• 2022 OVC Preseason Baseball Predicted Order of Finish and Team (PDF)
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Defending champion
Southeast Missouri has been picked as the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference preseason baseball favorite in a vote of OVC head baseball coaches and communications directors.
In additional voting, SEMO senior shortstop
Tyler Wilber was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year while Eastern Illinois senior
Cameron Doherty was tabbed OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Five different schools picked up a first-place vote, with Southeast Missouri receiving eight of the 18 first-place nods to tally 114 points.
Murray State picked up four first-place votes in being picked second (104) while
Morehead State received 93 points in begin tabbed third. One point separated
Austin Peay (87) and
Belmont (86) in fourth and fifth place; each school picked up two first-place votes.
SIUE received the other two first-place votes and placed sixth (55) while the poll as rounded out by
Eastern Illinois (50),
Tennessee Tech (43) and
UT Martin (16).
In all 16 players were selected to the Preseason All-OVC team, eight of who were All-OVC picks a season ago. The 16 players represented eight of the nine teams who will compete for the OVC championship this season. Belmont led the way with four selections.
A season ago Southeast Missouri won the OVC regular season and tournament championships, finishing the year with 30 victories. The team was led by Wilber, the Preseason OVC Player of the Year. In 52 games Wilber hit .378, which ranked fourth in the League. He also added 76 hits, 11 doubles, six home runs and 49 RBI. The Redhawks also returned
Jevon Mason, who made the Preseason All-OVC Team as a utility player; Mason hit .350 with 56 hits, 35 runs and 14 doubles in 43 games during the 2021 campaign. SEMO must replace OVC Pitcher of the Year Dylan Dodd, who was selected in the third round of the MLB Draft, but does return two other starters in juniors
Bryce Grossius (eight starts, four wins, 57 K’s in 54 innings) and
Noah Niznik (11 starts, 1 complete game, 34 K’s in 55.2 innings).
Murray State made big strides in year number three under head coach
Dan Skirka, winning 33 games (the fifth-most in program history) while winning 18 OVC games (the most in program history). The Racers tied the program record for home runs in a season and advanced to the Championship Round of the OVC Tournament for the first time since 2003. This season the Racers return two players that are Preseason All-OVC selections in graduate student outfielder
Jake Slunder and redshirt sophomore relief pitcher
Jacob Pennington. Slunder hit .292 with eight home runs and 25 stolen bases a year ago with Pennington posted a 5-2 record and 3.38 E.R.A. in 61.1 innings. Also back is infielder
Bryson Bloomer who hit .297 with 10 round trippers.
Morehead State is coming off its first full season under
Mik Aoki, who took over the program prior to the shortened 2020 season. The team finished third in the OVC standings last year, winning 13 Conference and 24 overall games. The Eagles return Preseason All-American selection
Jackson Feltner, last year’s OVC Freshman of the Year. Feltner ranked second among all Division I freshmen in batting average last year (.390) while slugging .652 with 10 doubles, 11 home runs and 42 RBI. He also committed tallied a .981 fielding percentage in 44 games. Also back is sophomore outfielder
Ryley Preece who hit .324 a season ago. On the mound graduate student
John Bakke returns after appearing in 27 games last year and netting seven saves which ranked second in the OVC.
Austin Peay is coming off a fourth-place finish in the OVC a season ago. Two Govs players were named to the Preseason All-OVC team in senior catcher
Jack Alexander and redshirt junior starting pitcher
Drew McIllwain. Alexander started 50 games a season ago and hit .281 with a team-high 17 doubles. McIllwain got the starting nod in nine of his 16 appearances and finished with a 4.05 E.R.A. in 60 innings of work. Also back is infielder
Gino Avros who scored a team-best 44 runs and stole eight bases in 2021.
Belmont is coming off a 2021 campaign that saw them with 22 games overall, including 14 league contests. Offensively, they return a pair of Preseason All-OVC picks in senior third baseman
Logan Jarvis and junior outfielder
John Behrends. Jarvis ranked in the Top 10 in the OVC in hitting (.346) with finishing with nine double, five triples and seven home runs and netted 10 stolen bases. Behrends added 13 stolen bases to go along with his .332 average, 49 runs scored, 15 doubles and eight RBI. The Belmont squad also returns two pitchers who earned Preseason All-OVC honors in sophomore
Andy Bean and junior
Joshua South. Bean compiled a 5-2 record in 12 starts, including a complete game, and struck out 62 in 74 innings. South, the 2021 Preseason OVC Pitcher of the Year, started a team-high 14 games, winning four contests including a shutout.
The SIUE program won 13 Conference games a season ago and has two players on the Preseason All-OVC team in junior outfielder
Brett Johnson and redshirt sophomore designated hitter
Brady Bunten. Johnson started all 50 games for the Cougars a year ago, hitting .305 with 58 hits, a team-high 46 runs, 10 home runs and 14 stolen bases. Bunten smashed 13 home runs, the sixth-most in SIUE single-season history, in 47 games. He had a team-high 42 RBI to go along with a .606 slugging percentage. SIUE also returns graduate student starting pitcher Collin Baumgartner who missed last year with an injury. In his last full season (2019), he led the OVC with 15 regular season starts, amassing 82 strikeouts, finishing fifth in the league with 9.93 strikeouts per nine innings. In the shortened 2020 season he had a 3.05 E.R.A. and 31 strikeouts in 20.2 innings.
A season ago Eastern Illinois won 25 games, including finishing 14-16 in league play. The team will have to replace All-American shortstop Trey Sweeney, who was a first round MLB Draft Pick of the New York Yankees. The team does return junior utility player
Logan Eickhoff who played in 31 games last year and had a team-high (and OVC-best) .423 batting average. Eickhoff scored 30 runs, tallied 23 RBI and finished with a team-high 13 stolen bases while only committing one error in the field. Also returning is Preseason OVC Pitcher of the Year
Cameron Doherty, who earned All-OVC honors at the end of last season after ranking fourth in the league in E.R.A. (3.45). The senior won three games, netted four saves and struck out 71 batters in 75.2 innings.
Tennessee Tech had a coaching change in the fall but the new manager is not a stranger to the program. Back is
Matt Bragga, who won 446 games (the eighth-most in OVC history) in his first stint with the program (2004-18). Included in that was a magical 2018 season that saw the Golden Eagles go 53-12 (27-3 in the OVC) and advance to the NCAA Super Regionals. Among the players returning for Tech this season is senior
Jason Hinchman, who was the 2021 OVC Preseason Player of the Year. In 2019 he led all Division I players in home runs/game (0.44), smashing 24 round trippers in 54 games; he also added 55 hits, 54 runs, 11 doubles and 55 RBI while slugging .538. A year ago (2021) he smashed 11 home runs in 47 games.
A season ago UT Martin knocked off a pair of nationally-ranked opponents, a 9-4 win at No. 22 Alabama and a 9-7 triumph over No. 11 Ole Miss. This year marks the fifth under head coach
Ryan Jenkins, who has 27 returning players on the roster. Among the returning players is utility player
Wil LaFollette, who has been both a Freshman All-American and an OVC All-Freshman pick. A season ago he made 41 starters and ranked third in the OVC in home runs/game (0.36), finishing with 12 total round trippers. The 12 home runs were the most by a UTM freshman and the eighth-most by any player in program history.
The 74th season of OVC baseball will get underway on Friday, February 18 with the first weekend of league play being held March 25-27. This year’s OVC Tournament will feature the top eight teams squaring off in Lexington, Kentucky from May 25-28.
2022 OVC Baseball Predicted Order of Finish
1. Southeast Missouri (8 first-place votes) – 114 points
2. Murray State (4) - 104
3. Morehead State - 93
4. Austin Peay (2) - 87
5. Belmont (2) - 86
6. SIUE (2) - 55
7. Eastern Illinois - 50
8. Tennessee Tech - 43
9. UT Martin - 16
2022 Preseason All-OVC Baseball Team
Preseason OVC Player of the Year: Tyler Wilber (SS), Southeast Missouri
Preseason OVC Pitcher of the Year: Cameron Doherty (RHP), Eastern Illinois
C - Jack Alexander, Austin Peay
1B - Jackson Feltner, Morehead State
2B - Will Smith, UT Martin
SS - Tyler Wilber, Southeast Missouri
3B - Logan Jarvis, Belmont
OF - John Behrends, Belmont
OF - Jake Slunder, Murray State
OF - Brett Johnson, SIUE
DH - Brady Bunten, SIUE
UT - Logan Eickhoff, Eastern Illinois
UT - Jevon Mason, Southeast Missouri
SP - Andy Bean, Belmont
SP - Cameron Doherty, Eastern Illinois
SP - Drew McIllwain, Austin Peay
SP - Joshua South, Belmont
RP - Jacob Pennington, Murray State