KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Baptist University baseball will open its inaugural season in the Heart of America Athletic Conference with national recognition, earning a No. 12 national ranking in the 2025–26 GoRout NAIA Baseball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll, released Wednesday by the NAIA.

MBU shares the No. 12 position with Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

The Spartans enter the new campaign following a historic 2024–25 season in which they finished 42–11 overall and 31–5 in American Midwest Conference play. Missouri Baptist claimed both the AMC regular-season title and the AMC Tournament championship, advancing to the NAIA Opening Round and finishing 2–2, just two wins shy of reaching the Avista NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho.

This year marks Missouri Baptist's first season competing in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, further elevating the program's national profile and aligning it with one of the NAIA's most competitive baseball leagues.

The preseason poll is the lone fall edition of the Top 25. The first regular-season poll will be released Wednesday, March 4.

The full NAIA release can be read here.

MBU will announce its full 2025–26 schedule at a later date.