MARION, Ill. – SIUE junior Ryan Niedzwiedz was selected as the Ohio Valley Conference baseball co-Player of the Year and Head Coach Sean Lyons was chosen as the OVC Coach of the Year, highlighting All-OVC baseball awards announced Tuesday by the Conference.
Niedzwiedz becomes the first OVC Player of the Year in program history. Likewise for Lyons who is the first OVC Coach of the Year for the Cougars.
The honor comes after an incredible regular season for the junior first baseman. Ahead of the postseason, Niedzwiedz ranks fifth in the NCAA in home runs with 27, a program single-season record. He also ranks second in the league with 67 runs batted in, which is SIUE's Division I single-season record. He also is second with a 1.219 OPS, and a .792 slugging percentage. He finished the regular season fourth in runs scored (59) and hits (76). His .352 batting average ranks eighth. Niedzwiedz was selected to the first team for the second consecutive season.
Niedzwiedz shared the award with UT Martin's TJ Grines.
Lyons' honor comes after he guided the Cougars to the first OVC regular season championship in school history and tied the program record with 19 Conference wins. SIUE's 32 overall wins are the most since the move to Division I in 2008.
Including Niedzwiedz, SIUE baseball had a total of seven players represent on All-OVC teams. Chase Bloomer, Tim Teixeira and Easton Harris joined Niedzwiedz on the first team. Joshua Heyder and Spencer Stearns were each selected to the second team and Coooper Eggert was named to a spot on the All-Freshman team.
Bloomer earned his second consecutive first team selection after starting 53 of SIUE's 54 games and finishing second on the team with 63 total hits and 49 runs scored. His 10 home runs . He was third on the team with a .299 batting average. In the field, Bloomer committed just six errors in 211 total chances at shortstop for a .972 fielding percentage.
Teixeira was named to the first team after an All-Freshman selection a season ago. Teixeira finished the regular season at 7-5 with a 4.34 earned run average. In OVC play, his 3.47 ERA was sixth best in the league. His six wins, 51 strikeouts and .196 opponents' batting average all led the league. His 57.0 innings in league play ranked second.
Harris, the Cougars' closer, also earned first team honors after leading the league with 11 saves. In 13 appearances during OVC play, Harris recorded seven saves and sported a 0.59 ERA. He struck out 12 hitters in 15.1 innings.
Heyder picked up his first All-OVC recognition, earning selection to the second team after finishing the regular season second on the team with a career-best .306 average. He added a career-high 14 home runs and 33 RBIs. His 14 homers tied for sixth in the OVC overall as did his eight in OVC play.
Stearns was named to the second team for the second season in a row after leading the Cougars with a 3.72 earned run average and seven wins. His 3.00 ERA in OVC play ranked fifth and his six wins tied for the league lead. He finished with 54.0 innings in OVC play which tied for fifth most.
Eggert earned OVC All-Freshman honors after hitting .298 with seven home runs and 21 RBIs while playing in 35 games in his first season.
The seven overall All-OVC selections matches a program high and is tied for the most in the league. Both the 2025 and 2023 team had seven selections. The four first team selections also matches the 2025 team and is the most in the OVC.
The Cougars will open OVC Tournament play Thursday at 1 p.m. at MTN Dew Park in Marion, Illinois. Their opponent is to be determined.
