BEAUMONT, Texas — Chris Olivier, the Southland Conference's most dominant pitcher, added another honor to his resume, earning 2026 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Division I Central All-Region first-team recognition.

Olivier becomes the 29th Cardinal since 2002 to receive ABCA All-Region honors and the 10th pitcher. Lamar has now produced four All-Region selections since 2024.

The Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection, Olivier finished the season 7-4 with a 2.78 ERA across 94 innings.

He struck out 108 batters, becoming the third Cardinal pitcher since 2010 to reach 100 strikeouts in a season.

His total also tied for the fourth-most in program history, matching Craig Fisch's mark set in 1980.

Olivier held opponents to a .180 batting average and posted a 1.05 WHIP in 16 starts.

He earned Southland Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player honors after going 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings, allowing two earned runs with 11 strikeouts.

Olivier became the first Cardinal to earn tournament MVP since Anthony Moore in 2010 and delivered the program's 12th Pitcher of the Year honor, the first since Brooks Caple in 2024.

Among his top performances, Olivier tossed a complete-game, two-hit shutout in a 5-0 win over Northwestern State, striking out 11.

He became the first Cardinal to throw a complete-game shutout since Trevin Michael in 2021.

He also recorded 14 strikeouts in an 8-2 season-opening win over Oakland, the third-highest single-game total in program history.

Olivier was particularly dominant at home, going 6-2 with a 1.37 ERA in nine starts, totaling 74 strikeouts and three shutouts.

A four-time Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week, Olivier also earned national recognition as a National Pitcher of the Year semifinalist, Dick Howser National Player of the Week, Perfect Game Pitcher of the Week, College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Week, 6-4 Analytics D1 Pitcher of the Week and a member of Baseball America's College Team of the Week.
 

NCAA Div. I Central All-Region First Team
Pos.	Player	Cl.	School
C	Carson Tinney	Jr.	Texas
1B	Tyce Armstrong	Sr.	Baylor
2B	Slade McCloud	Sr.	Tarleton State
3B	Aidan Meola	Sr.	Oklahoma State
SS	Dee Kennedy	Jr.	Kansas State
SS	Tyson LeBlanc	Jr.	Kansas
OF	Logan Hughes	Jr.	Texas Tech
OF	Kollin Ritchie	Jr.	Oklahoma State
OF	Caden Sorrell	Jr.	Texas A&M
DH	Diego Cardenas	Sr.	Abilene Christian
P	Carson Jasa	So.	Nebraska
P	Chris Olivier	Sr.	Lamar
P	Aiden Sims	So.	Texas A&M
P	Dylan Volantis	So.	Texas
RP	Sam Cozart	Fr.	Texas
RP	Clayton Freshcorn	Jr.	Texas A&M
NCAA Div. I Central All-Region Second Team
Pos.	Player	Cl.	School
C	Deiten Lachance	Jr.	Oklahoma
C	Augusto Mungarrieta	Jr.	Kansas
1B	Gavin Grahovac	Jr.	Texas A&M
1B	Armani Raygoza	Jr.	UTRGV
2B	Wyatt Hanoian	Fr.	Air Force
2B	Tracer Lopez	Sr.	Texas Tech
3B	Jayson Jones	Sr.	Wichita State
3B	Chayton Krauss	Sr.	Dallas Baptist
SS	Dylan Carey	Sr.	Nebraska
OF	Jake Bennett	Sr.	Dallas Baptist
OF	Makani Tanaka	Sr.	Oral Roberts
OF	Aiden Robbins	Jr.	Texas
OF	Drew Detlefsen	Sr.	UTSA
DH	Luke Pettitte	Jr.	Dallas Baptist
P	Ethan Lund	So.	Oklahoma State
P	Conor Myles	Gr.	UTSA
P	Ruger Riojas	Sr.	Texas
RP	Boede Rahe	Jr.	Kansas