Missouri Southern baseball ranked No. 24 - KOAM TV 7

Missouri Southern baseball ranked No. 24 in latest Division II Coaches Poll

JOPLIN -- The Missouri Southern baseball team is off to the program's best start in school history and the Lions have moved into the national rankings, debuting this week at No. 24 in the Collegiate Baseball News/Coaches Poll. 

The coaches rank the top 30 teams in Division II each week and the Lions are in the poll for the first time since the final poll of the 2001 season. Southern debuted in the poll that year at No. 26 on May 14. The Lions were 27th in each of the successive two weeks of polls. 

The Lions have won their first 11 games of the season and it's the best start in school history. The 11-game winning streak is the most since 1994 when Southern won 20 games in a row and is the sixth-highest overall. The most games won in a row in Southern history is 22 in 1989. The Lions also won 12 in a row in 1990, 19 in 1991 and 16 in 1992. 

Southern will play host to Drury University tomorrow afternoon at 4 pm in a non-conference game at Joe Becker Stadium. The Lions will then get back into MIAA play this weekend with a four-game set against Fort Hays starting on Friday evening.