Brad Barr

2026 Baseball Season Preview

2/16/2026 3:00:00 PM

GAMBIER, Ohio – Looking to replace a strong core of seniors with a large crop of underclassmen and develop some key returners in the field and on the mound, the Kenyon College baseball team looks to break through the tough North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) standings and return to the playoffs in 2026.

2025 Review
The Owls amassed a 15-15-1 record during the 2025 season, highlighted by a five-game win streak in March, and fought to an 8-7-1 record in the NCAC. That conference mark put the Owls firmly in fifth in the conference standings, just missing out on the four-team playoffs.

Coaching Staff
Matt Burdette will lead Kenyon for his 31st season in Gambier, as the skipper looks to earn his 500th win this season. The four-time NCAC Coach of the Year enters the season with 493 career coaching wins Over the last five seasons, Burdette's teams have posted a record of .500 or better. Ronnie Krsolovic will tune up the bats as the hitting coach entering his fifth season, while Jared Ferenchak is also in his fifth campaign as the pitching coach.

NCAC Preseason Poll
The Owls are slotted in sixth place in the conference's preseason coaches poll, totaling 36 points after the ballots were counted. Defending champion Denison University is first in the poll with 79 points and seven first place votes. Wittenberg University finished in second place with 64 points and one first place vote, while Wabash College earned 60 points to finish third. The College of Wooster received the remaining first place vote, sitting fourth with 57 points.

Returning All-Conference Honorees
All three of Kenyon's 2025 All-NCAC honorees graduated last May. The team does, however, have one returning all-conference performer in senior pitcher Theo Canning. As a first-year, Canning was named an All-NCAC Second Team pick and, as a sophomore, he was elevated to the First Team. Last year, Canning dealt with some shoulder issues and threw just 11 innings. Through those first three years of his Kenyon career, Canning owns a 3.62 earned run average and 104 strikeouts in 117 career innings pitched.

Returning Statistical Leaders
At the plate, infielder Tyler Nee leads the returners in nearly every offensive statistical category after starting all 31 games in 2025, the only returning player to do so. The rising junior led the club in batting average (.276), OPS (.816), at bats (105), runs (20), hits (29) and RBI (17) one season ago. Catcher Ben Resnick ranks second, among the returners, in batting average, hitting at .241 in 87 at bats, while infielder Niko Price stepped up to the dish 96 times and totalled 16 runs and 22 hits, all three of those outputs rank second among the returning players.
Isaiah Vance and Peyton Hodges each logged 20.2 innings in 2025, the most among the returning members of the pitching staff. Vance had nine appearances and two starts, and Hodges made eight appearances and five starts. In relief, Jack Enger appeared in 12 games with 18.2 innings, while Jackson Niedel logged ten appearances and 16.2 innings pitched. Canning is another notable returner who will have a larger role this season. He totaled just 11 innings pitched and a 2.45 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 2025 after being away from the team for a significant part of the season. In both of his first two seasons with the Owls, Canning threw over 50 innings and struck out 45 batters.

Schedule Overview
Season Opener: Saturday, February 21 at Johnson & Wales University (12:00 p.m.)
Home Opener: Wednesday, March 25 vs. Capital University (4:00 p.m.)
NCAC Opener: Saturday, March 28, vs. Denison University (12:00 p.m.)

How to Follow
Fans can follow Kenyon baseball throughout the season via the following links:
Live coverage (stats and video) - https://athletics.kenyon.edu/live
Twitter and Instagram - @KenyonSports
YouTube - @KenyonAthletics

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