and Harrison Babbitt (34)
Stephen O'Brien

Baseball

No. 1 Mules Baseball Heads to Missouri Western for Tuesday MIAA Tilt

Game 34: No. 1 Central Missouri (29-4, 22-1 MIAA) at Missouri Western (8-25, 5-18 MIAA)
Tuesday, April 12 | Noon | St. Joseph, Mo. (Spring Sports Complex)
Radio: None

UCM Stats (HTML) | 2022 UCM Record Book (PDF) | UCM Roster | Missouri Western Stats | Missouri Western Roster | CB News Poll | NCBWA Poll
First Pitch
  • After sweeping Missouri Southern in an MIAA series April 8-10, top-ranked Central Missouri Mules baseball (29-4, 22-1 MIAA) is scheduled to travel to St. Joseph, Mo., for an MIAA game at Missouri Western (8-25, 5-18 MIAA) Tuesday, April 12, at noon at the Spring Sports Complex. 
  • UCM is ranked No. 1 in the most recent Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II poll and fourth in the latest NCBWA Division II poll. Central Missouri is back at No. 1 in a poll for the first time since last season. 
  • Through 33 games, Central Missouri is led at the plate by infielders John Prudhom (.371 avg., 43 H, 35 R, 6 2B, 1 3B, 13 HR, 42 RBI, .776 SLG%, 21 BB, .473 OB%, 8 SB), Cole Moore (.340 avg., 36 H, 27 R, 7 2B, 3 HR, 19 RBI, .491 SLG%, 16 BB, .491 OB%, 6 SB) and Donovan Ditto (.309 avg., 25 H, 20 R, 4 2B, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 8 BB, 5 SB), and outfielders Brennen van Breusegen (.441 avg., 45 H, 30 R, 4 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 36 RBI, .745 SLG%, 9 BB, .487 OB%, 4 SB), Michael Chrisman (.353 avg., 42 H, 41 R, 4 2B, 5 3B, 3 HR, 24 RBI, .546 SLG%, 14 BB, .429 OB%, 8 SB) and Garrett Pennington (.326 avg., 31 H, 24 R, 9 2B, 1 3B, 15 RBI, 3 SB).
  • On the mound, UCM is paced by starting RHP Collin Jones (7-0, 2.76 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 49.0 IP, 41 H, 18 R, 15 ER, 9 BB, 40 SO), and relievers Conner Wolf (3-0, 1.45 ERA, 18.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 8 BB, 23 SO), Ethan Peterson (3-0, 2.33 ERA, 1 SV, 1 SHO, 19.1 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 23 SO), Caleb Rogge (1-0, 2.70 ERA, 1 SV,  13.1 IP, 15 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 12 SO) and Brady Gavin (3-1, 1.06 ERA, 4 SV, 17.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 16 SO). 
  • As a team, the Mules are hitting .327 while limiting opponents to a .220 batting average. Central Missouri has a team ERA of 3.66 and a team fielding percentage of .968.
  • In the latest MIAA team statistics, UCM leads the conference in pitching (3.66 ERA), is second in batting (.327 avg.) and fourth in fielding (.968). 
  • Jones leads the conference in pitching through nine starts with his 2.76 ERA and ranks first in wins (7), while Gavin is tied for fourth in saves (4). 
  • van Breusegen is tied for the conference lead in batting average at .441. He is also in the top-10 in slugging (6th at .745) and on-base percentage (4th at .487).
  • Prudhom is 10th in the MIAA in batting average at .371 and ranks in the top-10 in slugging (3rd at .776), on-base (6th at .473), RBIs (8th with 42) and homers (7th with 13). 
Last Time Out for the Mules
  • John Prudhom homered twice and Brennen van Breusegen had three hits, leading No. 4-ranked Central Missouri Mules baseball to an 11-3 victory over the Missouri Southern Lions Sunday, April 10, at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
  • A senior from Racine, Wis., Prudhom upped his team-best season home run tally to 13 after hitting two round trippers in four at bats with six RBIs and a pair of runs scored. van Breusegen added a 3-for-4 performance with a double and drove in three runs while Jack Schark smacked his third homer of the season and went 2-for-4, pacing Central Missouri at the plate.
  • Reliever Tyler Rardin (4-0) picked up the victory on the mound after tossing 1 1/3 innings and allowing two earned runs on two hits on 25 pitches. 
  • UCM got out in front early, gaining a 1-0 lead in the first when Prudhom hit a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Michael Chrisman to cross home plate.
  • Central Missouri added a trio of runs in the third after van Breusegen hit a double down the left field line, bringing in Chrisman, before Prudhom demolished an 0-2 pitch over the left field fence for a two-run homer, increasing the Mules lead to 4-0.
  • The Lions fought back, however, and trimmed the UCM advantage to 4-3 with two runs in the top of the fifth, but the Mules had an immediate answer, plating three in the bottom-half of the inning when Prudhom crushed a three-run home run to left-center, upping the Central Missouri lead to 7-3.
  • The Mules added another pair of runs in the sixth, opening a 9-3 advantage on a Chrisman sacrifice fly and van Breusegen RBI single through the right side, before putting tacking on another two runs in the bottom of the eighth via Schark's solo homer to left field and a van Breusegen RBI ground-out.
Notable Streaks
  • Brennen van Breusegen has a team-high 21-game hitting streak going into Tuesday's game at Missouri Western. 
  • van Breusegen has reached in his last 25 games -- a team-best -- while John Prudhom is on a seven-game reached base streak.
van Breusegen Voted MIAA Hitter of the Week
  • Brennen van Breusegen was voted the MIAA Hitter of the Week for his performance on the diamond during the week of April 4-10, the conference office announced Monday, April 11.
  • A native of Columbia, Ill., van Breusegen earned his first-career Hitter of the Week accolade after hitting a sizzling .667 as the Mules went a perfect 4-0 on the week, including a three-game sweep of Missouri Southern and a non-conference victory over Drury. In his four games, he tallied 12 hits in 18 at bats, including four home runs and a double, going along with 13 RBIs, a 1.389 slugging percentage and .667 on-base percentage.
  • In the win over Drury, van Breusegen went 2-for-5 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs before going a perfect 5-of-5 with four runs scored, a home run and four RBIs in the game one win over Missouri Southern. He added a 2-of-4 performance with a homer and two RBIs vs. the Lions in game two before going 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored in the series finale vs. Missouri Southern.
  • van Breusegen became the 38th Mule to tally five hits in a game with his 5-of-5 performance in game two vs. MSSU.
Previous MIAA Weekly Honors Fourth Inning Success
  • Through 33 games, the Mules are outscoring opponents in the fourth inning, 47-13. Other notable innings that UCM is outscoring adversaries in so far in 2022 include the first (43-25), second (39-16) and seventh (32-5).
Series History
  • Tuesday's contest with the Griffons will be the 160th meeting in the all-time series. UCM leads the series, 122-37, after defeating Missouri Western earlier this season on March 16 in St. Joseph, Mo., 6-2, and at home March 29, 6-5.  
UCM During the Crookes Era
  • Kyle Crookes has a 285-103 (.735) 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 26 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 2,044-789-9 record in 2,842 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
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).
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 1,012-273 (.788) 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 host the Pittsburg State Gorillas for its final regular season home series April 14-16 at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field in Warrensburg. 
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Players Mentioned

Dusty Stroup

#18 Dusty Stroup

INF
6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
R/R
Erik Webb

#16 Erik Webb

OF
5' 8"
Redshirt Senior
R/R
Donovan Ditto

#0 Donovan Ditto

INF
5' 9"
Senior
R/R
Brady Gavin

#56 Brady Gavin

RHP
6' 8"
Redshirt Sophomore
R/R
Collin Jones

#36 Collin Jones

RHP
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Garrett Pennington

#20 Garrett Pennington

OF
6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
John Prudhom

#37 John Prudhom

INF
6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
R/R
Brennen van Breusegen

#48 Brennen van Breusegen

OF
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
R/R
Jack Schark

#1 Jack Schark

INF
5' 10"
Freshman
R/R
Cole Moore

#11 Cole Moore

INF
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
L/R
Tyler Rardin

#14 Tyler Rardin

RHP
5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
R/R
Conner Wolf

#26 Conner Wolf

RHP
6' 3"
Freshman
R/R

Players Mentioned

Dusty Stroup

#18 Dusty Stroup

6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
R/R
INF
Erik Webb

#16 Erik Webb

5' 8"
Redshirt Senior
R/R
OF
Donovan Ditto

#0 Donovan Ditto

5' 9"
Senior
R/R
INF
Brady Gavin

#56 Brady Gavin

6' 8"
Redshirt Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Collin Jones

#36 Collin Jones

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
RHP
Garrett Pennington

#20 Garrett Pennington

6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
OF
John Prudhom

#37 John Prudhom

6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
R/R
INF
Brennen van Breusegen

#48 Brennen van Breusegen

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
R/R
OF
Jack Schark

#1 Jack Schark

5' 10"
Freshman
R/R
INF
Cole Moore

#11 Cole Moore

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
L/R
INF
Tyler Rardin

#14 Tyler Rardin

5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Conner Wolf

#26 Conner Wolf

6' 3"
Freshman
R/R
RHP