Kansas City, Mo. - The Central Methodist baseball team made history Wednesday afternoon, as the national office released the latest edition of the NAIA Baseball Coaches Top 25 Poll.
Central landed at No. 4, the highest national ranking in program history. The previous best was No. 5, which the Eagles have held last two weeks and also during the 2017 season.
The only other Heart programs featured in the Top 25 are No. 24 Benedictine and (RV) Clarke. Central currently boasts an overall record of 23-3 and an impressive 10-1 mark in conference action, putting the Eagles in first place in the Heart.
As a team, the Eagles are currently ranked in the Top 10 in five different national statistical categories including; No. 3 in batting average (0.363), No. 6 in slugging percentage (0.621), No. 7 in earned run average (3.280), No. 9 in opposing batting average (0.225), and No. 10 in home runs/game (1.615).
Senior ace Mason Schwellenbach leads the pitching staff, as the Saginaw, Mich. native currently holds a 6-1 mark with a 2.37 earned run average through 37 innings pitched. Junior Nick Merkel boasts the lowest earned run average among starting pitchers on the CMU staff at 2.23 through 36.1 innings.
Sergio Macias has hit .417 with 40 hits, seven doubles, and eight home runs, and a .740 slugging percentage. Senior first basemen Logan Haring continues to chase history as he is now just seven hits shy of breaking Head Coach Nate Breland's all-time career hit record of 241, a mark which has stood for 15 years. Haring currently leads the offense in home runs, doubles, and walks.
CMU will travel to Missouri Valley College for a four-game series against the Vikings beginning on Friday, April 2nd at 1:00 p.m. in Marshall, Mo.
To view the complete Top-25 Poll, please see below.
2021 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll 2 (March 31, 2021)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Tennessee Wesleyan [17] | 26-2 | 528 |
| 2 | 2 | Southeastern (Fla.) [2] | 29-3 | 513 |
| 3 | 3 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 26-5 | 486 |
| 4 | 5 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 23-3 | 478 |
| 5 | 6 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 15-2 | 450 |
| 6 | 4 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 27-7 | 424 |
| 7 | 9 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 22-2 | 422 |
| 8 | 8 | Keiser (Fla.) | 28-6 | 413 |
| 9 | 7 | Georgia Gwinnett | 21-7 | 410 |
| 10 | 16 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 22-3 | 389 |
| 11 | 11 | Middle Georgia State | 21-9 | 350 |
| 12 | 10 | Hope International (Calif.) | 18-10 | 339 |
| 13 | 15 | Bryan (Tenn.) | 21-8 | 319 |
| 14 | 12 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 21-12 | 288 |
| 15 | 22 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 16-7 | 275 |
| 16 | 23 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 20-9 | 247 |
| 17 | 18 | Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) | 14-7 | 244 |
| 18 | 20 | Taylor (Ind.) | 24-7 | 226 |
| 19 | 17 | McPherson (Kan.) | 21-5 | 207 |
| 20 | 24 | Concordia (Neb.) | 20-3 | 184 |
| 21 | NR | Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | 20-9 | 157 |
| 22 | NR | Loyola (La.) | 20-8 | 156 |
| 23 | RV | Indiana Wesleyan | 25-9 | 150 |
| 24 | RV | Benedictine (Kan.) | 21-4 | 146 |
| 25 | 19 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 15-14 | 132 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Webber International (Fla.), Oklahoma City, LSU Shreveport (La.), William Carey (Miss.)
Others Receiving Votes: Webber International (Fla.) 100, Indiana Southeast (Ind.) 96, Oklahoma City 80, Westmont (Calif.) 51, Columbia (Mo.) 25, Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 22, Mobile (Ala.) 21, Point (Ga.) 20, Bellevue (Neb.) 20, LSU Shreveport (La.) 15, Asbury (Ky.) 10, Clarke (Iowa) 9, Huntington (Ind.) 8, Concordia (Mich.) 7, William Carey (Miss.) 3.
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