• Complete 2018 All-OVC Baseball Team and Award Winners (PDF)
OXFORD, Ala. - Regular season champion Tennessee Tech, ranked in each of the six major Division I polls, won three of the four major 2018 Ohio Valley Conference postseason awards in a vote of league head coaches and sports information directors. Junior designated hitter
Kevin Strohschein was named OVC Player of the Year (the second time in his career he has earned that honor), senior
Travis Moths was tabbed Pitcher of the Year while
Matt Bragga earned his second-straight OVC Coach of the Year honor.
It marked the first time since 2014 (Southeast Missouri) that one school had the Player, Pitcher and Coach of the Year in the same year. The final major award went to Murray State second baseman
Grant Wood who was tabbed OVC Freshman of the Year.
The honors, along with first and second-team All-OVC and All-Freshman honors were announced ahead of the 2018 OVC Baseball Championship which begins on Tuesday night at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama. Tennessee Tech had the most selections across the three teams with 11 (establishing a new OVC record), while Morehead State had seven, Jacksonville State six and Austin Peay had five selections.
Strohschein, who in 2015 became the first player in OVC history to be named OVC Player and Freshman of the Year in the same season, helped the Golden Eagles to a 46-7 overall record, 27-3 OVC record and a national ranking for the final seven weeks of the regular season. In 53 games he hit .396 with 93 hits, 62 runs scored, 16 doubles, 16 home runs, 60 RBI, a .694 slugging percentage and a .453 on-base percentage. Those numbers helped him rank first nationally in total bases (163), second in hits (93), 12th in slugging (.694), 14th in batting (.396) and 15th in runs (1.17/game). His numbers were even better in Conference play, helping Tech to 27 victories, the most by an OVC team in a single-season. In 30 league games Strohschein ranks first in the OVC in batting average (.423) and hits (55), third in total bases (3.20/game), fourth in slugging percentage (.738), fifth in runs (1.27/game) and on-base percentage (.483), seventh in home runs (0.30/game) and 10th in doubles (0.40). Strohschein leads the OVC in multi-hit games (32) while adding 13 multi-RBI contests and he tied the TTU school record with three home runs in a game in February. Strohschein has been named a semifinalist for two National Player of the Year awards, including the Golden Spikes Award presented by USA Baseball (1 of 25 players) and the Dick Howser Trophy presented by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (1 of 35 players). He is one of four players in Tennessee Tech history to be named OVC Player of the Year and just the fourth player in League history to win multiple Player of the Year awards, equaling the feat achieved by Murray State's George Dugan (who won three-straight awards from 1963-65), Jacksonville State's Clay Whittemore (2007 and 2008) and Southeast Missouri's Trenton Moses (2011 and 2012).
After coming out of the bullpen a year ago, Moths moved into the No. 1 starter's role for Tennessee Tech this season and ranks second nationally in pitching victories with 12, which tied the Tech single-season record and is just two off the OVC all-time mark. For his career Moths now has 24 victories, which is also a new Tennessee Tech career record. Overall, he started 14 games, compiling a 12-1 record and 4.07 E.R.A., which ranked seventh in the OVC. He tallied 79.2 innings, striking out 84 batters (sixth in the OVC) and holding opponents to a .263 batting average. His only loss of the season came in the third game of the year at Troy; after that contest he was 11-0 in his final 12 starts. He fanned a season-high nine batters against each UT Martin, Austin Peay, Southern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky. Moths made the most of pitching for the nation's top-ranked offense, as the Golden Eagles averaged 8.2 runs/start for the senior. Moths is the third Tennessee Tech pitcher to be named OVC Pitcher of the Year since the award was first handed out in 1992 (Mark Maberry in 1997 and Lee Henry in 2010 were the others).
Now in his 15th season at Tennessee Tech, Bragga earned his second-straight and fourth overall OVC Coach of the Year award (he also won the award in 2010 and 2013). Not only did he guide the Golden Eagles to its second-straight and 10th overall OVC regular season championship, but along the way the team won 46 total games, which established a new school record and is just one away from the OVC all-time mark. Tech also won more Conference games this season (27) than any other program in League history. On April 9 the team jumped into the Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA Top 30 polls (marking the second-straight year the team had been nationally-ranked) and have been ranked the final seven weeks of the regular season, including the final three weeks in all six major Division I polls (climbing to as high as 16th). From March 13 to April 29, the team did not suffer a loss, winning 28-straight games, which set a new OVC record (smashing the old mark of 22) and was just six shy of the NCAA all-time record (34). That streak included 17-straight OVC victories, which tied the Conference's all-time mark. Bragga has turned the Golden Eagles into the top offensive team in the country, as entering the postseason Tech ranks first nationally in batting average (.347), scoring (10.8 runs/game), runs (572), hits (989), home runs/game (2.28), slugging (.610) and on-base percentage (.439) and is second in doubles (2.43/game). Tech's 121 home runs on the year is just six away from tying the OVC record and the team is just the second in the BBCOR bat era (since 2011) to have 100 or more home runs in a season. Bragga, who won his 400th career game this season to enter the OVC Top 10 coaching victories list, is one of just seven coaches in OVC history to repeat as OVC Coach of the Year and first since Eastern Illinois' Jim Schmitz in 1998 and 1999. TTU legend and OVC Hall of Famer David Mays, who won five total OVC Coach of the Year honors, also repeated as OVC Coach of the Year (1996 and 1997).
Wood is the second-straight Murray State player to be named OVC Freshman of the Year, following Davis Sims who was the first Racer to win the award a year ago. The fellow infielder started 49 of his team's 53 games this season and led MSU in batting average (.375), a mark that ranked seventh in the OVC and 43rd nationally. Wood led all OVC players in on-base percentage (.515), a mark that was fifth among all Division I players and was 20th nationally in base on balls (0.9/game). His presence near the top of the Murray State batting order helped his team rank 11th nationally in scoring (7.3 runs/game). Overall on the season he had 66 hits to go along with 43 runs scored while also netting 16 doubles, four home runs and 40 RBI. Wood had 18 multi-hit and 12 multi-RBI games during the season and enters the postseason having reached base in 27 consecutive contests. He had a season-high five hits in a win over Alabama A&M.
Strohschein and Moths were two of the 16 first-team All-OVC selections (due to two ties) that included six seniors, nine juniors and one sophomore. The only repeat selection from last season was Tennessee Tech junior reliever
Ethan Roberts, who ranks first in the OVC in E.R.A. (2.35) and first in the league and seventh nationally in saves (14). Three other TTU players joined that trio on the first-team, including senior first baseman
Chase Chambers and senior third baseman
Trevor Putzig (both of who were second-team picks last year) and junior second baseman
John Ham. Chambers, a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, ranks first nationally in RBI (1.42/game), third in runs (1.28/game), fifth in batting average (.416), sixth in on-base percentage (.515), seventh in hits (89), 10th in total bases (147) and 16th in slugging (.687) entering the postseason. Putzig is second nationally in sac flies (9), fifth in RBI (1.37/game) and seventh in runs (1.2/game) while Ham is eighth in the country in RBI (1.19/game). The infield also included Eastern Kentucky junior catcher
Alex Holderbach, who has been named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and the Johnny Bench Award (top Division I catcher). He enters this week ranked seventh nationally in RBI (1.34/game) and 10th in each slugging (.700) and total bases (147); he was named the NCBWA National Hitter of the Month for April and tied the OVC record with four home runs in a game. Also in the infield is Southeast Missouri junior second baseman
Trevor Ezell and Morehead State junior shortstop
Reid Leonard. Ezell, a second-team All-OVC pick in 2016, returned from missing all but seven games a year ago, to rank 11th nationally in hits (86) and 21st in batting average (.389). Leonard, one of 16 semifinalists for the Brooks Wallace Award (given to the nation's top shortstop), committed just four errors in 231 chances (.983) and helped turn 35 double plays, as Morehead State ranked fifth nationally in double plays/game (1.05). Leonard also hit .349 with 76 hits, 38 RBI and a .471 on-base percentage. The outfield included Southeast Missouri junior
Justin Dirden, Belmont sophomore
Matt Cogen, Morehead State junior
Connor Pauly and UT Martin junior
Jordan Stoner. Dirden helped Southeast to the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament while ranking 16th nationally in RBI (1.22/game), 22nd in slugging (.680) and 25th in total bases (136). Cogen ranks seventh nationally in hits (89) while fielding a perfect 1.000 to go along with six outfield assists. Pauly hit .345 with 15 doubles, seven home runs and 48 RBI in 52 games while Stoner ranked 32nd nationally in batting average (.382) in his debut season with the Skyhawks. Jacksonville State senior
Trent Simpson was the first-team utility selection after appearing in 21 games out of the Gamecocks bullpen (including notching eight saves and being a part of four combined shutouts, including a no-hitter) and hitting .277 with nine home runs and 45 RBI at the plate. Joining Moths at starting pitcher was Southeast Missouri senior
Carlos Vega and Austin Peay senior
Michael Costanzo. Vega began the season in the bullpen, but started eight games to close the season, going 4-0 with a 2.42 E.R.A. and 55 strikeouts (including a season-high 10 against Austin Peay) in those contests; on the season his 2.49 E.R.A. was second in the OVC and 71st nationally. Costanzo was 9-1 on the year, including beating No. 5 Clemson on May 11, and enters the postseason with 100 strikeouts, five off his school's single-season record.
The second-team included 18 players due to four ties in voting and was made up of seven seniors, seven juniors and four sophomores. Included in the 18 were eight players who had previously earned some type of All-OVC honor (first-team, second-team, or All-Freshman team) in Austin Peay sophomore first baseman
Parker Phillips (.321, APSU record 19 home runs, 60 RBI), Morehead State junior first baseman
Trevor Snyder (.358, 77 hits, 18 home runs, 66 RBI), Jacksonville State senior second baseman
Clayton Daniel (.328, 77 hits, 22 doubles, fourth-toughest player to strike out nationally), Tennessee Tech senior shortstop
David Garza (.320, 71 hits, 62 runs, 15 doubles, 15 home runs, 63 RBI), Murray State sophomore third baseman
Davis Sims (.363, 78 hits, 48 runs, 28 doubles - one off OVC single-season record), Morehead State junior outfielder
Niko Hulsizer (.311, 42 hits, 41 runs, 9 home runs, 29 RBI despite missing 21 games due to injury), Murray State senior outfielder
Brandon Gutzler (.351, 61 hits, 43 runs, nine home runs, 46 RBI) and Eastern Kentucky sophomore
Nick Howie (.317, 65 hits, nine home runs, 46 RBI, 15 stolen bases). The squad also included Tennessee Tech senior catcher
Brennon Kaleiwahea (.391, 77 hits, 61 runs, 15 doubles, .584 slugging percentage), Austin Peay senior second baseman
Garrett Giovannelli (.360, 80 hits, 25 doubles, 35 RBI, 19 stolen bases), Morehead State senior designated hitter
Tyler Niemann (.320, 56 hits, 18 doubles, seven home runs, 40 RBI), Tennessee Tech junior utility player
Nick Osborne (.321, 50 hits, 43 RBI, 1-0 on the mound in 17 innings), Tennessee Tech junior starting pitcher
Marcus Evey (6-0, 3.93 E.R.A., 79 strikeouts in 66.1 innings), Eastern Illinois junior starting pitcher
Tyler Jones (7-3, 3.03 E.R.A., 53 strikeouts in 68.1 innings), Jacksonville State sophomore pitcher
Garrett Farmer (6-2, 4.00 E.R.A., 102 strikeouts in 83.1 innings), Austin Peay junior starting pitcher
Jacques Pucheu (7-3, 3.98 E.R.A., 95 strikeouts in 83.2 innings), Belmont junior starting pitcher
Casey Queener (5-4, 4.22 E.R.A., 96 strikeouts in 85.1 innings) and Eastern Illinois senior closer
Michael Starcevich (1-2, 2.79 E.R.A., 9 saves, 69 strikeouts in 51.2 innings).
Eight of the 11 OVC baseball squads had at least one representative on the All-Freshman Team, which was awarded for the 13th time in 2018. The 13-member team was highlighted by Wood, the League's Freshman of the Year. Four teams had multiple picks with Jacksonville State having the most selections with three, including shortstop
Isaac Alexander, third baseman
Cole Frederick and pitcher
Christian Edwards. The team also included Belmont pitchers
Kyle Brennan and
Logan Bowen, Morehead State pitcher
Cory Conway and utility player
Bryce Hensor and UT Martin catcher
Blake Davis and first baseman
Ethan Whitley. Other selections included Austin Peay pitcher
Harley Gollert, Eastern Kentucky second baseman
Daniel Harris IV and Tennessee Tech pitcher
Tyler Sylvester.
2018 All-OVC Baseball Awards
OVC Player of the Year: Kevin Strohschein (DH), Tennessee Tech
OVC Pitcher of the Year: Travis Moths (RHP), Tennessee Tech
OVC Freshman of the Year: Grant Wood (2B), Murray State
OVC Coach of the Year: Matt Bragga, Tennessee Tech
ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
C - Alex Holderbach, Eastern Kentucky
1B - Chase Chambers, Tennessee Tech
2B - Trevor Ezell, Southeast Missouri
2B - John Ham, Tennessee Tech
SS - Reid Leonard, Morehead State
3B - Trevor Putzig, Tennessee Tech
OF - Justin Dirden, Southeast Missouri
OF - Matt Cogen, Belmont
OF - Connor Pauly, Morehead State
OF - Jordan Stoner, UT Martin
DH - Kevin Strohschein, Tennessee Tech
UT - Trent Simpson, Jacksonville State
SP - Travis Moths, Tennessee Tech
SP - Carlos Vega, Southeast Missouri
SP - Michael Costanzo, Austin Peay
RP - Ethan Roberts, Tennessee Tech
ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
C - Brennon Kaleiwahea, Tennessee Tech
1B - Parker Phillips, Austin Peay
1B - Trevor Snyder, Morehead State
2B - Garrett Giovannelli, Austin Peay
2B - Clayton Daniel, Jacksonville State
SS - David Garza, Tennessee Tech
3B - Davis Sims, Murray State
OF - Niko Hulsizer, Morehead State
OF - Brandon Gutzler, Murray State
OF - Nick Howie, Eastern Kentucky
DH - Tyler Niemann, Morehead State
UT - Nick Osborne, Tennessee Tech
SP - Marcus Evey, Tennessee Tech
SP - Tyler Jones, Eastern Illinois
SP - Garrett Farmer, Jacksonville State
SP - Jacques Pucheu, Austin Peay
SP - Casey Queener, Belmont
RP - Michael Starcevich, Eastern Illinois
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
2B - Grant Wood, Murray State
SS - Isaac Alexander, Jacksonville State
RHP - Christian Edwards, Jacksonville State
LHP - Cory Conway, Morehead State
RHP - Kyle Brennan, Belmont
1B - Ethan Whitley, UT Martin
2B - Daniel Harris IV, Eastern Kentucky
RHP - Tyler Sylvester, Tennessee Tech
3B - Cole Frederick, Jacksonville State
UTIL - Bryce Hensor, Morehead State
RHP - Logan Bowen, Belmont
C - Blake Davis, UT Martin
LHP - Harley Gollert, Austin Peay
***Note: There are 2 2B's & 4 OF's on the first-team, and 2 1B's, 2 2B's & 5 SP's on the second-team due to ties in voting.