WEEKEND INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 0-3 (0-0 GAC)	#3 CENTTAL MISSOURI MULES 2-1 (0-0 MIAA)
Friday, February 7 | 1 p.m. (DH) Crane Stadium | Warrensburg, Mo. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO (PPV) Saturday, February 8 | 1 p.m. (DH) Crane Stadium | Warrensburg, Mo. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO (PPV)

FIRST PITCH
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – After opening their 2025 season at the home of the Houston Astros this past weekend, the Arkansas Tech baseball is set to take a trip northward where they will play a four-game series at No. 3-ranked Central Missouri.
 
The series is scheduled to be played over the course of Friday and Saturday with both days featuring doubleheaders starting at 1 p.m.
 
Historically, the Wonder Boys and Mules have met 31 times before their clash this weekend. UCM holds a 21-10 lead in the series.
 

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TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Wonder Boys went 0-3 in their opening weekend of play at the Houston Winter Invitational, but had a pair of one-run losses.
 
Through that opening weekend of play, the Wonder Boys are hitting .231 as a team (25-for-108) with 22 runs scored, two doubles, and three home runs. Christian Olea currently leads the team in batting average at .400 (4-for-10). Sawyer Duddleston hit two of the team's three homers over the weekend and leads the team in RBIs with six.
 
On the mound, the Wonder Boys have a team ERA of 8.31 and have struck out 22 batters in 26.0 innings of work.
 
Cole Dickson, Daniel Hutchison and Jack Rector made starts over Tech's opening weekend and figure to be a part of this weekend's rotation as well. Hutchison was the only starter to factor into a decision. All three combined for 15 strikeouts in 12.0 innings. Rector was responsible for eight of those Ks.
 
10 other pitchers saw action over the first weekend of the season. JT Cafferty, John Gray and Austin Mittlestedt each made multiple appearances in relief.
 
Leading the Wonder Boys once more is Dave Dawson. The all-time winningest coach in Tech Baseball history, Dawson enters his 16th year in the dugout for the Wonder Boys. In his previous 15 seasons, Dawson has guided amassed a 450-314 record. He has also had eight 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 20th 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 have him with a career record of 568-405.
 

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SCOUTING CENTRAL MISSOURI
A perennial national powerhouse program, Central Missouri also opened their 2025 season at the Houston Winter Invitational, serving as the hosts for the 13^th-straight year. At the 2025 edition of the opening weekend showcase, UCM went 2-1 as they defeated No. 18-ranked Ashland, 15-5 in eight innings and took down (rv) Jefferson 11-8. Their loss was to Arkansas-Monticello, 7-5.
 
Offensively, the Mules are hitting .340 as a team (33-for-97) with 31 runs scored, eight doubles, four triples and no home runs. After the first weekend of action, the Mules have four players hitting .375 or better with Isaiah Keller leading the way at .545 (6-for-11). Jacob Steele leads the team in RBIs with eight.  
 
On the mound, the Mules have a 6.58 team ERA and have struck out 22 batters in 26.0 innings of work.
 
The Mules used a weekend rotation of Nathan Hall, Jack Kreisman and Jack Scott in Houston. Hall and Scott pitched 3.0 innings in their stars, while Kreisman went the deepest at 4.2 innings of work. All told, the Mules used 11 pitchers during opening weekend with two relief arms pitching more than 2.0 innings.
 
The Mules are led by Kyle Crookes, who is in his 11th 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 six times has won over 40 games. Overall, Crookes has amassed a 400-134 record at UCM, making him the second-winningest coach at Central Missouri.