NEW CONCORD, Ohio— The no. 23 nationally ranked Mount Union baseball team claimed the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Regular Season Championship with a split at Muskingum on Sunday to conclude the regular season.

The Purple Raiders (27-9, 15-3 OAC), under veteran head coach Paul Hesse, have locked the no. 1 seed and hosting rights for the 2005 OAC Tournament, which will start next Thursday, May 8. The OAC Regular Season Title is the first for Mount Union since 2017 and the second since 1970. It will be only the second time the Raiders have ever hosted a conference tournament.

In the first game against Muskingum (28-12, 10-8 OAC) on Sunday, Mount Union led 5-1, going into the bottom of the sixth. Muskingum answered with seven runs in the sixth. The Purple Raiders made it close with back-to-back home runs in the eighth by senior Alex Stegman (Berea, Ohio / Berea-Midpark) and junior Chris Tsouras (Las Vegas, NV / Arbor) to make it 8-7. The Muskies hung on for an 8-7 win. Senior Zachary Breeden (Cincinnati, Ohio / Oak Hills) moved to 4-4 on the season, pitching 3.0 innings, giving up one run off one hit (a Muskingum home run).

In the nightcap, the Muskies led 5-4 after four innings, before the Raiders scored seven unanswered runs in the next two innings before the game was called in the sixth due to the weather. Mount Union won 11-5. Graduate Jaired Lehman (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) highlighted game two with two home runs, totaling three on the day, as he hit a homer in game one. Lehman hit a team-high six RBIs on the day.

The Raiders advance to the OAC Tournament for the first time since 2022. Mount Union won the OAC Tournament title outright in 2013 and tied Marietta in 1970. The Raiders also won the OAC Team Championship in 1964 when the regular season standings determined the team champion.

More information on the OAC Tournament will be posted on athletics.mountunion.edu when it becomes available.