HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston baseball team and head coach Jay Sirianni unveiled the 2026 schedule on Monday as the program enters its third season in Conference USA.
Season-ticket renewals are scheduled to become available for the 2026 season on Friday, November 28 and can be purchased by visiting GoBearkats.com/tickets or by calling the Bearkat Ticket Office at 936-294-1729.
The 56-game schedule includes 28 games at Don Sanders Stadium, including SHSU hosting UIC and Prairie View in non-conference weekend series ahead of CUSA's opening weekend vs Jax State, March 13-15 at The Don.
The season will open with a weekend away from Huntsville for the first time since 2019 when the Kats renew a rivalry with former Southland Conference foe McNeese for three games at Joe Miller Ballpark, beginning February 13. The Kats then return home the following weekend to host first-time opponent UIC in the home opener before going on the road a week later to battle Oklahoma State three times at O'Brate Stadium in Stillwater.
In addition to hosting Jax State in the league opener, other home CUSA series include defending league tournament champion WKU (March 27-29), Dallas Baptist (April 10-12), Middle Tennessee (April 24-26) and first-year CUSA member Delaware (May 8-10).
The first road series in CUSA play begins March 20 at FIU with other league road weekends coming at league newcomer Missouri State (April 2-4), NM State (April 17-19) and Kennesaw State (May 1-3) before closing the season at Louisiana Tech beginning Thursday, May 14.
The midweek slate includes a slight change to the annual Don Sanders Cup series with Houston with the teams moving away from playing an annual game at a neutral venue in Sugar Land to each game being at home sites. The Kats will get two home games vs the Cougars at The Don in 2026 on February 24 and April 7 while also traveling to Schroeder Park on March 2.
Sam Houston will play a home-and-home midweek set on March 17-18 against Lamar with the teams first squaring off on Tuesday in Beaumont before battling the following day in Huntsville. Other home midweeks include UT Arlington (March 24), UTRGV (April 14), Baylor (April 21) and HCU (May 12).
The road midweek slate will be highlighted by trips to Texas on April 28 and Texas A&M and March 31. Other road midweeks include going to HCU (Feb 17), Baylor (March 10) and Rice (April 15).
The Conference USA Tournament is scheduled for May 20-24 at Mickey Dunn Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga.
