SIUE Cougars (8-13, 0-0 OVC) at
Morehead State (10-11, 0-0 OVC)
March 20-22 | Sonny Allen Field | Morehead, Kentucky

LAST WEEK: SIUE won three of four last week, winning a Tuesday contest against SIU Carbondale in eight innings and then winning its first weekend series, taking two of three from Valparaiso at home.

SERIES STUFF: Morehead State owns a 32-18 advantage in the all-time series and is 20-7 in the series when playing at home. SIUE last won a series at Morehead State in 2022. Last year, the Cougars swept the Eagles in Edwardsville.  

COMEBACK COUGARS: SIUE has had two large comebacks in midweek games. The Cougars trailed 5-1 after an inning and a half last Tuesday against SIU Carbondale before coming back to win 16-6 in eight innings. SIUE was down 7-0 after the top of the first Feb. 24 against Saint Louis. then scored 17 unanswered runs to win 17-7 in seven innings. SIUE has five wins when the opponent scores first.

WALLACE WATCH LIST: Senior shortstop Chase Bloomer was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List for the third time in his career. The award honors college baseball's best shortstop.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Josh Heyder won his first career OVC Player of the Week award Monday after hitting .500 with two home runs and six RBIs last week. Ryan Niedzwiedz earned the award March 2. He also was named to Baseball America's Team of the Week. He hit .421 with three homers and nine RBIs in five games.

EIGHT IS ENOUGH: Mack Mitchell hit a pair of home runs, including his first career grand slam, Feb. 24 against Saint Louis and drove in eight runs-tying SIUE's single game record at the Division I level.

HOMER HAPPY: The Cougars hit six homers in a game twice last week and are second in the OVC with 31 home runs. In 2025, SIUE led the league with 77 home runs while driving in 337 runs. Both totals were second most in the program's Division I history.

STRIKE FORCE: SIUE pitchers are tied for third in the OVC with 156 strikeouts. The Cougars rank fourth in team ERA at 7.62.

RETURNING BATS: SIUE returned 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. 

PRESEASON HONORS: 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. 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.

RETURNING HURLERS: 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.