CLEVELAND, Ohio – Below is a team-by-team preview for the 2026 MAC Baseball season.

The MAC baseball season begins on Friday, Feb. 13, while conference play starts Friday, March 6. For more information, visit getsomemaction.com or follow the MAC on X at @MACSports.

Opening Weekend Schedule
Friday, Feb. 13
Ball State vs. St. John’s (12 p.m. ET)
Western Michigan vs. Pitt (1 p.m. ET)
Akron vs. Presbyterian (2 p.m. ET)
Northern Illinois at North Carolina A&T (3 p.m. ET)
Eastern Michigan at Little Rock (4 p.m. ET)
Ohio at Murray State (4 p.m. ET)
Bowling Green at No. 5 Georgia Tech (4 p.m. ET)
Central Michigan at West Georgia (4:30 p.m. ET)
Toledo at Memphis (5 p.m. ET)
Akron vs. Presbyterian (6 p.m. ET)
Miami at Southern (6 p.m. ET)
Kent State at Southeastern Louisiana (7 p.m. ET)

Saturday, Feb. 14
Western Michigan vs. Pitt (1 p.m. ET)
Central Michigan at West Georgia (1 p.m. ET)
Akron vs. Presbyterian (2 p.m. ET)
Bowling Green at No. 5 Georgia Tech (1 p.m. ET)
Ball State vs. St. John’s (2 p.m. ET)
Northern Illinois at North Carolina A&T (2 p.m. ET)
Toledo at Memphis (3 p.m. ET)
Kent State at Southeastern Louisiana (3 p.m. ET)
Ohio at Murray State (3 p.m. ET)
Miami at Southern (3 p.m. ET)
Bowling Green at No. 5 Georgia Tech (1 p.m. ET)
Eastern Michigan at Little Rock (4 p.m. ET)
Central Michigan at West Georgia (4:30 p.m. ET)
Akron vs. Presbyterian (6 p.m. ET)
Ball State at Stetson (6:30 p.m. ET)

Sunday, Feb. 15
Ball State vs. Minnesota (9:30 a.m. ET)
Northern Illinois at North Carolina A&T (12 p.m. ET)
Western Michigan vs. Pitt (12 p.m. ET)
Central Michigan at West Georgia (1 p.m. ET)
Miami at Southern (1 p.m. ET)
Ohio at Murray State (2 p.m. ET)
Kent State at Southeastern Louisiana (2 p.m. ET)
Toledo at Memphis (2 p.m. ET)
Eastern Michigan at Little Rock (2 p.m. ET)

Team-By-Team Previews (In Preseason Coaches Poll Predicted Order)
1. Miami
Preview coming soon.

2. Kent State 
he Kent State Golden Flashes open their 2026 campaign with a challenging three-game road series against Southeastern Louisiana, traveling south to Hammond for what should be a measuring-stick weekend between two 2025 conference champions.

Both programs arrive with hardware from 2025. Kent State claimed a share of the MAC regular season title and enters as D1Baseball's preseason favorites to repeat, while the Lions captured the Southland Conference regular season crown. This weekend will pit two teams accustomed to winning against each other early in the season.

The Flashes bring a lineup that terrorized MAC pitching last spring, finishing fourth nationally in scoring at 9.5 runs per game, sixth in on-base percentage (.430), and 20th in stolen bases (129). 

Kent State's offense is built around experience and production. Leadoff man Luke Matthews, an All-MAC Second Team shortstop, sets the table after hitting .354/.438/.476 with 18 stolen bases in 2025. His contact-oriented approach and baserunning instincts give the Flashes an immediate threat at the top of the order.

The heart of the lineup features Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list member Sawyer Solitaria, who moves from designated hitter to right field after posting an .880 OPS with eight home runs as the 2025 MAC Freshman of the Year. Catcher Brody Williams, ranked by D1Baseball as the nation's 30th-best backstop, provides lineup protection from the cleanup spot after slashing .341/.457/.530 with remarkable plate discipline.

Sophomore center fielder Micah Rienstra-Kiracofe brings game-changing speed after leading the team with 25 stolen bases as a freshman, while left fielder Alejandro Covas posted a .967 OPS and went a perfect 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts. First baseman Hunter Klotz and switch-hitting second baseman Ripken Reese (.410 OBP) add depth and versatility to a lineup with few holes.

Transfer Grady Mee, who led the MAC in stolen bases (26) at Western Michigan last year, gives Kent State even more speed and a .448 career OBP from the second base position.
While the offense returns largely intact, the pitching staff faces significant roster turnover. Kent State lost its top starter from 2025, Jacob Bean (now at Louisville), and closer Peyton Cariaco (who joined the coaching staff).

The Flashes will counter with a rebuilt rotation featuring three different looks. Friday's assignment goes to right-hander Ciaran Caughey, followed Saturday by Easton Tumis, a Texas transfer who went 3-1 with a 5.08 ERA in 21 appearances for the Longhorns in 2024, and Ben Rabatin on Sunday.

The bullpen features NCBWA Stopper of the Year preseason watch list member Caden Leonard, who posted a 3-0 record with a 4.13 ERA and 35 strikeouts against 11 walks over 28.1 innings in 2025.

3. Ball State 
The Ball State baseball team is set to begin its season with four games in Florida this weekend including the season opener on Friday with St. John's.

After the Noon first pitch on Friday vs the Red Storm, both teams will play again on Saturday at 2 p.m. Ball State next plays Stetson at 6 p.m., Saturday night and Minnesota at 9:30 a.m., on Sunday morning to wrap up the weekend at Melching Field in DeLand, Fla.

Ball State went 36-22 (21-9 Mid-American Conference) last year for a third-place finish in the MAC. The Cardinals lost five All-MAC performers but return two-time First Team selection Keegan Johnson to headline the pitching rotation. Ball State's 2026 roster features 23 newcomers and 15 returners.

Head coach Rich Maloney enters his 21st season at Ball State and 31st overall as a head coach with 1,024 career wins.

Score updates for each game will be posted to the team account on X (@BallStateBB), and schedule updates will be communicated on the website and team social media platforms.

Junior Keegan Johnson is a two-time First Team All-MAC selection and most recently posted a 7-3 record and 75 strikeouts in 14 starts during his sophomore campaign.

The left-handed hurler received MAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year and Top MAC Draft Prospect accolades leading up to the season from the D1Baseball online publication along with being named a Top-200 starting pitcher nationally (No. 167).

Senior Gavin Balius is the lone returning Ball State hitter with more than 100 at bats last season. Balius produced a .303/.343/.407 slash line in 178 at bats while tallying a team high 22 steals in 2025.

Senior Ben Giovannetti (90 at bats) and junior Max Kalk (46) are the next two Cardinals with the most times to plate last season. Senior Brett Griffiths (40 at bats) and sophomores DJ Scheumann (25), Brayden Huebner (23) and John Colligan (19) will look to get more experience swinging the bat in their second seasons at Ball State.

Ball State finished the 2025 season with the fourth-best fielding percentage in NCAA Division I at .983 (only 34 errors in 1,993 opportunities).

The Cardinals concluded the regular season with the top fielding percentage in the country (.984) but got passed up in the postseason.

4. Toledo
Baseball begins its 2026 season with a three-game series at Memphis on Friday-Sunday. First pitch times will be 5:00, 3:00 and 2:00 ET. Fans can follow the action via ESPN+. Toledo is coming off a 32-29 season and a MAC Tournament championship game appearance in 2025. The 2026 team includes 22 newcomers.

5. Bowling Green
The Bowling Green State University baseball team will start the 2026 season this weekend with a three-game series at No. 4/5 Georgia Tech. The Falcons will start the year with 17 road games before the home opener on March 17. As for this weekend, each game between Bowling Green and Georgia Tech will be available to stream on the ACC Network Extra. As of now, the series is scheduled to span Friday, Saturday and Sunday with a game per day. Stay up-to-date with any schedule changes through the baseball schedule at BGSUFalcons.com as well as Twitter/X (@BGSU_Baseball).

Bowling Green enters the 2026 campaign with 1,799 wins over the course of the program's history, dating back to 1915. The first win of the 2026 season will mark 1,800 for the Falcons all-time. The 1,700-win milestone was reached during the 2022 campaign, leaving what would be just barely four years between milestones if BGSU hits the mark. The shortest span between milestones in program history stands at three, being the difference between five milestones. The most recent was between wins 1,400 and 1,500 which came in 2007 and 2010. The last 124 wins for the Falcons have come under current head coach Kyle Hallock.

The Falcons will be seeking an Opening Day win for the first time since 2022 when they topped St. Louis in a 22-8 final score. Last season, the Falcons won their opening series for the first time since 2022, taking two of three from Middle Tennessee State. The last time Bowling Green won their opening series in back-to-back seasons was 2006-07, sweeping Murray State in 2006 and taking two of three from MTSU in 2007.

Bowling Green has one win in program history over a top five opponent according to the team's record book, besting No. 5 Louisville in a 9-6 final on Feb. 25, 2023.

Sam Seidel is nearing the program's top 10 for career hit-by-pitches with 20, needing 23 to break into the top 10 all-time.

The first 17 games of the season for Bowling Green will be played on the road before their home opener on March 17, the first game on the team's new turf playing surface.

6. Western Michigan

• Western Michigan opens up the 2026 season this weekend with a three-game set against Pitt The Opening Weekend series will be played at Centennial Park in Port Charlotte, Fla.
• The Broncos start the 2026 campaign with 11 consecutive games away from home
• Western Michigan and Pittsburgh have met just once prior to this weekend's series
• The Panthers defeated the Broncos 14-3 in the only prior meeting on May 7, 2019
• WMU is opening up the season against a Power Conference opponent for the fourth consecutive year
• Last season, Western Michigan picked up four victories against Power Conference opponents, defeating Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern and Notre Dame
• The Broncos turned in a 19-32 overall mark and tied for sixth in the MAC with a 12-18 league record in 2025
• Headlining WMU's returners to the lineup is Tanner Mally, who hit .356 (4th in MAC) a season ago
• Mally was an All-MAC Defensive Team selection, posting a .973 fielding percentage with five outfield assists
• Righty Ty McKinstry returns to the rotation after serving as last year's Friday night starter
• McKinstry led Western Michigan in both innings pitched (71.2) and strikeouts (51)
• He also tied for the team lead in games started and wins

7. Central Michigan
The Central Michigan baseball team opens the season with a four-game series at West Georgia in Carrollton, Ga., about 45 miles west of Atlanta.
 
The Chippewas, under third-year coach Jake Sabol, finished 20-35, 11-19 Mid-American Conference a year ago.

The series comprises two doubleheaders, both beginning at 1 p.m. The first is Friday, the second on Saturday. The series was originally scheduled for single games on Friday and Sunday with a Saturday doubleheader. Sunday’s game was moved up and became part of a Friday twinbill because of Sunday’s weather forecast.
 
The series kicks off CMU’s 56-game schedule. They next go to Belmont in Nashville for a four-game set from Feb. 20-22 and then to Louisville for a three-game set Feb. 27-March 1.
 
CMU opens Mid-American Conference play with a three-game series at Ball State March 6-8. The Chippewas’ home opener is set for March 20 against Toledo.

The Chippewas returned several starters and many players who played a significant amount of time in 2025. Among them are pitchers Hayden Bailey and Jared Hanson, pitcher/shortstop Cayden Smith, first baseman Brady Krzciok, and outfielders Zach Knowlton and Cole Prout. Infielder Drew Loikits, a starters in 2024, has returned to CMU after spending a year at Wofford.

8. Northern Illinois
After setting four single-season records last season, the Northern Illinois University baseball team opens its 2026 season on Friday with the first of three games this weekend at North Carolina A&T. First Pitch at World War Memorial Stadium is set for 2 p.m. CT.
 
Head Coach Ryan Copeland returns 13 letterwinners for his third season in the Huskies' dugout. That group includes three of NIU's top five hitters by batting average from 2025 along with three pitchers that threw at least 40 innings.
 
Offensively, NIU had it's most productive run-scoring season in program history in 2025. The Huskies scored a record 416 runs with 382 runs batted in. NIU slugged a program record 82 home runs, blasting by the previous record of 70 set back in 2003.

On the mound sophomore Carter Cox looks to build on a solid finish to his rookie season. In his five Mid-American Conference starts Cox was 2-0 with a 2.33 earned run average. He had 32 strikeouts in 27 innings, finishing the season with 60 strikeouts in 49.2 innings pitched and a team-low .227 batting average against. NIU, as a staff, recorded the most strikeouts in a single season in 2025 with 450.

Following the North Carolina A&T series, NIU will take on East Carolina on Wednesday, Feb. 18 before playing in the OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic at USC Upstate, Prebyterian and Wofford next weekend. The Huskies will play a four-game series at Lindenwood Feb. 27-March 1 before MAC play starts March 6-8 at Ohio.
 
9. Eastern Michigan
Under first-year Interim Head Coach Trevor Beerman, the Eastern Michigan University baseball team embarks on a 55-game regular season campaign, beginning with a series against the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Champion, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Friday-Sunday, Feb. 13-15, at Gary Hogan Field, in Little Rock.  

Following the departure of Robbie Britt to the Boston Red Sox, former assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Trevor Beerman was promoted to Interim Head Coach for the 2026 season. In his third year at EMU in 2026, Beerman served as EMU's recruiting coordinator, along with coaching the outfielders and assisting with the offense. A native of Canal Winchester, Ohio, has previous coaching experience at Chatham University, the University of Charleston (W. Va.), Hillsdale College, Bluffton University, and Malone University.

Coming off a 2024 season where it went 14-38 (9-21 MAC) and missed the conference tournament, Eastern improved by seven wins in the 2025 season, producing a 21-31 (12-18 MAC) clip and earning a MAC Tournament berth for the first time since 2018. After a 6-5 loss to Ball State in the first game of the tournament, Eastern topped Bowling Green, 10-7, in 10 innings for its first post-season victory since 2017.

Eastern's 2026 transfer class was ranked second in the MAC in inside the top 100 nationally by 64 analytics. The transfers include TJ Williams, Greg Kennedy, Kriss Sydlowski, Cole Egan, Nathan Borchardt, Tristan Crane, John Carmichael, Brian Henson, Carter White, Nick Weaver, Jack Angus, Landon Mueller, Aidan Norris, Ethan Rowland, and Leewood Molessa.

Eastern is facing Little Rock for the third time in program history as it holds a 1-1 record against the Trojans and is facing them for the first time since the 2010 season. Eastern split the series against the UALR that season, dropping the first game, 15-4, March 2, and edging the Trojans, 7-6, March 3, in the second.

The 2026 campaign marks the 78th season of EMU baseball. Overall, the program holds a 36-41 record in season-opening contests dating back to the program's first season, 1949. Last season, the Eagles fell to the Pittsburgh Panthers in 12 innings on opening day, 9-8, in Port Charlotte, Fla.

10. Akron
The Zips are coming off a 20-34 2025 season that included 12 wins at Skeeles Field. Akron went 9-21 in the MAC and concluded the 2025 campaign on a four-game winning streak. Akron took down Youngstown State while sweeping Mercyhurst to conclude the season.

The Blue and Gold will start the season with 12 games away from Skeeles Field. After battling Presbyterian, Akron will travel to Millington, Tenn., to battle Western Illinois while also traveling to Western Carolina, NC State and North Carolina A&T before hosting Dayton on March 4.

Andrew Horvath led the Zips in batting average (.350) and hits (70) in 2025 while ranking second in doubles (14) and third in RBI (29). Max Bowman hit a team-leading six home runs and shared the lead for RBI (35) with Jack Poist. Posit, along with his 35 RBI, led the Zips in stolen bases (20) and was tied for the most triples (2).

On the mound, Jack Kelley earned a team-leading four wins over 12 appearances and 11 starts. Johnny Anservitz recorded a team-leading 3.46 ERA over 20 appearances and collected a team-high six saves. Anservitz also recorded 32 strikeouts over 26 innings. Jared Schaeffer led the way in innings pitched (85.2), complete games (1) and strikeouts (79). Schaeffer appeared and started 14 games for Akron last season.

Akron sees 14 players return from the 2025 squad. Those players include Parker Munday, Austin Lafferty, Kyle McConachie, Derek Occhipinti, Nathan Currah, Jack Fenton, Elijah Griffith, John Allen, Landon Vandegrift, Josiah Ross, Taylor Bednar, Blake Bowen, Henry Hayman and Will Heisler.

The Zips will be bolstered by 22 newcomers, which include 15 transfers and seven freshmen. Coach Bryan Faulds has brought in transfers Gio Melchione, Jeremiah Newman, Brody Chrisman, Kelton Phillips, Tucker Biehl, Ryan Jones, Adison Mattix, Samuel Guadamuz, Brennan Morgan, Easton Amundson, Prince DeBoskie, Mitchel Szymczak, Atticus Huffstutler, Floyd McKenna and Matt Brown. Coach Fauld's 2026 roster also includes freshmen Ben Winge, Garrett Groce, Cy Herchelroath, Brady Bowen, Gabe Mathison, Carter Beck and Trieg Matthews.

11. Ohio
In the first year with newly appointed Ohio head coach Andrew See at the helm, the Ohio baseball team is ready to start a new chapter in the history of the program. With a mix of returning players and new faces, the Bobcats can't wait to get started.  

With an entirely new coaching staff, Ohio's roster will feature a plethora of new faces who will look to make an impact in their first season with the Bobcats. Joining a handful of impactful returners will be 17 incoming transfers and 11 true freshmen.  

Key returners on the mound for Ohio include sophomore lefty Hunter Winston (Hinckley, Ohio) and senior left-hander Dillon Masters (New Albany, Ohio), who each made more than seven starts for the Bobcats last season. In the lineup, the Bobcats bring back redshirt junior infielder Cam Bryant (Miamisburg, Ohio) after he hit for a .303 average across 38 games last season.  

See expects big contributions from a handful of new players, including junior outfielder Taylor Harris (Parrish, Fla.), who played at Walters State Community College last season, graduate student first baseman Colton Shirley (Anderson, Ind.), who played at Purdue Fort Wayne last season, and junior left-handed pitcher Aidan Cook (Penfield, N.Y) who played at Xavier last year.  

The Bobcats and their revamped roster will begin their season Friday, Feb. 13, with a three-game series against Murray State in Carbondale, Illinois. The team's home opener will come on Friday, February 27, when they take on in-state opponent Dayton. Ohio will start MAC play against Northern Illinois on Friday, March 6, at home as part of a three-game weekend series. Notable midweek nonconference matchups for the Bobcats will include Pittsburgh on March 4, Marshall on March 31 and April 29, and Michigan on May 12. Ohio will travel to rival Miami for a three-game series starting April 10.  

12. UMass 
Preview coming soon.