No. 1 Seed Mules Baseball Ready to Face No. 5 Seed Washburn in MIAA Tournament Semifinals

Baseball | 5/7/2024 12:00:00 PM

• The MIAA Regular Season Champion and No. 1 seed Central Missouri Mules (45-6) are scheduled to face No. 5 seed Washburn (31-19) in a 2024 MIAA Baseball Championship Tournament Semifinal contest Thursday, May 9, at 1 p.m. at Al Ortolani Field in Pittsburg, Kan. 
• The Mules are coming off a 2-0, best-of-three first-round series sweep of No. 8 seed Fort Hays State May 3-4 in Warrensburg. UCM won game one, 5-3, and game two, 14-4 in eight innings. Washburn swept No. 4 seed Central Oklahoma, 2-0, in its first round series, winning 10-8 and 9-7 in Edmond, Okla. 
• Through 51 games, UCM is paced at the plate by designated hitter Vance Tobol (.338 avg., 42 R, 54 H, 12 2B, 6 3B, 9 HR, 50 RBI, .656 SLG%, 18 BB, 19 SB), outfielders Jack Schark (.351 avg., 44 R, 59 H, 15 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 40 RBI, .625 SLG%, 26 BB, 14 SB), Brennen van Breusegen (.391 avg., 59 R, 68 H, 11 2B, 4 3B, 18 HR, 56 RBI, .810 SLG%, 29 BB, 16 SB) and Carter Young (.370 avg., 72 R, 74 H, 22 2B, 3 3B, 15 HR, 51 RBI, .735 SLG%, 44 BB, 25 SB), infielders Josh Patrick (.359 avg., 49 R, 55 H, 6 2B, 3 3B, 10 HR, 37 RBI, .634 SLG%, 27 BB, 15 SB), Jacob Steele (.364 avg., 62 R, 64 H, 11 2B, 1 3B, 12 HR, 53 RBI, .642 SLG%, 24 BB, 17 SB), Cole Moore (.335 avg., 47 R, 54 H, 11 2B, 7 3B, 3 HR, 42 RBI, 28 BB, 8 SB) and Max Holy (.379 avg., 70 R, 66 H, 12 2B, 3 3B, 14 HR, 67 RBI, .724 SLG%, 31 BB, 28 SB) and catcher Chase Heath (.389 avg., 43 R, 44 H, 10 2B, 13 HR, 48 RBI, .823 SLG%, 24 BB, 5 SB).
• Van Breusegen is fourth in hitting in the MIAA through 51 games (.391) while Heath is sixth (.389), Holy is eighth (.379) and Young is 10th (.370). Heath leads the conference in slugging (.823), van Breusegen is second (.810), Young is fourth (.735) and Holy is fifth (.724); Young leads the MIAA in runs (72), Holy is second (70), Steele is sixth (62) and van Breusegen is seventh (59); Young is third in hits (74) and van Breusegen is 10th (68); Holy leads the MIAA in RBIs after 51 contests (67) and van Breusegen is eighth (56); Young paces the conference in doubles (22) while Cole Moore is tied for the MIAA lead in triples (7), Vance Tobol is tied for second (6) and van Breusegen is tied for forth (4). Full MIAA stats 
• On the mound through 51 contests, the Mules are led by Conner Wolf 11-0, 3.58 ERA, 4 CG, 78.0 IP, 60 H, 33 R, 31 ER, 14 BB, 75 SO), Jack Scott (4-0, 3.37 ERA, 34.2 IP, 30 H, 14 R, 13 ER, 13 BB, 29 SO), Jack Kriesman (4-1, 4.50 ERA, 48.0 IP, 51 H, 25 R, 24 ER, 17 BB, 39 SO) and Jake Wilson (5-0, 4.01 ERA, 51.2 IP, 42 H, 24 R, 23 ER, 15 BB, 42 SO). 
• Wolf currently ranks second in the MIAA in innings (78.0), third in opposing batting average (.211), and is fourth in strikeouts (75) and ERA (3.58).
• As a team through 51 games, Central Missouri is hitting .358 while holding opponents to a .257 average. In addition, UCM has a .983 fielding percentage and 5.26 team ERA with 51 games in the books. UCM ranks first in the MIAA in hitting (.358 avg.), fourth in pitching (5.26 ERA) and first in fielding (.983 pct.). 

• Brennen van Breusegen was voted the Player of the Year, Conner Wolf was tabbed the Pitcher of the Year, Jack Scott earned Co-Freshman of the Year and Kyle Crookes garnered Coach of the Year accolades to highlight numerous All-MIAA postseason accolades for the 2024 MIAA Regular Season Champion Central Missouri Mules baseball team, it was announced Thursday, May 2.
• Van Breusegen (OF), Wolf (SP), Chase Heath (C), Josh Patrick (1B), Max Holy (SS), Carter Young (OF) and Vance Tobol (DH) earned First Team All-MIAA honors while Jake Wilson (SP), Cole Moore (2B), Jacob Steele (3B) and Jack Schark (OF) were Second Team All-MIAA selections. Scott (SP) earned Third Team All-MIAA accolades while Harrison Babbitt (RP) was an Honorable Mention All-MIAA recipient.
• Van Breusegen (OF), Wolf (SP), Heath (C), Moore (2B) and Young (OF) all earned All-MIAA Gold Glove team honors for their defensive performance throughout the regular season.

• Through 51 games, UCM has outscored its opponents, 552-273. The Mules have scored at least 10 runs in 30 of their 51 contests this season. 
• The Mules have hit a single-season record 113 home runs and stolen a season-record 167 bases so far this season. 
• For the first time in program history, Central Missouri has compiled at least 100 doubles (121), 100 homers (113) and 100 stolen bases (167). 

• Hitting streaks: Adamo Stornello (6 games)
• Reached base safely: Brennen van Breusegen (15 games), Adamo Stornello (13 games), Cole Moore (12 games)

• Through 51 games, the Mules lead all of NCAA-II in fielding percentage (.983), homers (113) and slugging percentage (.661), and are second in batting average (.358), hits (623) and runs scored (552). 
• Individually, Carter Young is fifth in doubles (22) and sixth in runs (72) while Max Holy is eighth in runs (70). 

• The second ranked Central Missouri Mules baseball team advances in the 2024 MIAA Baseball Championships defeating the Fort Hays State Tigers (25-26, 12-21 MIAA) by a final score of 14-4 (8 inn.) on Saturday, May 4, from Crane Stadium/Thompkins Field in Warrensburg.
• The Mules (45-6, 29-4 MIAA) trailed 3-0 for the second consecutive game heading into the bottom of the fourth, before cutting the Tiger lead to a pair with a sacrifice fly from 2024 MIAA Player of the Year Brennen van Breusegen. UCM took the lead for good in the fifth beginning with an Adamo Stornello RBI single, followed by back-to-back home runs from Carter Young and Max Holy making it 5-3 Mules.
• After Fort Hays scored a run in the top of the sixth, the home team responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning highlighted by a two-run shot from Holy and a 2-RBI single from Stornello making it 8-4 UCM.
• Stornello drove in his third RBI in the seventh scoring Chase Wilcox, before the Mules ended the contest in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI triple from Jack Schark as Central Missouri improves to 45-6 overall including 26-2 at Crane Stadium/Thompkins Field.
• 2024 MIAA Pitcher of the Year Conner Wolf (11-0) picked up the win allowing just one run on one hit in five innings of relief, while striking out six Tiger batters including back-to-back punch outs in the sixth to strand runners at second and third with only one out.
• The Mules were paced offensively by Stornello who went 3-for-4 at the dish with a team-high three RBI and a run scored as seven UCM hitters recorded multi-hit games in the winning effort.  

• March 12: Max Holy (Co-MIAA Hitter of the Week)
• March 18: Brennen van Breusegen (MIAA Hitter of the Week) 
• April 1: Brennen van Breusegen (MIAA Hitter of the Week)
• April 22: Max Holy (Co-MIAA Hitter of the Week)

• Central Missouri is No. 2 in both the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) NCAA Division II Poll unveiled May 1 and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) NCAA Division II Poll released May 7.
• UCM is also number one in the first set of NCAA-II Central Regional Rankings released Wednesday, May 1. 
• The Mules were picked first in the MIAA Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll.

• Thursday's MIAA Tournament semifinal against Washburn will mark meeting 126 in the all-time series going back to 1983. UCM leads the series, 97-28. The Mules and Ichabods faced each other earlier this season March 15-17 in Topeka, Kan., with UCM winning two of three games. Central Missouri won game one, 6-5, and game two, 16-4 in seven innings before dropping the series finale, 10-9. 

• Kyle Crookes has a 391-129 (.752) record in his 10th season as head coach 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, and the 2022 season marked Crookes's fourth regular season and tournament titles. UCM's 2023 regular season and tournament titles were the fifth with Crookes as the skipper. The 2024 regular season crown is the sixth for Crookes. 
• Crookes is up to 11 MIAA Championships, six regular season and five tournament.
• He also has three regional championships to his credit in 2016, 2019 and 2021.
• During his six+ seasons at the helm, 102 players have earned All-MIAA honors, including 33 First Team nods, Players of the Year in Erik Webb in 2019, Dusty Stroup in 2021 and Brennen van Breusegen in 2022 and 2024, Pitcher of the Year Conner Wolf in 2024, and Co-Freshman of the Year Jack Scott in 2024. Twenty-three players have earned All-Region honors, 10 All-American and five 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.

• The 2024 season marks the 68th in the storied history of Mules Baseball. During that span the Mules have compiled a 2,149-815-9 record in 2,973 games played.
• The Mules have won 40 or more games 23 times, including 14 straight seasons from 1999-2012, and have won 50 or more games nine times.
• The Mules have won or shared 29 MIAA regular season championships, 16 MIAA tournament championships, captured 19 regional titles and two national championships.

• 33 NCAA Regional Appearances (25 of the last 28 years)
• 30 MIAA Regular Season Titles (21 of the last 29)
• 16 MIAA Tournament Titles
• 19 Regional Championships
• 19 Regionals as host site
• 16 Top Five national finishes
• 5 Third place finishes
• 2 National Runners Up finishes
• 2 National Championships

• Central Missouri totaled 43 wins in 2023. The Mules have won at least 30 games in all 10 full seasons under Coach Crookes. They won 20 of 23 games in 2020 before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 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 37 seasons.
• The Mules have won back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back MIAA Tournament Championships (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023).

• If the Mules defeat Washburn Thursday, they will advance in the MIAA Baseball Championship double-elimination winner's bracket and face the winner of the No. 2 seed Missouri Southern and No. 3 seed Pittsburg State contest Friday, May 10, and 11 a.m. in Pittsburg. Should UCM lose, they'd drop into the elimination bracket and would face the MSSU/PSU loser in an elimination contest at 3 p.m. Friday.