Kansas City, Mo. - The Central Methodist Baseball program is ranked No. 21 in the third edition of the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 poll, which was released by the national office.
MidAmerica Nazarene and Grand View are the other two Heart programs featured, each receiving votes.
Since the release of the poll, Central has accumulated a 20-12 overall record and a 14-6 mark in the Heart of America. In conference play, the Eagles have won four consecutive Heart series, including a four-game sweep over Baker in the conference over back in early March.
To date, the Eagles currently sit in third place in the Heart of America Regular Season standings.
Central hosts Missouri Valley College for a crucial four-game weekend series beginning Saturday, March 12 at Estes Field. The first pitch of game one is set for 1:00 p.m.
To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 poll, please see below.
Rating Methodology
- The rating was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing the NAIA's baseball conferences.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each rater's 30-team ballot. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second place, and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed, and the team's ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
- Teams that receive only one point on the ballot are not considered "receiving votes."
| RANK | LAST TIME | INSTITUTION [FIRST PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | LSU Shreveport (La.) [18] | 33-0 | 498 |
| 2 | 3 | Georgia Gwinnett | 30-3 | 482 |
| 3 | 5 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 27-5 | 452 |
| 4 | 6 | Hope International (Calif.) | 29-6 | 445 |
| 5 | 2 | Tennessee Wesleyan | 26-9 | 443 |
| 6 | 4 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 28-6 | 416 |
| 7 | 8 | William Carey (Miss.) | 25-7 | 380 |
| 8 | 7 | Webber International (Fla.) | 26-8 | 379 |
| 9 | 9 | Cumberlands (Ky) | 28-6 | 378 |
| 10 | 13 | Taylor (Ind.) | 28-5 | 373 |
| 11 | 14 | Indiana Southeast | 23-9 | 313 |
| 12 | T-11 | Loyola (La.) | 25-9 | 309 |
| 13 | 15 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 25-7 | 302 |
| 14 | T-11 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 30-5 | 286 |
| 15 | 10 | Houston-Victoria (Texas) | 29-7 | 282 |
| 16 | 16 | Arizona Christian | 28-8-1 | 267 |
| 17 | 22 | Concordia (Neb.) | 20-8 | 218 |
| 18 | 19 | Johnson (Tenn.) | 24-8 | 202 |
| 19 | 21 | Ottawa (Kan.) | 29-6 | 182 |
| 20 | 18 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 26-11 | 172 |
| 21 | 24 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 20-10 | 147 |
| 22 | RV | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 21-13 | 146 |
| T-23 | 17 | Keiser (Fla.) | 23-6 | 139 |
| T-23 | 23 | Missouri Baptist | 24-9 | 139 |
| 25 | RV | Columbia (Mo.) | 26-5 | 103 |
Dropped from Top 25: Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), The Master's (Calif.)
Receiving Votes: Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 102, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 74, British Columbia 64, Campbellsville (Ky.) 58, Bellevue (Neb.) 40, Cumberland (Tenn.) 28, Abraham Baldwin (Ga.) 25, The Master's (Calif.) 16, Science and Arts (Okla.) 13, Bushnell (Ore.) 9, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 7, Jamestown (N.D.) 6, Grand View (Iowa) 5, OUAZ (Ariz.) 5, Doane (Neb.) 4, Northwestern Ohio 2.
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