WEEKEND INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 1-2 (0-0 GAC)	#13 CENTRAL MISSOURI MULES 1-2 (0-0 MIAA)
Friday, February 10 | 3 p.m. Crain Stadium | Warrensburg, Mo. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO ($) Saturday, February 11 | Noon | DH Crain Stadium | Warrensburg, Mo. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO ($) Sunday, February 12 | Noon Crain Stadium | Warrensburg, Mo. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO ($)

 

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FIRST PITCH
The Arkansas Tech baseball team is set to continue its gauntlet of an early-season schedule as they will head northward for a four-game weekend series against preseason No. 13-ranked Central Missouri.
 
The series is slated to begin with a single game on Friday, February 10 at 3 p.m. The following day will feature a doubleheader starting at Noon. The first game of the twinbill is scheduled to be a seven-inning game with the second being a traditional nine-inning affair. The series will then close out on Super Sunday with a single game tabbed to begin at Noon.
 
The Wonder Boys and Mules have met 23 times before their clash this weekend. UCM holds a 15-8 lead in the series and has won five-straight. The last time they met was back in in the 2021 NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament in Warrensburg.
 

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TALKING TECH
The Wonder Boys enter their second weekend of the season at 1-2 after opening their year at the Houston Winter Invitational. At the annual showcase played at Minute Maid Park, the home stadium of MLB's Houston Astros, the Wonder Boys started off great with a 5-0 shutout win over (RV) Chico State and then nearly handed No. 1-ranked North Greenville an upset win before falling to the defending National Champions, 11-9. The final game of the weekend got away from the Wonder Boys as No. 36-ranked Montevallo won 15-0 in seven innings.
 
Through that opening weekend of play, the Wonder Boys are hitting .191 as a team (17-for-89) with 14 runs scored, two doubles, a triple and a home run. Sam Stephenson currently leads the team in batting average at .444 (4-for-9). He also has the team's triple and one of their two doubles. Logan Schwenke has accounted for the team's lone homer, a grand slam against North Greenville, and leads the team in RBIs with five.
 
On the mound, the Wonder Boys have a team ERA of 8.63 and have struck out 27 batters in 24.0 innings of work.
 
John Gray, Emilano Mata and Jack Rector made starts over Tech's opening weekend and figure to be a part of this weekend's rotation as well. Gray had the best start among starters, going 4.0 innings without giving up a run and striking out seven.
 
12 other pitchers saw action over the first weekend of the season. Gerald Pintarich was the most effective in relief with 4.0 innings of shutout baseball aided by a team-high nine strikeouts. Pintarich would earn the win in his relief outing and went on to be named the GAC Pitcher of the Week for his efforts against Chico State.
 
Leading the Wonder Boys once more is Dave Dawson. The all-time winningest coach in Tech Baseball history, Dawson enters his 14th year in the dugout for the Wonder Boys. In his previous 13 seasons, Dawson has guided amassed a 380-269 record. He has also had six seasons with 30 or more wins which includes the 2014 season in which he led the team a program-record 44 wins and hosting rights for that year's Central Region Tournament.
 
Overall, Dawson is in his 18th year as a head baseball coach at the collegiate level as he spent four years as head coach at Kansas Wesleyan and totaled 118 wins. His combined win total at Tech and Kansas Wesleyan put Dawson on the doorstep of 500 with 499 victories to his name.
 

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SCOUTING CENTRAL MISSOURI
The No. 13-ranked Mules enter play 1-2 overall after opening their 2023 season at the Houston Winter Invitationals with a win against Flagler and losses to No. 1-ranked North Greenville and No. 36-ranked Montevallo.
 
Offensively, the Mules are hitting .302 as a team (29-for-96) with 18 runs scored, four doubles, one triple and four home runs. After the first weekend of action, the Mules have four players hitting .400 or better with Carter Young leading the way at .600 (6-for-10). Young has half of the team's doubles. John Prudhom has provided the most power thus far with three homers and seven RBIs to lead the team in both.
 
On the mound, the Mules have a 9.00 team ERA and have struck out 17 batters in 25.0 innings of work.
 
The Mules used a weekend rotation of Jacob Merithew, Grayson Senn and Conner Wolf in Houston. None of those starters pitched more than 2.0 innings. All told, the Mules used 17 pitchers during opening weekend and just two arms pitched more than 2.0 innings.
 
The Mules are led by Kyle Crookes, who is in his ninth season at UCM. In his time, Crookes has won 30 or more games every year (with the exception of the COVID-shortened 2020 season – UCM was off to a 20-3 start) and four times has won over 40 games. Overall, Crookes has amassed a 304-110 record at UCM, making him the third-winningest coach at Central Missouri.