LANCASTER, PA – The Johns Hopkins baseball team has been selected as the preseason favorite to repeat as Centennial Conference champions, as announced by the conference Monday. The Blue Jays earned the top spot with 76 points, collecting six of nine possible first-place votes.
Despite returning just two starters from last season's squad that went 17-1 in conference play and advanced to the program's seventh NCAA Division III World Series, Johns Hopkins enters the year ranked 11
th nationally in the
D3Baseball.com Poll and fourth in the ABCA Coaches Poll. The Blue Jays will look to capture their 20
th Centennial Conference title and fourth consecutive championship.
Swarthmore finished second in the poll with 71 points and two first-place votes, followed by Haverford with 64 points and two first-place votes. McDaniel (58) and Franklin & Marshall (54) rounded out the top five.
Johns Hopkins opens the 2026 season on Friday, February 20, against Rutgers-Newark. The Blue Jays face a challenging early schedule, with matchups against Messiah, Cortland, Salisbury, Endicott—which received three first-place votes in the preseason poll—and Rowan, all ranked in the preseason top 15. Johns Hopkins will also square off against Baldwin Wallace, Babson, SUNY Brockport, Chicago and Lebanon Valley, each of which received votes in the
D3Baseball.com Preseason Top 25.
2026 Centennial Conference Preseason Poll
- Johns Hopkins (Six First-Place Votes) – 76 points
- Swarthmore (Two First-Place Votes) – 71 points
- Haverford (Two First-Place Votes) – 64 points
- McDaniel (58)
- Franklin & Marshall (54)
- Dickinson (38)
- Gettysburg (32)
- Ursinus (23)
- Muhlenberg (22)
- Washington College (12)
