With a 7-0 victory Sunday afternoon over Incarnate Word, the Mules (49-8) of Central Missouri have advanced to the World Series in Cary, North Carolina next week at the USA Baseball Training Complex. The Mules won the South Central Regional to earn this spot in the tournament and they are currently ranked 4th in the country.
The Mules are led offensively by All-Region player and MIAA "Player of the Year" Nick DeBiasse, who leads the team in most offensive categories at .460/.554/.760. He's also drove in 57 runs and belted 9 homeruns this season. Tyler Anthony and Tyler Ruch are also helping pace the Mules offensive output this season. Matt Curtis was named the Regional MVP and leads the team on the hill as his unblemished 11-0 record will hopefully continue as they head out east to try and bring home another national championship to Warrensburg, MO.
The Mules are no strangers to success as they have won national championships in 1994 and 2003. They are the winningest NCAA program of the past millenium and have won 15 of the past 18 MIAA regular season championships. They have been to the Division II World Series in 12 of the last 17 years and have finished in the top 5 of the rankings in 8 of the past 11 years.
Head Coach Tom Myers is in his fourth season with the Mules and has amassed a 192-51 record since taking over the Mules a few years ago. This will be the Mules third trip to the World Series in the four years that Myers has been leading the team. He was recently named the "Coach of the Year" in the MIAA for the second year in a row.
The World Series is an eight-team, double-elimination tournament that has the Mules playing the opener at 1pm ET on Saturday, May 28th against the winner of the Central Regional.