FAYETTE, Mo. - Nate Breland, head coach of the Central Methodist University baseball team, has released the program's official schedule for the 2020 season. The team is coming off of its fourth-consecutive NAIA National Tournament Opening Round appearance and will return a majority of key players from last year's successful team.

The tough schedule will feature 11 games against teams that qualified for the 2019 NAIA National Championship Opening Round and just five weekends of play schedule at home.

"I'm really looking forward to the 2020 season," stated Breland. "We've got a challenging schedule and I believe that it will push us to play our best baseball every day."

The program will open play at the tail end of the winter season with a stint of games down south, beginning with a trip to San Antonio in late-January for a weekend of play against Our Lady of the Lake (Tex.). They will then face their first ranked opponents of the season on the following weekend in Oklahoma with a pair of doubleheaders against No. 6 Bellevue and No. 13 Oklahoma City.

Opening weekend at Estes Field is set for February 22 with a weekend series against Briar Cliff University before starting conference play. The Eagles will open Heart play with a trip to Graceland in late-February before hosting Peru State for their first home conference matchup in early March. The squad will crack open divisional play by hosting Evangel in mid-March with a three-game series. Central will wrap up play at home on Tuesday, April 21, with a doubleheader against Park University before closing the season with a pair of north division opponents on the road.

Postseason play will be held at US Baseball Park (Ozark, Mo.), beginning on April 30 and ending on May 4. To view the 2020 schedule in its entirety, click HERE.