SIUE Cougars (1-2) vs. Illinois State Redbirds (2-1)
Feb. 17, 3 p.m.
Roy E. Lee Field at Simmons Baseball Complex
Edwardsville, Illinois
SIUE baseball plays its home opener against Illinois State Tuesday. The Cougars dropped two of three in their season-opening series at North Alabama.
The Redbirds won two of three in a season-opening series at fellow Ohio Valley Conference member Southeast Missouri.
The Cougars and Redbirds have met at least once a year every year since 2018, with the exception of the 2020 pandemic-shortened season. The teams have played 23 times since SIUE moved to Division I in 2009 with ISU holding a 17-6 lead in the series in that time. SIUE has won three of the last five meetings.
Illinois State was picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll.
The Redbirds were 28-28 in 2025, including a 15-12 record in MVC play.
SIUE was picked as the preseason favorite in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll.
In 2025, the Cougars finished 18-8 in OVC play, marking the second most OVC wins in program history.
SIUE led the OVC in wins but finished second by percentage points to Eastern Illinois in the regular season race.
The Cougars' 26 total wins tied for fourth most since moving to Division I play in 2008.
Head Coach Sean Lyons is beginning his 10th season at the helm and has a career record of 189-252-1 (.429). His 189 wins are third most in program history.
In 2025, SIUE hit 77 home runs and drove home 337 runs. Both totals were second most in the program's Division I history. The 77 home runs were the most in the Ohio Valley Conference.
SIUE returns five players who started at least 49 games in 2025 in Chase Bloomer, Daniel Gierer, Mack Mitchell, Ryan Niedzwiedz and Ethan Willoughby.
In total, the Cougars bring back 11 players on the offensive side. Those 11 players accounted for 62 of 77 home runs (81 percent) and 263 of 337 (78 percent) RBIs.
Niedzwiedz was named as the OVC Preseason Player of the Year by D1baseball.com. He ranked 34th on D1baseball.com's list of preseason Top 50 first baseman.
Mack Mitchell was ranked 32nd on D1baseball.com's preseason Top 50 second baseman. Mitchell's 19 home runs in 2025 tied for the OVC lead.
On the mound, SIUE returns its top two starters in Spencer Stearns and Tim Teixeira. They accounted for 28 starts, 126 strikeouts and six wins between them.
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