SERIES INFORMATION
(rv) ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 1-2 (0-0 GAC)	#2 CENTRAL MISSOURI MULES 2-1 (0-0 MIAA)
Friday, February 6 | 3 p.m. Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field | Warrensburg, Mo. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO ($) Saturday, February 7 | Noon | DH Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field | Warrensburg, Mo. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO ($) Sunday, February 8 | 1 p.m. Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field | Warrensburg, Mo. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO ($)

LEADING OFF
After opening their 2026 season at the Houston Winter Invitational this past weekend, the Arkansas Tech baseball team is set to play a four-game series on the road at No. 2-ranked Central Missouri.
 
The series is scheduled to be played over the course three days with a single game on Friday at 3 p.m., a doubleheader starting at Noon on Saturday and the finale on Sunday starting at 1 p.m.
 
Historically, the Wonder Boys and Mules have met 36 times before their clash this weekend. UCM holds a 25-11 lead in the series.
 

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TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Wonder Boys went 1-2 in their opening weekend of play at the Houston Winter Invitational, dropping their first two games before winning their final game in walk-off fashion.
 
Through that opening weekend of play, the Wonder Boys are hitting .231 as a team (21-for-91) with 15 runs scored, two doubles and one home run. Levi Martin and Kirby Jenkins currently lead the team in batting average at .500 (4-for-8). Martin has also been the early power threat for the Wonder Boys as he leads the team with a 1.000 slugging percentage thanks to a double and a home run. Weston Johnston leads the team in RBIs with five while Jenkins is the team-leader in runs scored with four.
 
On the mound, the Wonder Boys have a team ERA of 7.36 and have struck out 15 batters in 25.2 innings of work.
 
Cole Dickson, Vaughn O'Leary and Creighton Jacobitz made starts over Tech's opening weekend and figure to be a part of this weekend's rotation as well. All three combined for nine strikeouts in 11.0 innings. Dickson had the longest outing in his start, pitching 5.0 innings.
 
Nine other pitchers saw action over the first weekend of the season. John Witt was the only one to make multiple appearances in relief in Houston.
 
Leading the Wonder Boys once more is Dave Dawson. The all-time winningest coach in Tech Baseball history, Dawson enters his 17th year in the dugout for the Wonder Boys. In his previous 16 seasons, Dawson has guided amassed a 483-336 record. He has also had nine 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 21st 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 601-427.
 

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SCOUTING CENTRAL MISSOURI
A perennial national powerhouse program, Central Missouri also opened their 2026 season at the Houston Winter Invitational, serving as the hosts for the 14th-straight year. At this year's edition of the opening weekend showcase, UCM went 2-1 as they defeated (rv) Rollins 10-6 and took down (rv) Ashland, 10-2. Their loss was to No. 10-ranked North Greenville, 15-4 in eight innings.
 
Offensively, the Mules are hitting .283 as a team (26-for-92) with 24 runs scored, two doubles, a triple and no home runs. After the first weekend of action, the Mules have five players hitting .375 or better with Evan Vienhage leading the way at .429 (3-for-7). Veinhage also leads the team in slugging percentage at .714 and RBIs with four.  
 
On the mound, the Mules have a 6.23 team ERA and have struck out 33 batters in 26.0 innings of work.
 
The Mules used a weekend rotation of Sawyer Allen, Greyson Chappel and Jack Scott in Houston. Allen and Chappel pitched 3.0 innings in their starts, while Scott went 2.0 innings on the mound. All told, the Mules used 18 pitchers during opening weekend with only one relief arm pitching more than 2.0 innings. No pitcher appeared in multiple games over opening weekend.
 
The Mules are led by Kyle Crookes, who is in his 12th 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 seven times has won over 40 games. Overall, Crookes has amassed a 448-148 record at UCM, making him the winningest coach at Central Missouri.