Blue Wahoos Help Launch 2026 College Baseball Season With Ohio State-Saint Louis On Mardi Gras Weekend
The temperature outside his office on Wednesday was still below 40 degrees and snow remained around the ballpark as Ohio State Buckeyes baseball coach Justin Haire discussed his team’s unique, season-opening trip to Pensacola. Mardi Gras? Parades? Floats, beads and festive scene? Bring it on. “Having a party in Pensacola
The temperature outside his office on Wednesday was still below 40 degrees and snow remained around the ballpark as Ohio State Buckeyes baseball coach Justin Haire discussed his team’s unique, season-opening trip to Pensacola.
Mardi Gras? Parades? Floats, beads and festive scene?
Bring it on.
“Having a party in Pensacola sounds pretty fun to us in mid-February,” said Haire, laughing, as he finalized travel plans.
The Buckeyes will play the opening weekend of the 2026 college baseball season at Blue Wahoos Stadium, facing the Saint Louis Billikens in a three-game series beginning Friday at 2 p.m. Games will follow at 7 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday with the start times designed to avoid direct conflict with Pensacola’s annual Mardi Gras trio of parades downtown and Sunday’s parade on Pensacola Beach.
It will be the first time in six years that two NCAA Division I teams have staged regular-season games at Blue Wahoos Stadium. The games will be livestreamed on the Big Ten Network-Plus. Ohio State will be the home team all three games.
It will be a new venue for both teams and their lengthy baseball history. Saint Louis enters its 125th season. Baseball was Ohio State’s first athletic sport, the program founded in 1881.
So, yes, this kind of history.
“For us, this is awesome,” said Haire, a Hamilton, Ohio native in his second year as OSU head coach. “If we can come down and feed off some of that (Mardi Gras) energy, feed off some of the events and carve out an experience for our guys and our fans, that’s great.
“We are super excited to play in a great venue and be in a town that has some energy about it… and be the home team for three games. Maybe this could be our home away from home and turn this into a annual thing and get thousands of Buckeyes’ fans to travel.”
That would suit the Blue Wahoos just fine. Events manager Shannon Hannah began conversations with Haire and Ohio State a year ago to finalize this weekend’s series. All Division I college teams across the country are beginning their seasons now.
“(Haire) had seen we’ve done other games here before and reached out to us, and of course, we jumped on having them play here,” Hannah said. "Anything that we can do to prove that Pensacola is in the mix, in the picture, so to speak, we want to do.
“We pride ourselves in giving teams excellent experiences and this is a chance for us to welcome Ohio State and Saint Louis here. Pensacola is a city of festivals and celebrations and the community rallies around things like this. We shared that (it was Mardi Gras weekend) with them and it provides more to do.”
Saint Louis finished with a 33-26 record in 2025, the Billikens’ third consecutive 30-win season. All three of the team’s top hitters return.
Ohio State struggled to a 13-37 record last year, but Haire has revamped the roster before his second season and has been uplifted by the team’s preseason workouts.
“Our guys have a good spirit about them,” Haire said. “Last year was not the kind of year we wanted, but it was year one of us (new coaching staff) being here.
“This roster is more reflective of the type of young men we want. I really like our team, I like the work they have put in. We’re relatively healthy which is always a good thing. We’re excited. We’re anxious to play some games.”
Both teams will practice Thursday night at Blue Wahoos Stadium, which is free to watch. It will be just the sixth time Ohio State has practiced outdoors in 27 practice dates allowed by the NCAA.
That is the way of life for college baseball in the Midwest, along with teams in the Northeast. The previous two years, Ohio State opened its season in Arizona, playing quality teams from the western side of the country.
Haire likes the idea of traveling to Florida where OSU has many alumni and fans.
“I would like to see if we can make it a destination for our fans, our alumni and the university,” he said. And hopefully every year we can open up at the same place and it can be a whole event.
“This is vital for us. And if you are going to spend time and effort to get to a place, you want to go somewhere where you know the games will get played.”
Blue Wahoos Stadium hosted a three-game series in 2020 with Oklahoma playing Virginia. It occurred right before the first onslaught of the coronavirus. Since then, there has not been a Division I matchup in the regular season.
Wisconsin-Whitewater, the reigning NCAA Division III national champions, will return to spend nine days playing games in March at Blue Wahoos Stadium as part of its annual spring break. And the University of West Florida will play one game at the ballpark in March.
Getting Ohio State to Pensacola and having the Big Ten Network providing the games on its platform brings a new element of exposure.
“That part is awesome,” Hannah said. “Anytime we get a chance to show off how beautiful our stadium is, how beautiful the backdrop is and teams enjoying themselves here, it’s a great thing. This what (Blue Wahoos owners) Quint and Rishy (Studer) built the stadium for… to host year-round events like this one.
“And now, look at what we’ve become… two blocks away the city will be celebrating Mardi Gras and we’ll be playing baseball here on TV."
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: Season-opening college baseball
WHO: Saint Louis Billikens vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium.
WHEN: Thursday 6-9 p.m. (split practice time allocated for both teams) then games on Friday through Sunday.
GAME TIMES: Friday at 2 p.m., Saturday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 11 a.m.
ADMISSION: Free for Thursday practice, then $14.25 per-person each game.
INFO: Tickets can be purchased with ticket link on www.bluewahoos.com or at stadium box office.
VIDEO LIVESTREAM: Big Ten-Plus (www.bigtenplus.com).
SPECIAL EVENTS: Ohio State is hosting a meet-and-greet with players and coaching staff following Thursday night’s practice. On Saturday, Ohio State alumni are hosting a private brunch (prior reservations only) from 10 a.m.-Noon at The Wharf Fish and Oyster Company on Pensacola Beach.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Ohio State – Catcher Mason Eckelman, infielder Lee Ellis, pitcher Gavin Kuzniewski. Saint Louis – First baseman Riley Iffrig, left fielder Hank Gomric, Shortstop-third baseman Austin Neuweg.