SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury baseball opens its 2026 home slate with a Tuesday (Feb. 10) afternoon non-conference contest against No. 2 Central Missouri, scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch at Mark Worley Field at Meador Park.
The Panthers are coming off a three-game series sweep of UAH over the weekend in Huntsville, Ala., giving Drury its first 3-0 start to a season in four years. UCM is coming off a four-game home series sweep of Arkansas Tech this past weekend.
Fans may follow the action through the GLVC Sports Network (subscription required), where games will be streamed live throughout the regular season. New for the 2025-26 academic year, viewing access to live broadcasts from GLVC regular season and postseason contests will be available via monthly subscription ($30) or annual subscription ($140). Single-event access can also be purchased for $15.Â
LEADING OFF:
- Drury will celebrate its 20th season of varsity competition since the program's reinstatement in 2007.
- The Panthers bring an overall program record of 546-410-1 into Tuesday's game.
- DU is led by 14th-year head coach Scott Nasby, who has compiled an overall mark of 370-276-1 as the Panthers' all-time winningest coach.
- Preseason First-Team All-America INF Jackson Crider returns to lead the Drury offense after hitting a Great Lakes Valley Conference-best .434 last spring as a redshirt freshman.
- With its season-opening three-game sweep of UAH last weekend, Drury is off to its first 3-0 start since 2022, when the Panthers won their first 10 games of the season;Â DU also improved to 9-11 in season-opening games, including a 6-8 mark under Nasby.
- Senior OF Connor Bain and junior RHP Coleman Morrison earned a sweep of the GLVC's weekly honors on Monday, with Bain claiming the league's Player of the Week award and Morrison winning Pitcher of the Week recognition following a strong opening weekend in Huntsville.
- Drury hit .374 as a team and averaged 10.7 runs per outing in its three games in Huntsville; Bain led the Panthers with a .571 average thanks to a 4-for-5 effort in the series opener on Friday.
- Tuesday's game will be streamed live via the GLVC Sports Network, where single-event access can also be purchased for $15.Â
- Fans are reminded that Mark Worley Field at Meador Park is a CASHLESS FACILITY and transactions are limited to credit/debit card and mobile wallet platforms.Â
SERIES HISTORY
- Drury enters Tuesday's game 5-12 all-time against the Mules, including a pair of losses two years ago in the most recent matchups of the two clubs.
- Overall, the Mules have won eight of the last nine meetings, dating back to 2018.
- DU has gone 2-7 vs. UCM at home, with the Mules claiming a 10-2 win in their last visit to Mark Worley Field on March 5, 2024.
BAIN, MORRISON SWEEP GLVC HONORS
- Senior OF Connor Bain and junior RHP Coleman Morrison earned a clean sweep of the Athletic Solutions Great Lakes Valley Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week honors after leading the Panthers to a series sweep of UAH over the weekend.
- Bain kicked off his senior campaign with a dominant effort at the plate to lead Drury to its first 3-0 start to a season since 2022; the Troy, Ill., native went a combined 7-for-9 at the plate in DU's season-opening doubleheader sweep of UAH on Friday, including a 4-for-5 effort in a 10-7 win in which he homered, drove in three runs and scored three more.
- Bain added a 3-for-4 performance with a steal and another run scored in an 8-5 DU win in the nightcap, before driving in a run in Saturday's series finale, a 14-7 Panthers victory.
- In all, Bain batted .571 (8-for-14) and slugged a team-leading .786 with a home run, four RBIs, four runs scored and a steal in Drury's three contests in Huntsville.
- Morrison logged an impressive outing in his Drury debut, picking up the mound victory in the Panthers' season-opening win in Friday's first game.
- A right-hander from Nixa, Mo., he worked 5.0 hitless and scoreless frames, striking out six hitters and walking just two in a 79-pitch outing.
- Morrison fanned two hitters to escape the home half of the first inning, then retired nine-straight Charger hitters and allowed just two more UAH batters to reach base.
TOUGH SLATE AWAITS PANTHERS IN 2026
- Drury's 50-game 2026 schedule will feature a total of 13 contests against seven opponents who qualified for the 2025 NCAA Division II Tournament last spring.Â
- The Panthers' slate will include a pair of games against national runner-up Central Missouri, as well as contests with two more clubs – Indianapolis and Pittsburg State – that advanced to Super Regional play last season.
- In all, DU will play 25 home games at Mark Worley Field at Meador Park, starting with Tuesday's game.
BAIN CLIMBING THE DU CHARTS
- Connor Bain enters his final season as a Panther with the opportunity to leave a lasting imprint in the DU record book.
- Bain brings a .315 career batting average and 126 runs scored into the new campaign, with the latter total ranking 12th in DU history.
- He is also tied for 11th on DU's career home run chart with 13 round-trippers, just one away from cracking the top 10 (Caleb Cole) and 12 shy of Luke Burk's program record.
- Additionally, Bain has swiped 45 bases to tie for seventh on the Panthers' career list, which is 32 shy of Nick Thimesch's program record of 77.
- Bain also ranks among DU's all-time leaders in walks (75) and needs just 20 more hits to break into the Panthers' career top 10 list, with 173 to his credit coming into the season.Â
LOOKING AHEAD
Following an off week, the Panthers will travel to Edmond, Okla., for a three-game weekend series with Central Oklahoma, Feb. 20-22.
Fans may purchase 2026 season tickets or single-game seats through DruryPanthers.com.
For all the latest information on Drury men's basketball, visit DruryPanthers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Panthers on X and Instagram.
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