After its best season in program history, the Central Methodist baseball team finished the year at No. 2 in the NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Postseason Poll, as announced by the national office Wednesday morning.

The No. 2 national ranking is the highest finish of any CMU Baseball program in its history.

Fellow Heart institution MidAmerica Nazarene also landed in the Top 25 poll, as the Pioneers finished the season ranked No. 24. Benedictine College was also featured for receiving votes.

Central concluded the 2021 season as the regular season and conference tournament champion and a national runner-up finish at the World Series, the best postseason finish of any CMU baseball team ever.

The Eagles also set program bests in wins (49), winning percentage (.859), team batting average (.341), home runs (87), team earned run average (3.33), and strikeouts (473) during the 2021 campaign. Central also posted a 3-2 overall record in its first-ever World Series appearance.

Central garnered the Heart Coach of the Year in Coach Nate Breland, Player of the Year in senior Sergio Macias, and Pitcher of the Year, junior Nick Merkel. Three Eagles were recognized as NAIA All-Americans, as Macias led the way with a first team selection, while Merkel earned second team honors, and senior Mason Schwellenbach was tabbed as an Honorable Mention All-America selection for the second time in his career.

As a team, the Eagles finished in the Top 10 nationally in both earned run average (No. 5 - 3.440) and batting average (No.9 - 0.338).