The Miami of Ohio Redhawks are MAC Champions! (Photo by Miami University Athletics and the MAC Conference)
Great baseball was played across Ohio in conference tournament week!
Ohio teams played in the Big 12, Big East, Atlantic 10, Horizon League, and Mid-American Conference tournaments, fighting for a championship and an NCAA Tournament berth.
Cincinnati (32-24, 16-14 in the Big 12)
UC started the Big 12 Tournament off right on Wednesday with a hard-fought 6-5 win over Texas Tech.
That set up a Thursday game with the regular season Big 12 Champions, the West Virginia Mountaineers. WVU was just too strong for the Bearcats, winning by the score of 10-3. I thought that was the end of the season for the Cincinnati Bearcats. I was happily surprised, though, when the Cats got an at-large bid on Monday afternoon! For the first time since 2019, the Bearcats of Cincinnati, Ohio, are going dancing! UC is in the Knoxville Regional with the defending national champion Tennessee Vols, Wake Forest, and Butler County rival Miami (Ohio). Cincinnati will play Wake Forest on Friday, May 30th, at 1:00 PM local time.
Xavier (32-27, 14-7 in the Big East)
Xavier won massively on Wednesday against UConn. They took it to regular-season Big East champion UConn, beating them 11-8 in 10 innings.
The X-Men then played the number one seed Creighton on Thursday night. Creighton prevailed, 11-8. This set Xavier up for their Friday game. The Musketeers played UConn again. This time things didn’t go in Xavier’s favor as UConn won in a blowout, 11-2. Not the way they wanted it to end, but a respectable season for Xavier.
Dayton (27-31, 14-16 in the Atlantic 10)
Dayton lost game one against George Mason, 9-5, on Tuesday. However, they bounced back against Fordham on Thursday afternoon, winning 9-2.
That set up an evening elimination game against Davidson. The Flyers’ season ended in a 9-5 loss. It’s not how the Flyers wanted to go out, but they had a solid season.
Wright State (38-19, 25-5 in the Horizon League)
Wright State walloped Oakland, 8-2, Thursday afternoon.
On Friday, the Raiders played Milwaukee in the afternoon game. Wright State was upset as Milwaukee doubled their score in the 12-6 defeat for the Raiders. Wright State had to play again on Friday night in an elimination game against Northern Kentucky. With a win, Wright State would face Milwaukee again tomorrow for the Horizon League Tournament Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. Wright State clobbered NKU, 18-1.
The Raiders got their second shot at Milwaukee on Saturday. In game two between the two teams, Wright State won, 13-4. They played again in game three on Saturday for all the marbles. The Horizon League Tournament Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth were on the line. Wright State won the rubber match, 2-0, and won ANOTHER Horizon League Championship and will represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament! Go Raiders!
Wright State will play in the Nashville Regional. It’s a tough draw, as the Raiders will face the nation’s number one team, the Vanderbilt Commodores. Louisville and Eastern Tennessee State round out the Nashville Regional. The Raiders will take on #1 Vanderbilt on Friday, May 30th, at 6:00 PM eastern time.
Youngstown State (15-42, 11-19 in the Horizon League)
YSU took it on the chin in the first game of the Horizon League Tournament, falling 13-2 to Oakland. They responded with a big win over Purdue-Fort Wayne later on Wednesday with a 13-8 win.
Thursday night, Youngstown State had a rematch with Oakland; this time, the loser would go home. It was a shootout that took extra innings to decide, but YSU fell 22-18, ending their season.
Kent State (38-18, 23-7 in the MAC)
The Golden Flashes had a first-round bye and then played Ball State in their first game in the MAC Tournament. Kent State deflated Ball State with a walk-off 9-8 win in a tight game on Friday.
They then went head-to-head with Miami (Ohio) on Saturday. Kent State fell to the Redhawks and was eliminated from the MAC Championship Tournament. The Golden Flashes still had a good season and were MAC regular-season co-champions.
Miami (Ohio) (35-21, 23-7 in the MAC)
The Redhawks had a first-round bye and then went up against Toledo on Friday. The Redhawks brought down the Rockets with a big 10-4 victory.
They took on Kent State on Saturday. The Redhawks prevailed 6-1 and will play Toledo again on Sunday for the MAC Championship.
The Redhawks needed to only win one more game against Toledo to be MAC Champions. Miami continued to burn red hot. They beat Toledo, 6-3. The Butler County boys are MAC Champions and are going dancing!
Miami of Ohio will battle Hamilton County rival Cincinnati, Wake Forest out of the ACC, and the defending national champions, the Tennessee Vols! The Redhawks have won nine of their last ten and are playing their best baseball. They are ready to mix it up with anyone! The Redhawks will battle the defending national champions in their building at 6:00 PM on Friday, May 30th.
Toledo (32-29, 17-13 in the MAC)
The Rockets won their opening game of the MAC Tournament against rival Bowling Green, beating the Falcons in a 14-12 shootout.
Toledo advanced to play the MAC regular-season champions, the Miami Redhawks, on Friday. Toledo fell to Miami (Ohio), setting them up to play EMU that same night in an elimination game. The Rockets beat the Eagles, 6-2.
On Saturday, Toledo faced Ball State in an elimination game. The Rockets beat the Cardinals in a high-scoring game, 13-10. They then played Kent State, one of the MAC regular-season co-champions. They eliminated the Golden Flashes 6-2. On Sunday, they played the Miami of Ohio Redhawks. Toledo needed to beat them twice to win the MAC tournament. The Redhawks were too much for the Rockets, and Toledo’s season came to an end on Sunday. The Rockets showed what a good team they were, though, by how they battled in the 2025 MAC Tournament.
Bowling Green (33-22, 19-11 in the MAC)
Bowling Green’s season came to a crashing end on Thursday. The Falcons started with a loss to Toledo, which meant they had to play an elimination doubleheader against EMU on Thursday night. Bowling Green again battled but lost in extra innings. EMU won 10-7 in the tenth inning. This is not the way the Falcons wanted things to end, but they still had a solid season of baseball in 2025.
Ohio State, Ohio, and Akron’s seasons concluded last week.
