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The 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship continues with three games on Friday.
This year marks the 43rd OVC Baseball Tournament (the first elimination style event was held in 1979). It is the first time it has been held in Lexington.
Tickets for the event are $10 per adult per day and $5 per day for children (12 and under) and college students with valid ID. An all-session pass (all four days, 10 games) is available for $25. The tickets can be purchased at Wild Health Field or online
HERE. Parking is $5 per day. All seats are general admission for the OVC Championship.
The venue opened in 2001 and has a seating capacity of 6,994 with additional picnic, lawn and standing room only areas. It is home to both the Lexington Legends and the newly formed Wild Heath Genomes, MLB Partner League professional baseball teams that compete in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Legends won the Atlantic League Championship in 2021, marking the fourth championship in the franchise’s 20-year history.
The event has been held at five neutral site locations after moving from the campus of the regular season champions in 2001. The event has been held in Paducah, Kentucky (2001-09), Jackson, Tennessee (2010-16, 2021), Oxford, Alabama (2017-18), Marion, Illinois (2019) and now Lexington (2022).
This year marks a change in the bracket which will include four single elimination games on Wednesday, with the winners advancing to the double elimination portion of the bracket which will include the No. 1 and 2 seeds (who receive a bye until Thursday games). Saturday’s Championship Game will be a one-game “Winner Take All” matchup.
Fans can watch the entire 2022 OVC Baseball Tournament live on ESPN+. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for $6.99 a month (or $69.99 per year) or as part of a bundle with Disney+ and ad-supported Hulu ($19.99/month). ESPN+, the multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment, is an integrated part of the ESPN App and (on mobile and connected devices) and ESPN.com.
Game 7: #2 Southeast Missouri 14, #5 SIUE 6
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Photo Gallery | Postgame:
SEMO,
SIUE
Game 8: #1 Belmont 8, #6 Tennessee Tech 3
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Photo Gallery | Postgame:
BEL
Game 9: #2 Southeast Missouri 5, #6 Tennessee Tech 2
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Photo Gallery | Postgame:
SEMO,
TTU
#2 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 14, #2 SIUE 6
LEXINGTON, Ky. - No. 2-seeded Southeast Missouri (35-20) earned an Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Tournament record 17 walks en route to a 14-6 victory over #5 SIUE (27-28) Friday at the 2022 OVC Championship held at Wild Health Field.
With the win, SEMO eliminated the Cougars from the Tournament and will face the loser of top seeded Belmont and #6 Tennessee Tech in the final elimination game Friday evening.
SEMO had to combat an early deficit for the second-straight game, overcoming a 5-0-hole Friday. The Redhawks utilized an eight-run fifth inning to pull ahead 9-5 Friday and never relinquished that lead. SEMO benefited from seven walks and a pair of hit batsmen in the frame to go along with two hits.
Brett Graber opened the fifth inning with a four-pitch walk before a base hit by Tyler Wilber followed by a walk to Andrew Keck loaded the bases for the first time in the fifth. Ty Stauss added another walk to score Graber. Lincoln Andrews then knocked a RBI single to right center to keep the bases juiced. Danny Sperling and Ben Palmer continued the trend, compiling consecutive RBI walks to even the game at 5-5.
SEMO then pulled ahead on a RBI groundout from designated hitter Spencer Parker. Sperling tagged home on a Cougars wild pitch to make the score 7-5 Redhawks. Wilber and Keck were then hit by pitches in consecutive at bats. Keck earned a RBI as he was plunked with the basepaths full of Redhawks. Stauss concluded the scoring in the fifth, posting a RBI walk.
SIUE utilized three pitchers out of the bullpen in the fifth inning. The Cougars took an early 2-0 lead after consecutive home runs from Connor Kiffer and Brennan Orf in the top of the first. SIUE add three more runs in the second. Brett Johnson drew a bases loaded walk before Steven Pattan scored on a wild pitch. Richie Well then added a sacrifice fly to right to extend the SIUE lead to 5-0.
SEMO scratched across a run in the bottom of the third (5-1). Keck grounded into a RBI double play to bring home Graber. The Cougars added a run in the sixth on a RBI single from Well to make the score a three-run game (9-6).
The bases loaded walks continued for the Redhawks into the sixth with Mason and Graber both picking up RBI in consecutive four-ball at bats. Wilber then had a sacrifice fly to right field to double the SEMO advantage, 12-6. Wilber added a two-run homer to left to widen the gap to 14-6. The hit was SEMO's lone extra-base hit Friday. The 2022 All-OVC First Team Selection from Los Alamitos, California, finished 3-for-3 Friday with 3 RBI, two runs scored and a walk.
SEMO's 17 walks tie for third most in the nation this season for a single-season. The walks total ties the most for Southeast Missouri over the past 17 seasons.
SEMO will next face the loser of top seeded Belmont and #6 Tennessee Tech in the final elimination game Friday evening.
#1 BELMONT 8, #6 TENNESSEE TECH 3
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Behind big bench contributions and tremendous starting pitching, the Belmont University baseball team secured their second-ever trip to the OVC Tournament Championship game with an 8-3 victory over No. 6 Tennessee Tech on Friday at Wild Health Field in Lexington, Ky.
With the victory, Belmont (39-19, 18-6 OVC) matches their program-record for wins in a season (2012), and will appear in Saturday's winner-take-all OVC Tournament Championship game with the automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals on the line. First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT., and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Belmont will face the winner of Friday night's elimination game between No. 2 Southeast Missouri and No. 6 Tennessee Tech. There will just be one game on Saturday, with the winner claiming the OVC Tournament Championship.
The Bruins last appeared in the title game in 2017, falling to top top-seeded Tennessee Tech. Belmont last made a trip to the NCAA Regionals in 2012, the last year the Bruins won 39 games and the second year of back-to-back Atlantic Sun championships that put the Bruins into the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons.
On Friday, Belmont capitalized on momentum obtained from Thursday's thrilling, come-from-behind, 10-9 walk-off victory over SIUE to jump out to an early 2-0 lead with a two-RBI single from Logan Jarvis that scored Brodey Heaton and Tommy Crider.
After Tennessee Tech tacked on a run in the top of the second inning, the Bruins responded with two more runs on a Heaton single into left field with two outs that scored Jack Capobianco and Guy Lipscomb, bringing the score to 4-1.
On the mound, Joshua South (W, 8-2) delivered a championship-worthy performance, going seven strong innings with just two runs allowed and eight strikeouts against a Golden Eagle lineup that had combined for 31 runs in their previous three OVC Tournament contests.
Tossing 112 pitches, South limited Tennessee Tech, who had hit ten home runs in their previous three games in Lexington, to no home runs.
Belmont added a run on a wild sequence in the seventh inning on a Mason Landers double, with Austin Ehren, in the game as a pinch-runner, slipping after rounding third base and getting caught in a run-down. However, Ehren magically evaded a tag from the Tennessee Tech catcher and dove for home plate to bring the Bruin lead to 5-2.
Logan Jarvis then picked up his sixth RBI of the tournament with a base hit to center field that scored Landers and handed Belmont a 6-2 advantage.
Drew Lowry provided the cherry on top with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field that handed Belmont the 8-2 lead in the eighth inning.
Dominic Baratta and Kyle Brennan limited the Golden Eagles to just one run in the final two innings, giving Belmont the win and getting the Bruins one win away from their first-ever OVC tournament championship and their third-ever trip to the NCAA Regionals.
#2 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 5, #6 TENNESSEE TECH 2
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Recap coming soon.