Ohio is back in action this weekend for a neutral-site series against Murray State to open both teams' 2026 campaigns. The Racers had a successful 2025, going 44-17, while the Bobcats struggled to a poor 14-37 showing at the year's end, which culminated in the program parting ways with four-year head coach Craig Moore.
This change and the poor season in 2025 resulted in about 75% of the Ohio roster either graduating or heading to new programs this year, which may be a challenge for new Ohio head coach Andrew See and his staff.
Murray State also saw a lot of roster turnover from last season, losing 20 players, but after the strong run in the College World Series last year, they brought in a strong group from the transfer portal and are the favorites heading into this season.
Opponent: Murray State Racers (0-0, 0-0 Missouri Valley Conference)
Location: Itchy Jones Stadium (Carbondale, Illinois)
Time: Friday 4 p.m., Saturday 3 p.m. and Sunday 2 p.m.
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Meet the opponent
Head coach
Dan Skirka (8th Season)
Projected starters
Murray State: Nic Schutte (5.16 ERA in 96.0 innings in 2025)
Ohio: Landon Price (8.15 ERA in 17.2 innings)
Statistical leaders
Batting Average: Luke Mistone (.335 in 2025)
Hits: Mistone (83 in 2025)
Home Runs: Conner Cunningham (7 in 2025)
RBI: Mistone (53 in 2025)
ERA: Schutte (5.16 in 2025)
Strikeouts: Schutte (97 in 2025)
Looking at Murray State
The Racers returned a handful of top arms to their pitching staff this year, including the MVC Pitcher of the Year favorite, Schutte, who will look to lower his solid 2025 ERA and put up an even more impressive strikeout total and maybe even break into the triple digits.
Murray State did lose a lot of offensive starters heading into the year, and the rebuilding effort, while smooth, can take a few games to really come into full force, which may have them leaning on players like Mistone to supply the offense, as one of only two returning players to the everyday offense for the Racers. If the transfers work out for Skirka and his group, the Racers may run the MVC and go back to Omaha again this year.
Looking at Ohio
The Bobcats are looking to embrace this new look behind See, and it will start with the pitching rotation bouncing back from last year. A pair of left-handed pitchers return to the starting group for Ohio and will be key factors in 2026. They will lean on senior Dillon Masters and sophomore Hunter Winston to get them deep into games and hold onto leads behind a revamped offense.
The transfer portal and recruiting class for Ohio will help set them up well offensively this year. This group has not played much together at this point but has both returners and first-time Bobcats looking to make their mark against Murray State this weekend as they look to kick off a more successful season.
