FLORENCE, SC – Following a historic season and the first-ever trip to Super Regionals, the Francis Marion University baseball program is ranked in all three major national polls, including as high as 7th in the final D2 Baseball and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) rankings. FMU finished 13th in the final edition of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA) poll.

The Patriots posted an impressive 46-14 overall mark, a new program record for wins in a single season, under the leadership of second-year head coach Jeff Jefferson. Francis Marion finished second in the Conference Carolinas regular season standings and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012. FMU also made its first-ever trip to Super Regionals in 2026.

Francis Marion earned the No. 5 seed in the Southeast Region and claimed the sub-regional in Tigerville, S.C., after going a perfect 3-0 with a pair of victories over nationally-ranked North Greenville University. The following week, the Patriots traveled to Catawba College for a best-of-three series in the Super Regionals and came one game shy of the NCAA Division II College World Series.

FMU entered the 2026 campaign unranked but quickly were featured in all three national rankings starting in late February and climbed as high as No. 7 in the ABCA poll in the final weeks of the season. It marks just the fourth time in program history that the Patriots have finished inside the top 10 of the final rankings. The 2006 World Series team achieved the highest rankings after finishing 6th.

The 2026 campaign included a 14-1 start, the best in program history, and Francis Marion winning 10-of-11 Conference Carolinas series. The Patriots featured four all-region honorees and a trio of All-American selections, led by Southeast Region Player of the Year redshirt junior right fielder Charlie Bussey III. This year's roster included 18 seniors.

Francis Marion was one of six programs from the Southeast Region featured in the final polls and was the highest-ranked Conference Carolinas team in all three rankings.