The No. 25-ranked Central Methodist baseball opened the 2026 season with a four-game split at the Cajun Collision in Sterlington, La., highlighted by a 4-3 win over top-ranked LSU Shreveport that snapped the defending national champions’ 65-game winning streak.

Game 1

Texas A&M Texarkana 10

No. 25 Central Methodist 3

The Eagles opened the tournament on Friday with a 10-3 loss to Texas A&M Texarkana after leading 3-0 early. Stone Vacek put CMU on the board in the second inning with an RBI single to right that scored Dariel Rios, and the Eagles added solo home runs from Sean Mitchell in the fourth and Ryan Malzahn in the fifth. Starter Gavin Whitehurst worked five innings, allowing two earned runs while striking out five, but the Warriors tied the game with a three-run fifth inning that was sparked by an error. Texas A&M Texarkana then took control in a seven-run sixth, keyed by a three-run homer from CJ Richard and two-run singles by Austin Kerns and Colton Wombles. Mitchell went 2-for-3 with a home run, and Malzahn also homered.

Game 2

Louisiana Christian 5

No. 25 Central Methodist 3

Central Methodist responded in Friday’s nightcap, edging LSU Shreveport 4-3 behind a complete-game effort from Westin Walls. The Eagles built a 2-0 lead in the third on an RBI sacrifice fly by Zeb Wede and an RBI single by Jordan Vazquez, and Simon “JJ” Yoakum IV added a solo homer in the fourth to make it 3-1. LSU Shreveport tied it in the sixth on a two-run homer by Makana Olaso, but CMU answered in the seventh when Joshua Smith scored on a wild pitch for the go-ahead run.

Walls allowed three runs on five hits, struck out eight and earned his first win of the season as the Eagles played error-free defense behind him.

Yoakum, Vazquez and Wede each drove in a run, while Whitehurst had two hits and stole two bases as CMU totaled seven hits and four swiped bags.

Game 3

No. 25 Central Methodist 6

Science and Arts 5

On Sunday, Central Methodist rallied late for a 6-5 win over Science and Arts before falling 5-3 to Louisiana Christian in the finale.

Against the Drovers, CMU tied the game in the fourth on an RBI single from Wede, then scored twice in the fifth without a hit as Joshua Smith scored on a balk and Justin Smith scored on a passed ball.

Science and Arts regained the lead with consecutive home runs in the sixth and added another solo shot in the seventh to go up 5-3. The Eagles pulled even in the bottom of the seventh when Malzahn drove in two runs on a pop-up that fell into shallow right field. Yoakum then scored the winning run on a passed ball to complete the walk-off comeback.

Riley Schnieders earned the win with 1.1 innings of relief as CMU drew five walks and finished with two hits.

Game 4

Louisiana Christian 5

No. 25 Central Methodist 3

In the final game, Louisiana Christian scored first on a solo homer by Braden McLin, but Central answered with an RBI single from Vazquez and took a 2-1 lead later in the inning on a passed ball.

Yoakum homered in the third to extend the Eagles’ lead to 3-1 before the Wildcats tied it in the fourth on RBI hits from Caleb Brown and Drake Aldridge.

Louisiana Christian pushed across two runs in the seventh, one on a bases-loaded walk and another on an RBI single by Matthew Cody, to secure the 5-3 win. Kade Linn went the distance for the Wildcats, striking out 12 while allowing three runs.

Vazquez had two hits and an RBI for the Eagles, while Yoakum scored twice and homered.

Central Methodist is scheduled to debut at home tomorrow (Thursday) against No. 23 Columbia College for a single nine-inning game. The first pitch is at 1 p.m. at Estes Field.