Matchup History
East Stroudsburg and Central Missouri have met once before. Then known as Central Missouri State, the Mules defeated the Warriors 23-3 on March 7, 2005, in Fort Myers, Florida.
DII Baseball Championship Results
East Stroudsburg and Central Missouri will meet in the losers bracket after both teams earned wins over Northwood but fell to Lenoir-Rhyne.
Central Missouri defeated Northwood in dramatic fashion. The Mules jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Northwood tied the game with two runs in the eighth, but Central Missouri answered with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning to secure the win.
In their second game, Lenoir-Rhyne exploded for six runs in the first inning to take an early lead. Central Missouri rallied to cut the deficit to 7-5, but the Bears extended their lead to 11-5. The Mules made it a two-run game again in the eighth, 11-9, but could not complete the comeback.
Scouting Central Missouri
Central Missouri is no stranger to this stage, making its 21st NCAA Championship appearance. The Mules are appearing in back-to-back tournaments and have now qualified five times since 2015.
Senior outfielder Jacob Steele has earned All-America honors from three major organizations this postseason: ABCA/Rawlings, NCBWA, and D2CCA. Steele has posted a .384/.480/.646 slash line in 229 at-bats, tallying 88 hits—including 31 for extra bases. He ranks third on the team with 13 home runs, has stolen 11 bases in 14 attempts, and has committed just two errors in 170 chances.
Among qualified hitters, Steele is one of four Mules with an OPS over 1.000. He ranks second on the team behind Vance Tobol, who leads the club with a 1.171 OPS, highlighted by a .724 slugging percentage and 39 extra-base hits, including 20 home runs. Tobol earned honorable mention All-America honors from the NCBWA.
Chase Heath ranks third on the team with a 1.100 OPS, followed by Dayvin Johnson at 1.081. Johnson was named to the D2CCA All-America Third Team.
On the mound, Central Missouri’s primary starters are Jack Scott (75.1 innings, 14 starts), Jack Kreisman (72.1 innings, 15 starts), and Evan O’Toole (51.1 innings, 11 starts). JD McReynolds has also thrown 51.1 innings and has been a standout, posting a 1.40 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. His performance earned him second-team All-America recognition from the NCBWA.
Up Next
The winner of this game will face No. 3 seed Lenoir-Rhyne in a rematch on Wednesday, June 4, at 1:30 p.m. The team would need to defeat the Bears on both Wednesday and Thursday to advance to the championship final.
