After laying a steady foundation over his first two seasons in Columbus, Ohio State catcher Mason Eckelman has taken a major step forward in his development.
Through two years in the program, Eckelman has grown into a dependable presence both behind the plate and in the heart of the Buckeyes’ lineup.
Now in his junior season, Eckelman has emerged as a key piece for an Ohio State team looking to extend its late-season momentum into Omaha as it heads into the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2024.
Eckelman’s cousin, Ohio State first baseman Henry Kaczmar, said watching Mason’s growth throughout his life has made his success especially rewarding to witness.
“The steps that Mason has taken both on and off the field have been tremendous,” Kaczmar said. “I grew up with him by my side, every single day we were together, and we trained together. We always hung out in high school and to see the steps that he’s taken has just been incredible.”
As Kaczmar said, that development didn’t happen overnight, as Eckelman has steadily built his role within the Ohio State program.
After appearing in 14 games as a freshman under former Ohio State head coach Bill Mosiello, the Broadview Heights, Ohio native stepped into a starting role with the Buckeyes for the first time in 2025 and recorded a .281 batting average on the season.
Though after Ohio State finished with a disappointing 13-37 record, the 6-1, 220-pound catcher dedicated his offseason to reshaping his frame with the help of the Ohio State strength and conditioning staff.
“Our strength group has done an incredible job just allowing me to be myself and working with what I like to do and what works for me best,’ Eckelman said. “I just really trust them and trust their process. I allow them to do most of the work and then just kind of let me do the easy stuff, whether you know that be looking at the workouts for that day or knowing how I need to recover, those different types of things. So it’s just been fun playing for them, then for the guys around us, and always looking to get better. It’s doing great. Yeah, it looks pretty gnarly. It doesn’t look great, but it feels awesome.”
Now in his junior season, Eckelman has emerged as one of the key pieces of Ohio State’s lineup heading into the Big Ten Tournament. He is batting .308 with 56 hits, 46 RBIs, eight home runs and four triples while also recording a team-high 282 putouts behind the plate.
Ohio State head coach Justin Haire said Eckelman has shown flashes of different talents in different months throughout the season, though a foot injury slowed his progress before everything seemed to come together in May.
“Mason had a really nice month of March, the first six weeks of the year,” Haire said. “He basically won us the Minnesota series, kind of single-handedly. Then got injured, fouled a ball off his toe and did it twice in basically a week.
“He controlled his own well in April, but it wasn’t the same thunder in the bat. And I said, ‘Hey, man, we need to take March Mason and April Mason and we need to combine them and make it the month of May.’ Man, he did a great job of that. He takes it extremely seriously. He pours in the work, just like most of our guys, and it’s fun to see guys get rewarded.”
Eckelman said experience throughout the season has been key in helping him develop a more consistent approach at the plate.
“Experience plays a key factor in finding what works for you,” Eckelman said. “That doesn’t always look exactly the same for each player, and so you have to understand who you are as a person, how you’re moving and what works for you.”
As the Buckeyes prepare for the Big Ten tournament, Eckelman said the team’s emphasis on trust and execution has helped fuel Ohio State’s late-season success.
“The main thing has been just trusting the process. That’s something our coaches and our team preach every day. Just believe in ourselves, be grateful to represent the team and the guys in the dugout,” Eckelman said. “We know that those guys are going to have our backs and that the plan is thought out and it’s a good one. That has really been key points that they’ve been harping on recently, is just really trusting the process, playing free and playing for each other.”
No.6-seeded Ohio State will take on No. 11-seeded Washington at Charles Schwab Field Omaha on Tuesday at 10 p.m. E.T. on the Big Ten Network.
Image courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
