Mules set to face Emporia State in MIAA Tournament in Kansas City

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Quick Hits
• The Central Missouri Mules continue play in the MIAA Tournament against second-seeded Emporia State on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas.
• The Tournament is a double-elimination bracket. If UCM wins on Thursday, they will play at 11 a.m. on Friday morning, if they lose then they will play again at 6 p.m. on Thursday night in an elimination game.

Mules Baseball on the air
• Every UCM game in the MIAA Tournament can be heard live on the Central Missouri Sports Radio Network on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com.
• Bob Jackson will be on the call with the UCM Office of Extended Studies Dugout Show beginning 25 minutes prior to first pitch.

The Series
• The Mules hold a 103-46 lead in the all-time series with Emporia State.
• The Hornets won the only regular season meeting between the two, a 6-3 non-conference win in Warrensburg on March 24.
• ESU has won three straight games in the series.

Emporia State
• Emporia State enters the MIAA Tournament Finals at 36-13 overall. They are the number two seed after finishing second in the regular season standings at 23-12.
• ESU is led by 12th-year head coach Bob Fornelli. He has compiled a 488-195 record while leading the Hornets. His career mark in 19 years as a college head coach stands at 786-318.
• The Hornets are hitting .338 as a team with 120 doubles, 14 triples and 72 home runs. They've driven in 382 runs as a unit.
• Nine Emporia State players are batting .302 or better.
• Justin Harris leads the team with a .446 batting average and 25 doubles. He also has five triples, four home runs and 37 RBI.
• Dean Long is hitting .380 with 19 doubles and he leads the team in home runs with 21 and RBI with 76.
• Evan Koehler bats .368 with 12 homers and 56 runs driven in.
• Twelve different Hornets have hit home runs this year and 12 have at least 13 RBI.
• The ESU pitching staff has a 5.50 ERA through 49 games and 395.2 innings pitched. They have walked just 140 batters and struck out 317 during that span. Opponents are hitting .298 against Hornet pitchers.
• Travis Hendry is 9-1 with a 4.07 ERA in 14 appearances and 11 starts for ESU. He has allowed nine home runs and opponents are hitting .288 against him.
• Shane Davies has a staff-low 2.74 earned run average in 13 relief appearances.
• Shawn Talkington is 5-4 with a 4.64 ERA and 10 saves in 23 appearances. He's struck out 53 batters in 54.1 innings.
• Garrett Brummett leads the staff in strikeouts with 55 in 51 innings pitched. He is 3-3 with a 6.71 ERA.
• The Hornets have a .959 team fielding percentage. They've committed 72 errors on the season and they've turned 29 double plays.

The Mules
• Central Missouri enters the MIAA Tournament Finals at 30-20 overall after sweeping Nebraska-Kearney in the conference tournament's first round series.
• The Mules are hitting .296 as a team with 73 doubles, 17 triples, 20 home runs and 271 RBI. The Mules have drawn 173 walks on the season with 264 strikeouts.
• Trevor Jones leads all eligible hitters with a .378 average to go along with nine doubles, six triples, a home run and 24 RBI.
• Tony Sandifer is hitting .335 with 11 doubles. He also has four home runs and 29 runs driven in.
• Dusty Maas is hitting .305 with seven doubles, three triples and 26 RBI, while Derek Cornell is also hitting .305 and leads the team with 38 runs driven in.
• Bennett Oliver leads the team with six home runs to go along with a .322 average and 32 runs driven in.
• The pitching staff has a 4.29 team ERA through 50 games and 402.1 innings pitched. The staff has 347 strikeouts and 150 walks during that span. Opponents are hitting .259 against UCM pitchers.
• Ricky Rivera is tied for the team lead with six wins (6-2) to go along with a 4.00 earned run average in 13 appearances and 11 starts.
• Carlos D'Armas is 3-1 with a staff-leading 3.14 earned run average in 12 appearances and 10 starts. He's struck out 57 batters in 57.1 innings and is holding opponents to a .220 batting average.
• Tyler House is 4-2 with a 3.77 ERA in 11 starts. He leads the team with 57 strikeouts in 59.2 innings and has two of the Mules' three complete-games this season.
• Lucas Williams is 5-3 with a 3.35 earned run average in 17 total appearances. He's struck out 30 in 37.2 innings of work and has two saves.
• The UCM defense has committed 66 errors and has a .963 fielding percentage. The Mules have turned 27 double plays on the year.

What's next?
• If the Mules beat ESU, they will play in the winner's bracket final on Friday morning at 11 a.m. against the winner of Missouri Southern and Washburn. If UCM loses, they will play an elimination game at 6 p.m. on Thursday night against either MSSU or WU.
• The Mules split their four-game series at MSSU earlier in the season, taking the first two games before dropping the final two. All four games were one-run games.
• UCM went 3-1 against Washburn in Topeka earlier this season.

Missouri Southern
• The Lions won the MIAA regular season crown this year and sit at 38-11 overall after going 26-6 in league play.
• The Mules lead the series with MSSU 75-20.
• The Lions hit .314 as a team with 91 doubles, 10 triples, 54 home runs and 318 RBI.
• The MSSU pitching staff has a 4.21 team ERA in 389 innings pitched. They've allowed 383 hits and 212 runs while walking just 102 and striking out 377.

Washburn
• The Ichabods finished in a tie for fourth in the MIAA regular season and sit at 32-18 overall after going 22-14 in league play.
• The Mules lead the series with WU 76-19.
• The Bods hit .309 as a team with 84 doubles, 16 triples, 51 home runs and 325 RBI.
• The WU pitching staff has a 4.94 team ERA in 404.2 innings pitched. They've allowed 453 hits and 279 runs while walking 155 and striking out 255.

Worth Noting
• The win over Nebraska-Kearney was the first MIAA Tournament First Round series win for UCM under the current tournament format.
• The two wins over Nebraska-Kearney gave the Mules 30 wins on the season, it marks the 22nd straight season with at least 30 wins.
• Trevor Jones had his 21-game hitting streak snapped in game one of the Lindenwood series, but he has now reached base in 35 straight games.

Last time out
    May 1, 2015 - (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) -- The Mules rallied with three runs in the seventh inning to beat Nebraska-Kearney 7-5 on Friday night at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field to sweep their MIAA Tournament first round series. With the win, the Mules advance to the MIAA Tournament Final Four next Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas.
    The Lopers (29-21) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single from Connor Messinger, a second run came across when the ball was misplayed in right field. The Mules (30-20) answered right back with three runs of their own in the bottom half. Derek Cornell drove in the first run of the game with a single through the right side of the infield, it was his sixth RBI of the series. Jackson Schnurbusch added a two-run single to put UCM in front.
    The Lopers went back in front in the fifth on Anthony Pacheco's two-run single to center, but the Mules tied the game in the bottom half on Dusty Maas' RBI double down the left field line.
    Nebraska-Kearney once again seized the lead on a Dillon Schroeder RBI double in the sixth to lead 5-4.
    Bennett Oliver drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh and tied the game when he came all the way around from first to score on Dylan Hanson's pinch-hit double down the left field line. Hanson scored when Schnurbusch's sacrifice bunt attempt was thrown in to right field to give UCM a 6-5 lead. The Mules tacked on another run when Schnurbusch scored on a squeeze bunt by Colton Hilbrenner to make it 7-5.
    That was more than enough for Jake Heissler (6-1) who pitched three innings of perfect relief. He struck out five of the nine batters he faced to earn the win. Starter Ricky Rivera allowed five runs, only two earned, on 11 hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked one.
    Chayse Gulzow (1-3) took the loss for UNK after allowing three runs, one earned, on one hit in one-third of an inning of work.
    The Mules advance to the MIAA Tournament Final Four in Kansas City, Kansas next Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at CommunityAmerica Ballpark where they will face second-seeded Emporia State.

Mules in the MIAA Tournament
• The Mules are 3-4 in the MIAA Tournament since the league went to the current best-of-three first round format after sweeping Nebraska-Kearney in the first round.
• It is the first series win for UCM under the current format.
• The Mules are 15-4 in MIAA Tournament games played at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas.
• UCM has captured 20 MIAA Tournament titles overall, including 16 of the last 21 years.
• The Mules' last MIAA Tournament crown was in the 2012 season.

Mules in MIAA play
• The Mules finished the season 23-13 in MIAA play under first-year head coach Kyle Crookes after dropping three out of four games at Lindenwood over the weekend.
• The Mules were 32-8 in conference play last year as they captured the 24th MIAA Regular Season championship in program history and the 16th in the last 21 seasons.

Mules in non-conference action
• The Mules are 7-7 in non-conference games this season after sweeping the first round tournament series against Nebraska-Kearney last weekend.
• UCM was 3-8 in non-conference games last season.

The Mules at home
• The Mules are 15-5 at home this season after their two-game sweep of Nebraska-Kearney last weekend.
• UCM was 18-5 at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field last year.
• The Mules are 755-149-1 (.835) in 905 games played in this, their 40th season playing home games at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.

Mules on the road
• The Mules went 12-13 on the road this season. They dropped their final three games of the season at Lindenwood.
• The Mules were 15-9 on the road last season.

Mules at neutral sites
• The Mules are 3-2 in neutral site games this season after beating Lincoln in Magnolia, Arkansas back on February 14.
• UCM was 2-2 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas to open the season.

Three-Bagger
• Senior outfielder Trevor Jones leads the team and has set a new career-high with six triples this season. That total ranks 11th in a single-season in school history.
• His 12 career triples are tied for the seventh most in program history with Clabe Gaines (2001-02) and Brian McBryde (2005-08). He is one triple shy of sixth place and three shy of fourth place all-time at UCM.

Crookes era underway
• The Mules are 30-20 (.600) in Kyle Crookes' first season as head coach of the Central Missouri program.
• The Mules were 71-29 in his 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
• In the 60th season of UCM baseball the Mules have compiled a 1,789-706-9 (.716) record in 2,504 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 24 MIAA championships, 16 regional titles and two national championships.

Mules Baseball by the Numbers
• 27 NCAA Regional Appearances (20 of the last 21 years)
• 24 MIAA Titles (16 of the last 21)
• 20 MIAA Tournament Titles (16 of the last 21)
• 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 2000s
• The Central Missouri baseball program has had unprecedented success in the last 25 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 758-195 (.795) since the year 2000. An average of 47 wins per season over the last 15 years.

A Tradition of Excellence in Athletics
• Following the winter sports seasons, Central Missouri has won a combined 203 MIAA regular-season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• During the 2013-14 year, UCM captured seven MIAA regular season titles, the most of any school in one season in league history, and the second time Central Missouri has accomplished the feat.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 146 MIAA championships, more than any other league school.
• Central Missouri has won seven national championships since 1980 (men's and women's basketball in 1984, baseball in 1994 and 2003, women's bowling in 2003, men's basketball in 2014 and women's indoor track & field in 2015) and nine national championships overall.

A Tradition of Excellence in the Classroom
• Central Missouri had 220 student-athletes named to the 2013-14 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 41 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.
• 17 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• UCM had 12 student-athletes earn Academic All-Region awards in their respective sports with seven of those earning CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.

Upcoming
• If the Mules beat Emporia State, they will play at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 8 against the winner of Missouri Southern and Washburn. If they lose, they will play the loser of that game at 6 p.m. Thursday night in an elimination game.