Photo by: Molli Larsen
Kats haul in All-CUSA honors
5/19/2026 12:00:00 PM | Baseball
DALLAS – Conference USA officials unveiled its 2026 all-conference baseball team on Tuesday with three Sam Houston Bearkats earning honors from the league.
Starting pitcher Ryan Peterson was named to the All-CUSA First Team, while catcher Wes Baker and first baseman Cade Corcoran each earned spots on the league's annual All-Freshman Team.
Teams and awards were voted on by the league's head coaches with Liberty's Tanner Marsh being named CUSA's Player of the Year and Ben Blair named Pitcher of the Year. League champion Jax State got its share of kudos as well with Steve Bieser named Coach of the Year and Jaxon Pate earning Freshman of the Year. Louisiana Tech's starting pitcher Declan Dahl was also named the league's top newcomer.
The Kats will open CUSA Tournament play on Wednesday as the No. 8 seed, taking on No. 5 Louisiana Tech at 9:00 a.m. CT at Mickey Dunn Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga. The Kats are part of Pool B in the newly-formed pool format of the tournament and will need to take down the Bulldogs on Wednesday and No. 2 Liberty on Thursday to advance to the semifinal round.
Each game leading up to the title game of the tournament can be seen on ESPN+, while Sunday's championship game will air nationally on CBS Sports Network. Â
Ryan Peterson – First Team All-CUSA (SP)
Peterson enters this week's CUSA Tournament having put together one of the best pitching seasons in Bearkat history. He leads the league with 85.0 innings and 2.86 ERA and is tied with Blair for tops in CUSA with 102 strikeouts.
He is the second Bearkat pitcher to earn first-team honors since the program joined CUSA, joining Coltin Atkinson who was a first-teamer in 2024.
This year Peterson has been named to numerous national watch lists including National Pitcher of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation, and midyear Pitcher of the Year watch lists by both Baseball America and Perfect Game. The big righty was also most-recently listed as the No. 79 prospect for the 2026 MLB Draft by MLB Pipeline.
Peterson's durability has been on display all year as he was the only pitcher in CUSA to log at least 5.0 innings with at least five strikeouts in every start this season until last week at Louisiana Tech. He picked up three punchouts in 4.0 innings of an abbreviated start in Ruston, pushing him past 100 strikeouts for the season and 200 for his career. He is only the sixth Kat in program history with 100 punchouts in a season and only the 10th to rack up 200 in a career.
The junior from Shiner hit double-digit strikeouts twice this season against UIC and Oklahoma State and was named CUSA's Pitcher of the Week on March 27 after throwing a complete-game, 1-hit shutout against WKU. It was the first complete-game shutout by a Bearkat since 2017.
Wes Baker –All-Freshman Team
Baker has been a big piece to the Bearkat offense in 2026, bursting onto the scene with a home run in his first at-bat of the season at McNeese and never looking back. The switch-hitting backstop from Houston enters the CUSA Tournament hitting .265 for the season with eight home runs and 39 RBI.
He leads the team in RBI and is tied for the team lead in homers, a mark which also ties him with Andrew Fregia's mark in 2016 as the top home-run total ever for a Bearkat freshman. His eight home runs and 39 RBI are the most among any freshman in CUSA this season.
Baker has taken off in the final two months of the season, driving in 25 of his runs in his last 16 games since April 17. His biggest game came at No. 4 Texas when he homered twice, including a grand slam, and had seven total RBI in the Kats' near upset of the Longhorns. The seven RBI was a single-game program record for a Bearkat freshman.
Cade Corcoran – All-Freshman Team
Corcoran is one of only two Bearkats to play in and start all 56 games this season and has been a huge piece to both the Bearkat offense and defense this season.
The freshman from College Station goes into the CUSA Tournament has hit .260 this season with seven homers and 33 RBI, along with tying for the team lead with 11 doubles. His homer and RBI totals are second only to Baker among all freshmen within CUSA.
Corcoran has also posted a .420 slugging percentage and has drawn a team-high 40 walks while committing just two errors in over 400 chances in the field.
He has collected 14 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games, including a 6-RBI game recently vs Lamar.
Starting pitcher Ryan Peterson was named to the All-CUSA First Team, while catcher Wes Baker and first baseman Cade Corcoran each earned spots on the league's annual All-Freshman Team.
Teams and awards were voted on by the league's head coaches with Liberty's Tanner Marsh being named CUSA's Player of the Year and Ben Blair named Pitcher of the Year. League champion Jax State got its share of kudos as well with Steve Bieser named Coach of the Year and Jaxon Pate earning Freshman of the Year. Louisiana Tech's starting pitcher Declan Dahl was also named the league's top newcomer.
The Kats will open CUSA Tournament play on Wednesday as the No. 8 seed, taking on No. 5 Louisiana Tech at 9:00 a.m. CT at Mickey Dunn Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga. The Kats are part of Pool B in the newly-formed pool format of the tournament and will need to take down the Bulldogs on Wednesday and No. 2 Liberty on Thursday to advance to the semifinal round.
Each game leading up to the title game of the tournament can be seen on ESPN+, while Sunday's championship game will air nationally on CBS Sports Network. Â
Ryan Peterson – First Team All-CUSA (SP)
Peterson enters this week's CUSA Tournament having put together one of the best pitching seasons in Bearkat history. He leads the league with 85.0 innings and 2.86 ERA and is tied with Blair for tops in CUSA with 102 strikeouts.
He is the second Bearkat pitcher to earn first-team honors since the program joined CUSA, joining Coltin Atkinson who was a first-teamer in 2024.
This year Peterson has been named to numerous national watch lists including National Pitcher of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation, and midyear Pitcher of the Year watch lists by both Baseball America and Perfect Game. The big righty was also most-recently listed as the No. 79 prospect for the 2026 MLB Draft by MLB Pipeline.
Peterson's durability has been on display all year as he was the only pitcher in CUSA to log at least 5.0 innings with at least five strikeouts in every start this season until last week at Louisiana Tech. He picked up three punchouts in 4.0 innings of an abbreviated start in Ruston, pushing him past 100 strikeouts for the season and 200 for his career. He is only the sixth Kat in program history with 100 punchouts in a season and only the 10th to rack up 200 in a career.
The junior from Shiner hit double-digit strikeouts twice this season against UIC and Oklahoma State and was named CUSA's Pitcher of the Week on March 27 after throwing a complete-game, 1-hit shutout against WKU. It was the first complete-game shutout by a Bearkat since 2017.
Wes Baker –All-Freshman Team
Baker has been a big piece to the Bearkat offense in 2026, bursting onto the scene with a home run in his first at-bat of the season at McNeese and never looking back. The switch-hitting backstop from Houston enters the CUSA Tournament hitting .265 for the season with eight home runs and 39 RBI.
He leads the team in RBI and is tied for the team lead in homers, a mark which also ties him with Andrew Fregia's mark in 2016 as the top home-run total ever for a Bearkat freshman. His eight home runs and 39 RBI are the most among any freshman in CUSA this season.
Baker has taken off in the final two months of the season, driving in 25 of his runs in his last 16 games since April 17. His biggest game came at No. 4 Texas when he homered twice, including a grand slam, and had seven total RBI in the Kats' near upset of the Longhorns. The seven RBI was a single-game program record for a Bearkat freshman.
Cade Corcoran – All-Freshman Team
Corcoran is one of only two Bearkats to play in and start all 56 games this season and has been a huge piece to both the Bearkat offense and defense this season.
The freshman from College Station goes into the CUSA Tournament has hit .260 this season with seven homers and 33 RBI, along with tying for the team lead with 11 doubles. His homer and RBI totals are second only to Baker among all freshmen within CUSA.
Corcoran has also posted a .420 slugging percentage and has drawn a team-high 40 walks while committing just two errors in over 400 chances in the field.
He has collected 14 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games, including a 6-RBI game recently vs Lamar.
Players Mentioned
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BSB: Highlights vs McNeese (Game 2)
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