WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Feb. 4, 2021) - The University of Central Missouri Mules Baseball season started last week in Houston. The Mules got off to a 3-1 start playing at Minute Maid Park. The early success is no surprise as the Mules are ranked third in a pair of recently released preseason polls and rankings. 

In the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) the 19 writers had the Mules third with 420 points. That's just 16 points behind second place and 48 points behind first place. Angelo State tops the poll while Tampa comes in second. North Greenville and Colorado Mesa round out the top-five. The only other MIAA team in the top-25 is Central Oklahoma who ranks 11th. 

In the NCAA rankings put together by Wayne Cavadi, he also has the Mules third after having them as the No. 1 team in the final 2020 rankings. Cavadi's top-five teams are the same as the writer's with a change at the top. He has Colorado-Mesa picked first, Angelo State second and North Greenville and Tampa also in the top-five. The Mules are the only top-25 team according to Cavadi. 

Central Missouri is back on the field for a three-game weekend set Feb. 19-21 against Davenport at Crane Stadium.