— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — After making a run to the semifinals in the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament, Marshall baseball had high hopes for its 2026 season.
Much of the expectations stemmed from the return of three solid weekend starters, along with the addition of transfers that could provide added offensive strength as the Herd was projected to finish fourth among 14 teams in the Sun Belt Preseason Poll.
Yet for the most part, those high hopes were dashed throughout a disappointing campaign that was marred by inconsistent performances.
Marshall ended the 2026 season with a 23-32 record, including 13-17 in Sun Belt Conference play for a 10th-place league finish.
After backing its way into the SBC Tournament as the No. 10 seed in a 10-team bracket, Marshall suffered an 11-1 seven-inning loss to Louisiana in what marked the final game of the season.
“We have a lot of work to do to continue to climb the ladder in this conference,” head coach Greg Beals said. “It’s a tough one to climb. We’re going to do the work. We’re going to take the competitiveness of this season forward.”
Marshall won 13 of 24 home games, but had a 10-21 record outside of Huntington.
There were a few notable non-conference victories, including one at NCAA Tournament qualifier Virginia Tech and another at Ohio State, where Beals previously served as head coach.
The Herd was 0-3 against in-state rival West Virginia, while being outscored 22-4 in the process. There were also two losses apiece to both Louisville and Morehead State.
After winning two of three against Old Dominion in mid-April, Marshall lost four of its last five Sun Belt series, including a three-game sweep at the expense of Texas State, causing the Herd to fall to 10th in the conference standings.
The lack of success at the end of the season should ignite a fire for players opting to stay in Huntington, according to Beals.
“It’s not a feeling that I want guys to forget about who are returning,” Beals said. “We want to make sure they’re doing everything on a daily basis to get better and put ourselves in a better position to be successful on game day. We have to earn the opportunity to be successful.”
Despite the overall disappointment of a losing campaign in 2026, Marshall wasn’t without strong showings from several players.
Starting pitcher Bryce Blevins, a senior, won the Tony Robichaux Leadership Award from the Sun Belt for his work on and off the field. He was also a second-team All-Sun Belt pick after recording an 8-5 record in 105 innings with a team-high 86 strikeouts.
Junior outfielder Evan Bottone was a first team-All Sun Belt pick as he led the league in hits with 82 and batting average at .387, while ranking second in runs with 57.
In league play, Bottone had 53 hits with a .408 average. He registered 28 multi-hit games, including 19 in conference play, to go with 12 three-hit outings.
Five Sun Belt teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament, though entering Monday, only Troy was still playing. The Trojans have a Monday night matchup at Florida for the right to win the Gainesville Regional.
League champion Southern Miss went 0-2 despite being a regional host and the No. 9 seed nationally. Coastal Carolina, Texas State and Louisiana were all eliminated over the weekend as well.
Beals knows his program needs to improve in an effort to better position itself for success in a challenging conference.
“It is tough top to bottom, especially when you look at us moving up and Arkansas State not being in the tournament this year, although they had a RPI of 62,” Beals said. “It is tough to get up and it’s not a given to get to the tournament. Every weekend in our conference, our opponent is good enough to beat us and we’re good enough to beat them as well.”