Baseball Announces 2026 Season Schedule

The Ball State baseball team and head coach Rich Maloney have released their 2026 regular season schedule.

The slate features four-game February trips to DeLand, Fla., Charleston, S.C., and Honolulu, Hawaii. Mid-American Conference play has expanded to 33 games with the addition of UMass to the league, which now consists of 12 programs. Additionally, a total of six games against power conference teams and five against teams that made the 2025 NCAA Tournament are included on the schedule.

Ball State opens the season on Friday, Feb. 13 against St. John's in Florida before taking them on again and Stetson, who will host the weekend of games, the next day. The Cardinals take on Minnesota that Sunday to wrap up the first trip of the season.

Next on the calendar is another trip to Charleston, S.C., for the Swig & Swine College Classic, which the Cardinals will play in for a fifth straight season. Ball State faces Merrimack on Feb. 20 followed by games against George Mason and Seton Hall on Saturday the 21^st at Shipyard Park. Another matchup with Merrimack that Sunday concludes the weekend.

The Cardinals head to Honolulu late in the month for a four-game set against Hawaii. Ball State takes on the Rainbow Warriors with a trio of night games Thursday-Saturday and then a day game on Sunday, March 1.

MAC play begins on March 6 as Central Michigan visits Shebek Stadium for the start of a three-game series. After a road game at Kentucky on March 10, Eastern Michigan comes to Muncie for another conference set. Ball State's MAC road opener is set for March 20 at Western Michigan.

Overall, the Cardinals will have six conference series at home and five on the road. Notable midweek battles include home-and-homes with Butler (March 18 in Muncie), Purdue (May 12 in Muncie) and Indiana (April 21 in Muncie).

"Great opportunity for our boys to compete against so many high quality programs outside of conference and then to compete with our rivals in the MAC," Maloney said. "You have to love competition!"

Ball State is coming off a 2025 season when it went 36-22 (21-9 MAC) to earn the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. Maloney's teams have won at least 30 games in each of his 19 full seasons in Muncie, and he enters the 2026 season with 1,024 career wins.

The full schedule can be found below and on the schedule page.

2026 Ball State Baseball Schedule (all times ET unless noted)
Feb. 13 vs St. John's – Noon
Feb. 14 vs St. John's – 2:30 p.m.
Feb. 14 at Stetson – 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 15 vs Minnesota – 10 a.m.
Feb. 20 vs Merrimack – Noon
Feb. 21 vs George Mason – Noon
Feb. 21 vs Seton Hall – 4 p.m.
Feb. 22 vs Merrimack – 10 a.m.
Feb. 26 at Hawaii – 6:30 p.m. HT (11:30 p.m. ET)
Feb. 27 at Hawaii – 6:30 p.m. HT (11:30 p.m. ET)
Feb. 28 at Hawaii – 6:30 p.m. HT (11:30 p.m. ET)
March 1 at Hawaii – 1 p.m. HT (6 p.m. ET)
March 6 vs Central Michigan – 2 p.m.
March 7 vs Central Michigan – 1 p.m.
March 8 vs Central Michigan – 1 p.m.
March 10 at Kentucky – 6:30 p.m.
March 13 vs Eastern Michigan – 3 p.m.
March 14 vs Eastern Michigan – 1 p.m.
March 15 vs Eastern Michigan – 1 p.m.
March 17 at Valparaiso – 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET)
March 18 vs Butler – 3 p.m.
March 20 at Western Michigan – 3 p.m.
March 21 at Western Michigan – 1 p.m.
March 22 at Western Michigan – 1 p.m.
March 24 at Southern Indiana – 5 p.m. CT (6 p.m. ET)
March 27 vs Ohio – 3 p.m.
March 28 vs Ohio – 1 p.m.
March 29 vs Ohio – 1 p.m.
March 31 vs Xavier – 3 p.m.
April 2 at Miami (OH) – 3 p.m.
April 3 at Miami (OH) – 1 p.m.
April 4 at Miami (OH) – 1 p.m.
April 7 at Indiana – 6 p.m.
April 10 vs Akron – 3 p.m.
April 11 vs Akron – 1 p.m.
April 12 vs Akron – 1 p.m.
April 14 at Butler – 4 p.m.
April 15 vs Southern Indiana – 3 p.m.
April 17 at Kent State – 6 p.m.
April 18 at Kent State – 3 p.m.
April 19 at Kent State – 1 p.m.
April 21 vs Indiana – 3 p.m.
April 24 vs UMass – 3 p.m.
April 25 vs UMass – 1 p.m.
April 26 vs UMass – 1 p.m.
May 1 at Toledo – 3 p.m.
May 2 at Toledo – 1 p.m.
May 3 at Toledo – 1 p.m.
May 5 at Purdue – 6 p.m.
May 8 at Northern Illinois – 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET)
May 9 at Northern Illinois – 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET)
May 10 at Northern Illinois – 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET)
May 12 vs Purdue – 3 p.m.
May 14 vs Bowling Green – 3 p.m.
May 15 vs Bowling Green – 3 p.m.
May 16 vs Bowling Green – 1 p.m.
May 20-23 at MAC Tournament (Avon, Ohio)

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