Eastern Illinois baseball placed two players on the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Region teams released on Tuesday (June 9).

Mike O'Conor earned first team honors at the designated hitter position while Bryce Riggs was named a second team selection as a pitcher.

This marks the third time that the Panthers have placed multiple players on the All-Region team with the last time occurring in 2023.  The first time for EIU was during the 2009 season.

During the regular season O'Conor earned his second consecutive first-team All-OVC selection after leading EIU in home runs (15) and RBIs (53). His home run count ranked fourth in the OVC, while his 53 RBIs placed him ninth in the conference. O'Conor finished the season with a .338 batting average and a team best .727 slugging percentage. He earned the only OVC Player of the Week award for the Panthers on April 6th after a dominating weekend against Tennessee Tech. In the three-game series, O'Conor hit .667 with 11 RBIs and totaled four home runs. 

Riggs was named OVC Pitcher of the Year during the regular season leading the Panthers as the Saturday starter. Overall, Riggs finished the regular season 7-2 with a 3.32 ERA.  He was tied for first in the OVC in total strikeouts with 75 and tied for second in wins (7), trailing his teammate, Tyler Conklin. The standout starter led the OVC in opposing batting average at .187. He allowed 56 hits on the year, which was the second fewest in the Ohio Valley Conference. Finishing off his resume, he was named a National Pitcher of the Year semifinalist on April 22nd and was a two-time OVC Pitcher of the Week this season.  

EIU finished the season at 33-21 reaching the OVC Tournament Championship game for the second straight season.  It was the Panthers fourth 30+ plus win season in the last five years.