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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The #2 Central Missouri Mules rallied from four down in the final three innings to gain the series sweep over the Truman Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon in Kirksville. The Mules won the opener 10-1 before scoring twice in the 11th inning to defeat Truman 10-8.
 
Game 4 Recap | Box Score
Truman jumped out to a 7-3 lead over the Mules highlighted by Paul Trenhaile's first collegiate home run, a two-run shot and a three run fourth inning but Central got a grand slam with two-outs in the seventh by Kevin Gratza and two in the top of the 11th to pull out a 10-8 win for the series sweep. Jarod Hahn went 3-for-5 and Zak Larkin, Steven Rose, Devon Myers and Daniel Jewett all had multi-hit games in the Bulldog 14-hit outburst. Paul McMahon pitched six and a third before issuing a walk to Bret Schwartz in the seventh. Chris Allard (0-1) got John Oropeza looking for out two but a single followed by a hit batsmen led to the dramatic home run by Gratza. Central pushed across a go-ahead run in the eighth but Truman tied the game with their own theatrics in the bottom of the ninth. A leadoff walk and stolen base by Rose brought Jewett to the plate with two gone. Jewett flew a ball that just missed the diving glove of the Central centerfielder allowing Rose to tie things up at eight. Chase Graskewicz delivered the two-out, two run single in the 11th that held up for the winner.  
 
Game 3 Recap | Box Score
Central Missouri 10, Truman 1
The Mules took advantage of 11 walks and four Bulldog errors to win 10-1 in day two's opener. Bret Schwartz and John Oropeza each collected a pair of hits for Central, with Oropeza driving in three. Of the 10 Mule runs scored, half reached via the walk or error. Zak Larkin had an RBI single for the Bulldogs as Kyle Schuyler (2-0) pitched five innings, striking out four for the victory.

 
Game 2 Recap | Box Score
Central Missouri 6, Truman 0
A pair of leadoff walks in the fourth and a two-run homer by John Oropeza in the fifth was all Central needed in downing the Bulldogs 6-0. Logan Siegler (1-2) pitched into the seventh but struggled with control as he issued four walks and hit another five batters as the Mules took both ends of the doubleheader. Devon Myers had a pair of hits for the 'Dogs including a double in the first inning. Kyle Jackson (2-0) allowed three hits and struck out five to pick up the win.
 
Game 1 Recap | Box Score
Central Missouri 13, Truman 1
Chase Graskewicz singled in the go-ahead run to break a 1-1 score in the top of the sixth inning and then the Mules exploded for 11 runs in the top of the seventh to take game one 13-1. The Bulldogs took an early 1-0 lead on Pete Jurich's RBI single in the first that scored Zak Larkin and Tyler Stefan (0-3) struck out five while allowing just one earned run through five and a third innings.


Series Preview:
The Truman Baseball team will open up their home slate with a 10-game stretch beginning on Friday with defending conference champion and nationally ranked University of Central Missouri. The series has been changed to a pair of doubleheaders beginning at noon on both Friday and Saturday.

The Bulldogs have been led offensively by a pair of freshmen. Jarod Hahn is hitting .370 with a double and three runs scored while entering the weekend series on a five-game hitting streak. Zak Larkin is second on the team with a .350 average and leads the team with six runs scored.

On the mound, Truman has struggled to find consistency though the first eight games. Bulldog hurlers have walked 34 while striking out 33. Last season, the staff walked 2.4 batters per game while striking out 5.6 per outing, this year
Truman pitchers are issuing 4.25 walks per game while fanning 4.1.

Four pitchers with multiple appearances have sub 4.00 ERAs led by freshman Bret Gerstner with a 1.12 ERA in three outings. Junior Logan Siegler leads the staff with 10 innings pitched and eight strikeouts.

The Bulldogs are coming off a four-game series sweep by Missouri Southern in Joplin. Senior Devon Myers moved into the Truman top five all-time in doubles and RBIs while senior pitcher Tyler Stefan moved to within two strikeouts of cracking the top 10 all-time. Truman hit .308 in the series but committed 15 errors and walking 23. Larkin and Hahn both hit over .500 for the series and Daniel Jewett hit .417.

Central Missouri took three of four in their series opener with Missouri Western last weekend. The Mules are ranked second in the country by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and are coming off an appearance in the Division II World Series last season.

The Mules are entering the series hitting .339 as team and have stolen 25 bases through their first eight games. Albert Selanders paces the attack with a .500 batting average while all but one Central starter has multiple stolen bases.
Pitching-wise, Central's staff has a 2.51 ERA with 62 strikeouts to 19 walks. Opposing hitters are hitting .253. Chris Fitzpatrick has allowed just two runs, none earned in 10 innings pitched, however opponent batting average against him is .300.

Series Schedule:
The four-game series will begin Friday at noon with a doubleheader and continue on Saturday at noon with a twinbill. The series was originally scheduled to be played over three days but was altered due to the projected forecast of rain moving in on Saturday night and into Sunday. The first game of each doubleheader is scheduled for seven innings with a nine-inning game to follow. Shall the first game go into extra innings, the second game will revert to a seven inning contest.

Milestone Watch

• Catcher Devon Myers is 29 hits away from Truman's all-time hit record of 191 held by Patrick Hardin (2002-05). He is currently seventh and will tie Adam Davis (2003-06) with 13 more hits.
• Myers is three runs scored from the top 10 in Truman history. He has 84 entering this weekend. He is also eight doubles away from tying the Truman record of 40 held by Mike Kubinski (1997-00) and is currently fifth in RBIs with 95. He will next pass Tony Vandemore at 96 RBIs.
• Steven Rose has 148 career hits, 81 runs scored, seven triples (fourth all-time) and 536 career at bats which is seventh all-time.
• Pitcher Tyler Stefan entered the top 10 all-time with his 46th appearance last weekend. Stefan is two innings away and two strikeouts from entering the top ten in those categories. He has 167.1 inning pitched and 115 career strikeouts.

Bulldog Bites:

• Truman is hitting .264 as a team this season with 11 extra base hits (all doubles). Last season, the Bulldogs hit .255 with 77 extra base hits.  The team had 59 doubles, nine triples and nine home runs to go with 51 stolen bases.
• The Bulldogs are slightly above 50% in stolen base attempts going 6-of-11 this season. As a team last year, the Bulldogs were 62% successful in stolen base attempts (51-of-82).
• The pitching staff has an 8.51 earned run average through eight games. Opponents are hitting .306 with 22 extra base hits, including five round trippers. In 2011, the staff had a 4.96 earned run average through 48 games.  Opponents hit .290 with 100 extra base hits (62 doubles, 13 triples and 25 home runs.).
• Opponents are scoring 9.38 runs per game with 4.25 coming when they reach base either through walk, error or hit by pitch. When reaching by walk, error or hit by pitch, opposing players are scoring 52% of the time.
• Truman is scoring 4.00 runs per game with 2.13 coming when reaching by walk, error or hit by pitch and 40% scoring when reaching by those means (17-of-43).

Truman vs. Central Missouri:
April 15, 1989 was the last time Truman was able to post a “W” over Central Missouri on the baseball diamond. The Mules have won 76 straight games over the Bulldogs.

Last year in Warrensburg, Central won games by scores of 4-0, 12-2, 5-3 and 4-3. Senior Kenny Swanson went out in his final series hitting .375 against the Mules while Steven Rose was 4-of-12 during the set. As a team though, Truman hit .189 and committed 10 errors during the final weekend of the 2011 regular season.

Rose has hit .316 in 12 games against the Mules with four doubles and five runs batted in. Devon Myers has a career .267 mark against Central and has a blistering .588 series (10-of-17) with two home runs and five RBIs in the 2010 home stand against the Mules.

Up Next:
Truman will continue the home stand with a four-game series with Washburn University next weekend. The series is scheduled for the three-day format with Friday's nine-inning game slated for 3:00 p.m.