GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The defending MIAA Regular Season and Central Region Champion, and 2025 National Runner-Up Central Missouri Mules Baseball team will begin the 2026 season ranked No. 2 in both the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and D2 Baseball Preseason Polls. 

The Mules are coming off a 2025 season in which they posted an overall record of 48-14 and went 29-7 in MIAA conference action. Central Missouri captured the program's 31st MIAA Regular Season Championship and 21st NCAA-II Regional Title. UCM advanced all the way to the 2025 National Championship Game at the NCAA-II College World Series in Cary, N.C., before ultimately finishing as the National Runner-Up to Tampa. 

Defending National Champion Tampa was ranked number one in both preseason polls, while the Mules were number two in both polls. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) rounded out the top three in third in the ABCA Preseason Poll, while East Stroudsburg was third in the D2 Baseball Preseason Poll. 

The Mules open their 2026 season at the Houston Winter Invitational Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at Daikin Park in Houston, Texas.