Sports
Ohio Baseball ushers in new era as 2026 season gets underway
By: Marc Goldstein
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The page has been turned to the 2026 season and Ohio will be looking to rebound after a difficult season that resulted in an overhaul of the entire program. In comes a new coaching staff, led by Andrew See in his first season as a head coach. Additionally, a roster that features 28 newcomers provides the feeling that last season’s struggles are in the past.
The biggest difference heading into the season will be the roster that has been redone. Ohio brings in transfers from a number of programs, but opportunity will be placed at the forefront. See notes that he wants to see what he has with this roster and make the most of the talent in his dugout.
See points to a few hitters as cogs that he believes will become household names by season’s end. Taylor Harris is placed at the top of that list. Harris had an illustrious career at Walters State Community College where he hit 14 homers last season. He appears likely to patrol the outfield alongside Cam Boyd, who comes from Southern Indiana where he stole 18 bases last season. One prevailing theme that See mentions with the offense is athleticism and balance. He believes that his group has the right mix of skills to be a potential force at the plate.
The pitching side is where See will be asked to make true adjustments. Last season, Ohio had a team ERA of 8.30 which ranked 266th in the nation. The thing that See reiterated was the fact that he wanted his pitchers to throw more strikes. If they get beat, he said, he wants it to be in the strike zone because the opposing team made solid contact.
See has a history of developing pitchers at the collegiate level, including Atlanta Braves all star Spencer Strider when he was at Clemson. Unlike at Clemson, See does not have the ace of his staff, at least not initially. He cites the fact that his pitching staff is full of unproven pitchers, but that might not be a negative thing.
“There are some exciting pitchers on the team that don’t have a large body of work, which is interesting for us to watch,” said See. “The talent is there. If they can keep the right mindset and not get too high or too low, there are a handful of pitchers that I think will be fun to watch.”
As far as first stops for a head coach, this will be a challenge for See. He is being tasked with rebuilding a team that is coming off a 14-37 season that was decimated by the transfer portal. See knows that his job is to recreate the winning mindset for the entire program that was a hallmark of the most successful squads in program history.
“We talk a lot about winning, not defining it by wins and losses on the field, but by being competitive in each game, no matter what happens,” said See. “We want to have a competitive nature. Even if we do a good job on Friday night and win the game, we turn the page and go into Saturday and focus on being the best competitors we can.”
A common buzz word that was repeated by See was “competitiveness.” He knows that a trip to the postseason might be a tall task, but changing the belief internally remains a focus to cultivate a tradition of winning that will last.
“Letting our guys know what Ohio was (as a program) and what the possibilities are,” said See. “To show them some of the history of the program is important, but I want them to make their own identity moving forward.”
Although winning is not necessarily an expectation for See in his first season at the helm, he thinks that his team has all of the ingredients to be a winner. The fact that the entire team is coming together for the first time means that there is little information on it. That idea was echoed when Ohio was selected to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the MAC Preseason Poll. See thinks that ranking is not reflective of the talent in the building for him.
“I’m optimistic about our team,” said See. “I like where we are in the weeds right now. We haven’t done a lot of promoting our team because we don’t know our team. I’m curious to see how we stack up with the league and how the league plays in general.”
There are not many certainties for Ohio heading into the season, from who starts games on the mound to the uncertainty of who will populate the lineup. The lack of familiarity with the roster adds a level of intrigue that is unheard of for a team coming off a 14-37 season. Moreover, the fact is that a completely new slate allows for a new story to be written by this roster as it begins a new chapter.