• Championship Central | Follow Us on Twitter | Facebook | Championship Program (PDF) | Updated Bracket (PDF)
The 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship continues with four scheduled games on Thursday.
This season marks the 39th time the event has been held and the first time the event has been held at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama. The venue is run by the Oxford Parks & Recreation Department which oversaw the completion of the 370-acre sports complex which includes baseball, soccer, softball and track & field/cross country facilities. The first major event hosted at the complex was the 2016 OVC Softball Championship held in May of this past year; the 2017 OVC Softball Championship was also held at the same site earlier this month. This year also marks an expansion from six to eight teams with a new bracket.
Tickets, which can be purchased in person at the park, will be $10 per day or $25 for an all-session pass (up to 14 total games). There is also an $5 a day rate for college students with ID as well as children 6-12 years old (children 5 and under are free). All seats are general admission for the OVC Championship.
The entire tournament is being streamed live and free of charge on the OVC Digital Network. The games are available in HD and available on any computer, tablet or smart phone, as well as Roku streaming devices. The games will air live and are immediately available on-demand.
Game 5: #7 Austin Peay 8, #4 Jacksonville State 7
Box Score |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Photo Gallery
Game 6: #1 Tennessee Tech 14, 5 Southeast Missouri 9
Box Score |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Photo Gallery
Game 7: #2 Morehead State 12, #6 Murray State 6
Box Score |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Photo Gallery
Game 8: #3 Belmont 6, #7 Austin Peay 1
Box Score |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Photo Gallery
#7 AUSTIN PEAY 8, #4 JACKSONVILLE STATE 7
OXFORD, Ala. - Right fielder Chase Hamilton hit two solo home runs, including a key eighth inning shot, to help Austin Peay State University's baseball team hold on for an 8-7 victory against Jacksonville State in Game 5 of the Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship, Wednesday morning, at Choccolocco Park.
The No. 7 seed Governors stayed alive in the tournament and will face No. 3 seed Belmont in a scheduled 7:30 p.m. elimination contest later today.
Austin Peay (28-29) broke out of the gates with a six-run first inning that saw all nine batters reach the plate. Left fielder Cayce Bredlau supplied the first two runs with a triple in the right center gap. Hamilton then added a run on a double that nearly hit the same spot as Bredlau's gapper. First baseman Dre Gleason followed with a two-run home run and the Govs were off and running.
But after the six-run burst, the game quickly settled into a pitcher's duel. Austin Peay starter Jacques Pucheu kept Jacksonville State off the board through four innings, retiring 12 of the 15 batters he faced. Gamecocks starter Derrick Adams settled in after his rough start and supplied five scoreless innings to keep the score line steady.
Jacksonville State (28-29) used the long ball to break through offensively in the fifth and sixth innings. Third baseman Josh Bobo's two-run home run in the fifth broke up Pucheu's shutout bid. Designated hitter Trent Simpson hit a solo home run in the sixth, slashing the Govs lead to 6-3.
But Hamilton stemmed the Gamecocks run with his solo home run to right center in the seventh inning. But his biggest shot came two innings later when his solo home run to left center gave the Govs an 8-3 lead.
That last home run proved game-saving as Jacksonville State mounted a furious charge in its half of the ninth. First baseman Andrew Naismith got the rally off to a hot start with his two-run home run to right field. The Gamecocks then would load the bases as three consecutive batters reached safely with one out. A Governors defensive miscue allowed two runs to score, cutting the Govs advantage to 8-7. But APSU reliever Alex Robles got another ground ball and second baseman Malcolm Tipler used to to start a game-ending double play.
Hamilton paced the Govs offense with a 4-for-5, three RBI performance that included a double and two home runs. Shortstop Garrett Giovannelli added three hits and first baseman Dre Gleason chipped in a 2-for-3, two RBI effort.
Govs starter Jacques Pucheu (2-2) benefitted from early offensive outburst, notching the win after holding Jacksonville State to two runs on four hits in a five-inning outing.
Third baseman Josh Bobo's 2-for-4, two RBI led Jacksonville State's offense. JSU starter Derrick Adams (7-3) suffered the loss after allowing seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits while striking out 10 batters in 6.2 innings.
#1 TENNESSEE TECH 14, #5 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 9
OXFORD, Ala. - Ryan Flick set an OVC Tournament record by hitting three home runs, including a grand slam, as No. 1 seed Tennessee Tech opened tournament action with a 14-9 victory over No. 5 seed Southeast Missouri.
With the win Tech (38-19) will advance to play the winner of the Morehead State/Murray State game at 3 p.m. on Friday. Southeast Missouri will play an elimination game at 11 a.m. on Friday.
Southeast Missouri (29-25) struck first with two runs in the top of the first inning before the Golden Eagles responded with four runs on two home runs in the bottom of the frame.
The game was tied at eight in the sixth inning when Flick's grand slam led to a five-spot on the scoreboard.
Flick finished the game 3-for-5 with three runs scored and nine RBI and in the process tied the school record for home runs and RBI.
Travis Moths (4-1) picked up the victory in relief, pitching five innings and allowed only one earned run.
Southeast Missouri got three hits from each Connor Basler and Kyle Bottger.
#2 MOREHEAD STATE 12, #6 MURRAY STATE 6
OXFORD, Ala. - A mammoth grand slam by sophomore leftfielder Niko Hulsizer, coupled with masterful pitching from junior right-hander Seth Boyle and production throughout the lineup, led to a 12-6 victory for Morehead State over Murray State in the OVC Tournament Thursday night.
The second-seeded Eagles (36-21) moved on to the winner's bracket final where they'll face top-seed Tennessee Tech Friday at 4 p.m. ET. MSU won two of three at Tech just last weekend.
Hulsizer launched a second-inning, two-out grand slam that ended up hitting a moving fire truck in left field, and that gave the Eagles a 5-1 lead they never relinquished. Hulsizer's bomb also gave him the Morehead State single-season record for RBI (78), surpassing Kevin Matuszek's previous mark of 76 in 2002. That round-tripper also was his 25th of the year, tying him with Eastern Kentucky's Ben Fisher for the national lead and leaving him one short of the MSU and OVC single-season standard.
Boyle (1-0) came on in relief of starter Jake Ziegelmeyer in the fifth and went the distance, striking out five and allowing just three hits for his longest career outing.
Jack Hranec hit the first of his two homers to make it a 5-4 Eagle lead in the third, but Morehead State answered right away with five tallies in the third. Hunter Fain and Reid Leonard collected RBI singles, and Will Schneider plated two with a single, and the Eagles had an 11-4 cushion after four.
Murray State's senior righthander John Lollar stymied the Eagles with just four hits and one run in the final five innings, but Boyle matched him.
Junior second baseman Braxton Morris was 4-for-5, while Hulsizer, Fain, Schneider and senior centerfielder Ryan Kent had two hits apiece. Morehead State rapped out 15 hits.
The Eagles were also plunked by five pitches, giving them a program-record 99 now on the season.
#3 BELMONT 6,, #7 AUSTIN PEAY 1
OXFORD, Ala. - Facing elimination in the OVC Tournament, No. 3 Belmont baseball never once succumbed to pressure as they downed No.7 Austin Peay, 6-1, late Thursday night at Choccolocco Park.
BU (29-28) came up clutch both offensively and defensively throughout the entirety of the game, scoring all six of their runs with two-outs weighing on them. In addition to some timely hitting, starting hurler Tyler Vaughn (Jonesboro, Ill.) dazzled on the mound – logging eight complete innings while striking out nine Governors (28-30) and getting out of a couple of jams.
The Bruins looked sharp to start off their second game of the tournament, plating a pair of runs and only relinquishing a hit through the first three stanzas. They got things started in the first inning, using a trio of base shots to plate their first run with sophomore Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) earning the RBI. Kyle Conger (Brentwood, Tenn.) then drove in BU's second run on the squad's fourth single of the night to go up, 2-0, after two.
While Belmont's offense heated up, Vaughn got it done on the hill. He retired 12 of the first 13 Governors he faced, striking out four in that span. It wouldn't be until the fifth frame the Austin Peay would find a way on the board, doing so via a solo shot over the right field fence from Chase Hamilton.
Before APSU scored its lone run of the game, BU pushed four more across to go up, 6-0. All six of the Bruins runs up to that point came in the form of a two-out rally, including the last three scoring on a BU two-bagger. Redshirt-freshman Matt Cogen (Franklin, Tenn.) highlighted the hitting frenzy with a two RBI double in the fourth before Holland drove in his second run of the night.
After giving up a long ball, Vaughn settled back in and ensured that the Govs didn't sneak back into the game. The righty gave up a pair of runs in the sixth to put multiple runners on base for the first time, but got out of the jam unscathed by striking out the next two batters he saw to keep it a 6-1 game in favor of the Bruins.
Austin Peay went to the bullpen in the middle of the fourth and called on reliever Michael Costanzo, who would shut down Belmont's previously explosive offense. The left hander retired BU's final 13 batters, but the Bruins six runs scored in the opening frames proved to be enough for them to hold on to the victory.