Quick Hits
• The 22nd-ranked Central Missouri Mules close out their five-game homestand hosting Emporia State in a non-conference game on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
• This is the second game of a home-and-home series of non-conference games with the Hornets this year. The teams were not scheduled to play each other in the MIAA season.
• Central Missouri is the preseason favorite to win the MIAA as chosen by the league coaches.
• The Mules were 36-13 a season ago and advanced to the 27th NCAA Tournament in school history, and the 20th in a row.
The Series
• The Mules lead the all-time series with Emporia State 103-44, including a 23-11 record during the Tom Myers era.
• The Hornets rallied for a 4-3 win over the Mules last Tuesday in Emporia, Kan.
• The Mules swept a three-game series from ESU last year in Warrensburg.
Emporia State• Emporia State enters the non-conference matchup at 20-14 overall and 15-13 in league play after dropping three out of four to Washburn over the weekend.
• The Hornets are batting .284 as a team. They have 53 doubles, 11 triples, 25 home runs and 175 RBI as a unit.
• Price Jacobs leads the team with a .390 batting average to go along with three home runs. Levi Parker is hitting .331 with a pair of home runs and 17 driven in. Dean Long leads the team with eight home runs and 30 RBI to go along with his .296 batting average. Three players are hitting .313 or better.
• The pitching staff has a 4.84 staff ERA in 34 games and 275.0 innings pitched. The staff has walked 86 batters and struck out 228 in that span.
• Brenton Higgins is 3-1 with a 2.03 ERA in 17 releif appearances. He leads the team with seven saves.
• Jarrod Miller is 3-4 with a 3.48 earned run average in eight starts.
• Shawn Talkington is 4-2 with a 4.08 ERA in eight starts. He leads the team with two complete games and 43 strikeouts in 46.1 innings.
• The Hornets have committed 47 errors in the field and have a .961 team fielding percentage. They have turned 19 double plays this year as a team.
The Mules• Central Missouri enters the week at 26-10 overall and 23-5 in MIAA play after sweeping a four-game series from Lindenwood over the weekend.
• The Mules are hitting .311 as a team with 53 doubles, five triples, 13 home runs and 201 RBI. They have seven players hitting .309 or better and they've drawn 154 walks on the season.
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Jake Alexander leads the team with a .394 batting average.
Brad Wilson is hitting .392. He leads the team with nine doubles, five home runs and 33 RBI.
Tony Sandifer is hitting .386 and is second on the team with 30 runs driven in.
• The pitching staff has a 3.72 team ERA in 36 games and 280.1 innings pitched. The staff has 270 strikeouts and 106 walks during that span.
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Jake Heissler is 4-1 with a 2.58 ERA in 38.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 40 over his seven starts.
Ricky Rivera is 6-0 with a 2.83 ERA in 47.2 innings pitched over eight starts.
Zach Davis is 2-1 with a 2.03 earned run average over 26.2 innings and 16 relief appearances. He leads the relievers with eight saves.
• The UCM defense has committed 39 errors and has a .967 fielding percentage. The Mules have turned 18 double plays on the year.
Worth Noting• The Mules have scored at least one run in 382 of the 387 games played under head coach Tom Myers.
• The Mules hit .371 during the Lindenwood series, including a .340 average with runners in scoring position.
• During his current 13-game hitting streak, senior
Brad Wilson is hitting .447 and has driven in 14 runs. He has hit safely in 32 of 34 games played this season.
Last time out April 6, 2014 - (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) -- The 26th-ranked Central Missouri Mules completed a four-game sweep of Lindenwood by sweeping a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field. The Mules won game one of the doubleheader 10-3 before taking the nightcap 8-2.
In game one, the Mules (26-10, 23-5 MIAA) plated five runs in the second inning to seize early control.
Trevor Jones had an RBI single and
Brad Wilson blasted a grand slam to left center to give UCM the lead. The Mules tacked on two more runs in the fourth when Jones scored on a wild pitch and a Wilson RBI single.
The Lions (14-21, 11-13 MIAA) scored three times in the sixth inning, but the Mules responded with three of their own in the bottom half for the 10-3 win. Jones scored on another wild pitch, Wilson added his sixth RBI of the game and
Matt Molbury added an RBI single as well.
Kyle Gehrs (5-2) earned the win after tossing five innings of three-hit ball.
Zach Davis came on in the sixth during Lindenwood's rally and recorded the final four outs to earn his eight save of the season. He is now tied for the fifth most saves in a single season and his 15 career saves are tied for the third best in school history.
Zac Pearman (5-2) took the loss for the Lions after giving up five runs on six hits in two innings.
Kurtis Schuyler (4-2) was dominant in game two on the mound for Central Missouri. He scattered five hits in eight innings of work, while striking out seven to earn the win.
His offense gave hi a big cushion early scoring six runs in the second and one in the third for a 7-0 lead.
Dusty Maas was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in the first run of the game.
Jake Alexander added a two-run single and two more runs scored on a
Tony Sandifer single to center field. The Mules added an unearned run in the third for the big lead.
Jones added an RBI single in the fifth to give the Mules an 8-0 lead. The Lions added a pair of runs in the ninth inning, but it was too little too late as UCM completed the four-game sweep.
By picking up his fourth win of the season, Schuyler moved into seventh place on Central Missouri's career wins list with 23.
Geoff Hartlieb (1-4) took the loss for Lindenwood after giving up eight runs, six earned, on 11 hits in five innings.
Mules in MIAA play• Central Missouri is 23-5 this season and 209-47 in MIAA play under head coach Tom Myers after sweeping a four-game series from Lindenwood last weekend.
• The Mules were 28-8 in conference play last year as they finished in second place in the league standings.
Mules in non-conference action• Central Missouri is 3-5 in non-conference games this season and 93-38 in non-conference games during the Tom Myers era after dropping a non-conference game at Emporia State on April 1. The Mules were 8-5 against non-conference competition last season.
Mules at home• The Mules are 128-28 at home during the Tom Myers era and 15-1 this season after sweeping Lindenwood at Crane Stadium last weekend.
• The Mules were 9-2 at home last season. It was the first time UCM failed to win double digit home games since 1984, which was also the last time the Mules played that few home games in a single season.
• The Mules are 737-140-1 (.840) in 878 games played in this, their 39th season playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
• The Mules' best home record under Myers was a 23-3 mark during the 2011 campaign.
Mules on the road• The Mules are 9-7 on the road this season after splitting a dropping a non-conference game at Emporia State on Tuesday night. UCM swept a four-game series at Lincoln two weeks ago.
• UCM was 18-5 on the road last season and the Mules are 136-39 in road games during the Tom Myers era.
The Myers way• Central Missouri head coach Tom Myers has a 302-85 (.780) record in his seventh season leading the Mules' program. The Mules won at least 44 games in each of his first five seasons and recorded 52 wins during the 2010 campaign.
• The Mules have had 23 first team All-MIAA selections and 13 All-Americans during Myers' tenure.
300• Central Missouri head coach Tom Myers recorded career win No. 300 with the 4-1 win over Lindenwood on Saturday, April 5.
• UCM is averaging just over 43 wins per season, in this his seventh season leading the Mules.
Climbing the charts• With two saves in the Lindenwood series,
Zach Davis moved into a tie for fifth on UCM's single-season saves list with eight. He also moved into a tie for third on the school's all-time saves list with 15. He is four saves back of second place (Nick Webber, 23 from 2003-05).
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Kurtis Schuyler's win over Lindenwood in the series finale gave him four on the season and 23 in his career. He now ranks seventh on Central Missouri's all-time wins list, three wins shy of sixth place (Jason Herz, 26 from 1999-2002).
Mules in the Polls• Central Missouri moved up four spots to No. 22 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll. This is the third straight week in the poll for UCM. The Mules dropped out of the poll earlier this season, snapping a streak of 93 consecutive weeks in the poll.
• The Mules are receiving votes in the NCBWA Poll as well and are ranked No. 4 in the NCBWA Central Region Poll.
Martinez Watch List• Before the season began, 125 players from across the country were named to the Tino Martinez Award Watch List for the most outstanding player in Division II baseball. Central Missouri senior outfielders
Kevin Gratza and
Brad Wilson and junior infielder
Tony Sandifer were among the names selected for consideration for the award.
• The award is named after Tino Martinez, former Olympian and MLB All-Star, who played collegiately at Division II University of Tampa.
Mules Baseball history• In the 58th season of UCM baseball the Mules have compiled a 1,750-680-9 (.719) record in 2,439 games played. The Mules have won 40 or more games 17 times, including 14 straight seasons from 1999-2012, and have won 50 or more games nine times.
• The Mules have won or shared 23 MIAA championships, 16 regional titles and two national championships.
Mules Baseball by the Numbers• 27 NCAA Regional Appearances (last 20 in a row)
• 23 MIAA Titles (15 of the last 20)
• 20 MIAA Tournament Titles (16 of the last 20)
• 16 Regional Championships
• 15 Regionals as host site
• 13 Top five national finishes
• 4 Third place finishes
• 1 National Runner-Up
• 2 National Championships
Mules Baseball: Winningest Team of the Millenium• The Central Missouri baseball program has had unprecedented success in the last 20 years and has been even more impressive since the year 2000. The Mules have a 719-168 (.811) record since 2000, the most wins of any program in NCAA Division I, II, or III. That is an average of 49.5 wins per season over the last 14 years.
A Tradition of Excellence in Athletics• Following the 2013-14 winter sports season, Central Missouri has won a combined 198 MIAA regular-season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• The Mules and Jennies have captured five MIAA regular season titles this year and one tournament championship.
• Last season, UCM captured three MIAA regular season titles and one tournament championship.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director
Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 144 MIAA championships, more than any other league school.
• Central Missouri has won six national championships since 1980 (men's and women's basketball in 1984, baseball in 1994 and 2003, women's bowling in 2003 and men's basketball this season) and eight national championships overall.
A Tradition of Excellence in the Classroom• The 550 Central Missouri student-athletes received 375 Academic Awards from the MIAA office for the 2012-13 academic year.
• 305 UCM student-athletes were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
• 37 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.
• 33 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• UCM had eight student-athletes earn Academic All-America honors in their respective sports, including Brent Vogel being named the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for Men's Track & Field.
Upcoming• The Mules head to Maryville, Mo. this weekend for a four-game MIAA series against Northwest Missouri. The series gets underway on Friday with a single game at 2 p.m.
