Kansas City, Mo. - After opening the 2021 campaign with a 16-2 overall record, the Central Methodist baseball program lands at No. 5 in the first edition of the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top-25 Poll, as announced by the national office Wednesday morning.
The Eagles, who have opened up conference play with a perfect 3-0 mark, matched their highest ranking in program history, as they also landed at No. 5 on April 18, 2017.
Central is the only member from the Heart ranked in the Top-25, while both MidAmerica Nazarene and Benedictine College are recieving votes. Tennessee Wesleyan jumps four spots to No. 1, followed by Southeastern (Fla.), Cumberlands (Ky.) and Vanguard (Calif.).
The Eagles have won nine of their last 10 games including four straight doubleheaders and/or series. The CMU pitching staff is led by NAIA All-American Mason Schwellenbach, who has posted a perfect 5-0 record through 28 innings pitched including a team high 0.64 earned run average.
Following Schwellenbach is junior Nick Merkel, and Kenny Otero. Together the trio has combined for a 12-0 mark and an earned run average of 1.57 through 80 complete innings.
Senior first basemen Logan Haring continues to rewrite the CMU record books, as the DeKalb, Ill. native now owns the program records in career doubles (49) and at-bats (648). He is actively pursuing the career hits record, currently held by Head Coach Nate Breland (241). Haring is second all-time with 226 career hits.
As a team, Central is ranked in the Top-10 in five different statistical categories including No. 3 in double/game (2.56), slugging percentage (0.650), No. 6 in home runs/game (1.89), batting average (0.359), and No. 8 in earned run average (2.80).
To view the complete Top-25 Poll, please see below.
2021 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll 1 (March 17, 2021)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 5 | Tennessee Wesleyan [16] | 21-0 | 527 |
| 2 | 1 | Southeastern (Fla.) [13] | 24-1 | 514 |
| 3 | 8 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 19-3 | 484 |
| 4 | 18 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 23-3 | 468 |
| 5 | 10 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 16-2 | 467 |
| 6 | 7 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 10-1 | 441 |
| 7 | 3 | Georgia Gwinnett | 16-6 | 433 |
| 8 | 15 | Keiser (Fla.) | 20-6 | 394 |
| 9 | 24 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 14-2 | 390 |
| 10 | 23 | Hope International (Calif.) | 14-6 | 349 |
| 11 | 22 | Middle Georgia State | 17-6 | 344 |
| 12 | 4 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 15-9 | 325 |
| 13 | 6 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 7-5 | 313 |
| 14 | NR | William Carey (Miss.) | 15-2 | 273 |
| 15 | 21 | Bryan (Tenn.) | 16-7 | 260 |
| 16 | NR | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 16-3 | 257 |
| 17 | NR | McPherson (Kan.) | 16-1 | 239 |
| 18 | 19 | Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) | 14-6 | 227 |
| 19 | 9 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 11-8 | 218 |
| 20 | NR | Taylor (Ind.) | 19-6 | 201 |
| 21 | 16 | Oklahoma City | 12-9 | 192 |
| 22 | 2 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 10-5 | 167 |
| 23 | 17 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 14-8 | 158 |
| 24 | RV | Concordia (Neb.) | 13-2 | 146 |
| 25 | RV | Webber International (Fla.) | 17-9 | 113 |
Dropped from the Top 25: MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), Westmont (Calif.), IU Southeast (Ind.), Mobile (Ala.), Lyon (Ark.), Indiana Tech
Others Receiving Votes: Indiana Wesleyan 110, Bellevue (Neb.) 74, Friends (Kan.) 65, Columbia (Mo.) 43, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 39, Warner (Fla.) 38, Westmont (Calif.) 37, IU Southeast (Ind.) 36, Benedictine (Kan.) 20, Bethel (Tenn.) 17, Huntington (Ind.) 15, Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 13, Point (Ga.) 11, Mobile (Ala.) 6.
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