• OVC Baseball Report – May 11 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, May 12
Eastern Illinois at Illinois State, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Lindenwood at Indiana State, 5:30 p.m.
SIUE at Southern Illinois, 6:00 p.m.
UT Martin at #15 Ole Miss, 6:00 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Thursday, May 14
*Eastern Illinois at Western Illinois, 2:00 p.m.
*Lindenwood at Southern Indiana, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Little Rock, 6:00 p.m.
*Morehead State at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at SIUE, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, May 15
*Eastern Illinois at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m.
*Southeast Missouri at Little Rock, 4:00 p.m.
*Lindenwood at Southern Indiana, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at SIUE, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, May 16
*Eastern Illinois at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m.
*Southeast Missouri at Little Rock, 1:00 p.m.
*UT Martin at SIUE, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Southern Indiana, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Tennessee Tech, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Ryan Niedzwiedz, 1B • 6-2, 195, Jr. • North Auroa, Ill. • SIUE
Niedzwiedz powered SIUE to a 3-0 week as the team won its eighth-straight game and pulled to within one victory of its first OVC Baseball Championship. The slugger hit .533 (8-for-15) with six runs scored, five home runs, eight RBI, a .563 on-base percentage and 1.533 slugging percentage in a three-game sweep of Eastern Illinois (who had entered the weekend tied for first with the Cougars). Niedzwiedz singled in the opening game of the season and followed that by going 4-for-6 with three home runs and four RBI in Saturday's 16-4 victory. The three round trippers tied the SIUE single-game record and helped the senior establish a new single-season mark as well. He added two additional home runs on Sunday (increasing his season total to 26 -- the third most in OVC single-season history), going 4-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI. He now has six multi home run games this season. Niedzwiedz ranks fourth nationally in home runs, fifth in total bases (162) and 10th in slugging percentage (.794).
Others Nominated: Will Geary, Lindenwood; Angel Cano, Little Rock; Davis Germann, Morehead State; Tank Sims, Southeast Missouri; Owen Lee, Tennessee Tech; TJ Grines, UT Martin; Kamryn Link, Western Illinois.
PITCHER
Landon Waugh, RHP • 5-9, 170, So. • Louisville, Ky. • Morehead State
Pitching at home in a known hitter's park, Waugh tossed a nine-inning complete game, scattering seven hits and allowing three runs while striking out a career-high nine as Morehead State topped Western Illinois 4-3 on Saturday. The sophomore threw a career-high 117 pitches, 77 for strikes, in the win as MSU would go on to sweep the series and clinch a spot in the OVC Tournament field. After allowing two runs in the third inning, he allowed just two hits over the next four innings. Then after allowing a sacrifice fly in the eighth, Waugh retired the final five batters he faced, which allowed Morehead State to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth inning. It marked his second pitching victory of the season.
Others Nominated: Tyler Conklin, Eastern Illinois; Seth Benes, Lindenwood; Matt Wnukowski, Southeast Missouri; Spencer Stearns, SIUE; Braxton Lewis, Tennessee Tech; Cason Sharp, UT Martin; Cade Sonoqui, Western Illinois.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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TJ Grines (OF, Sr.), UT Martin. Hit .529 (9-for-17) with six runs scored, four doubles, seven RBI and six stolen bases, including becoming the OVC all-time single season leader with his 58th stolen base of the season.
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Davis Germann (OF, R-Jr.), Morehead State. Germann led MSU to a 4-0 week in hitting .533 (8-for-15) with eight runs scored, three home runs, five RBI and a 1.333 slugging percentage.
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Angel Cano (1B, Sr.), Little Rock. Cano scored seven runs and smashed three home runs in a four-game week for the Trojans.
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Will Geary (INF, Fr.), Lindenwood. Geary hit .412 (7-for-17) with four runs scored, two home runs and six RBI as the Lions were 3-1 on the week.
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Tank Sims (C, So.), Southeast Missouri. He drove in six runs and hit .467 (7-for-15) during the week as Redhawks were a perfect 4-0.
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Braxton Lewis (RHP, So.), Tennessee Tech. Scattered three hits and allowed two runs (one earned) over seven innings in Sunday's win over Lindenwood.
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Spencer Stearns (RHP, R-Jr.), SIUE. Pitched six innings against EIU, allowing three hits and two runs (one earned).
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Cason Sharp (RHP, Jr.), UT Martin. Tossed a nine-inning complete game, scattering five hits and not walking a batter in picking up the win on Saturday against Little Rock.
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Tyler Conklin (RHP, Grad.), Eastern Illinois. Tossed seven innings against SIUE, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out five.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: We have reached the final week of the regular season with SIUE holding a two-game lead over Little Rock in the standings ... One win by the Cougars would lock up its first OVC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed for next week's OVC Tournament ... The Cougars have 30 overall wins, the first time they have reached that mark in their Division I history ... SIUE hit 17 home runs in three games at Eastern Illinois last week and rank 10th nationally with 97 home runs this season ... The Cougars Chase Bloomer set the school's career hits record last week and now has 236 for his career ... Little Rock (30) and Southeast Missouri (35) have also reached the 30-win plateau while Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood and Morehead State are each sitting at 28 wins ... UT Martin won its 25th game last week, which tied its Division I single-season record ... Overall the OVC ranks 12th in the RPI entering the week and OVC teams are a combined 24-5 in non-conference games over the past three weeks ... SEMO is the topped ranked team in the RPI (51), followed by EIU (74), Little Rock (98) and SIUE (103) ... The top six teams in the standings have locked up a spot in the eight-team OVC Tournament field, with UT Martin likely to be the seventh team (with a win or lose by USI or WIU); the final spot is likely to come down to Southern Indiana, Western Illinois or Tennessee Tech ... UT Martin's TJ Grines set the OVC single-season stolen bases record last week, swiping his 58th base and erasing a record that had stood since 2003 .. TJ Grines is the first NCAA Division I baseball player to have at least 50 stolen bases and 50 RBI’s in a single season since Coastal Carolina’s Rico Noel (56 stolen bases, 63 RBI’s) in 2010 ... SIUE's Ryan Niedzwiedz has 26 home runs, which ranks fourth nationally and is tied for the third-most in OVC single-season history (one away from second and seven away from the record).
Grines Sets OVC Single-Season Steals Record: UT Martin senior OF
TJ Grines leads all NCAA players (all divisions) with 62 stolen bases, which is 22 more than any other Division I player. On May 8 he stole is 58th base of the season, establishing a new OVC single-season record (breaking the old mark of 57 set by EKU's Josh Anderson in 2003). Grines already smashed the UTM single-season Division I record (37). Grines had six stolen bases against Western Illinois on May 3, setting the OVC and UTM single game records in that category.
Ranked Wins: Here is a look at OVC teams with wins over nationally-ranked teams this season. From 2018 to the present OVC teams have 31 wins over nationally-ranked non-conference opponents.
February 17 - Morehead State 8, #18 Kentucky 6
Recent Baseball Success: Highest NET Ranking in 25 Years/Wins Over No. 1 Ranked Teams: Last season the OVC ranked 15th in the final NCAA RPI, its highest finish in the rankings in the past 25 years. This year will likely be even higher with the league's ranking being No. 12 entering the week. OVC teams also have four victories over the No. 1 ranked team since 2019, including Austin Peay over Vanderbilt (2-27-19), Morehead State over Louisville (3-2-21), Tennessee Tech over Tennessee (4-12-22) and Little Rock over LSU (6-1-25).
Thompson-Allen Named NCBWA National Co-Hitter of the Week (March 24): SIUE outfielder
Terrick Thompson-Allen was named the National Co-Hitter of the Week by the NCBWA on March 24. He hit .650 (13-20) for the week with four home runs and 11 RBI. He ended the week with an on-base percentage of .682 and a slugging percentage at 1.450 and hit for the cycle in the final game of the week.
Two on Buster Posey Award Watch List: Tennessee Tech's
Manny Garza and Little Rock's
Cade Martin were named to the mid-year Buster Posey Award Watch List. The award is given to the top collegiate catcher. The award is sponsored by the Greater Wichita Sports Commission.
Two Named to Stopper of the Year Award Midseason Watch List: Two OVC baseball players were on the Midseason Watch List for the 21st Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball. The selections were Southeast Missouri senior
Jackson Kranawetter and SIUE redshirt sophomore
Easton Harris.
Riggs Named Semifinalist for National Pitcher of the Year Award: Eastern Illinois'
Bryce Riggs was named a semifinalist for the National Pitcher of the Year Award by the College Baseball Foundation. A total of 43 pitchers were selected as a semifinalist for the National Pitcher of the Year award.
Two on Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Semifinalist List: Southeast Missouri's
Andrew Ramirez and SIUE's
Chase Bloomer are two of 50 semifinalists for the Brooks Wallace Award, honoring the best shortstop in college baseball. The award is presented by the College Baseball Foundation.
2026 OVC Baseball Championship: For the fourth year in a row the OVC Baseball Championship will be held at Mtn Dew Park in Marion, Illinois (May 19-23). The event was also held at the venue (which was previously known as Rent One Park) in 2019. It was announced in May 2025 that the event will be held at the venue through 2029. This year the bracket has been slightly adjusted with the first two games (now played on Tuesday) being single-elimination (previously the first four games of the event were single-elimination and played on Wednesday). The winners of Tuesday's games will advance to the double elimination portion of the bracket. The Championship will now have 12 games (with the if necessary game being a 13th). The venue, home to the Thrillville Thrillbillies of the Prospect League (the team completed its first season in 2023), opened in 2007 and has a Sportexe Turf synthetic surface and features 3,400 chairback seats and lawn seating for over 2,000. It also has a new high-definition LED video board, 14 suites, a banquet facility, an entertainment plaza and kids’ play area. The stadium is located directly off Interstate 57. This year marks the 47th OVC Baseball Championship. The first elimination style OVC Baseball Tournament was held in 1980, most usually being played at the site of the regular season championship. Beginning in 2001 the tournament switched to a neutral site for the first time.
SIUE Picked as 2026 OVC Preseason Favorite: SIUE was picked as the 2026 Ohio Valley Conference preseason baseball favorite in a vote of OVC head baseball coaches and communications directors. The Cougars picked up 10 first-place votes and 137 points in being picked first, one point ahead of Southeast Missouri, who received three first-place votes and 136 points. Eastern Illinois got four first-place votes and 132 points in being tabbed third while Little Rock picked up the other three first-place votes and 122 points in coming in fourth. The poll was rounded out by Tennessee Tech (98), Lindenwood (86), Southern Indiana (70), UT Martin (54), Morehead State (37) and Western Illinois (28).
OVC Professional Success: Former OVC baseball players have found professional success at the Major League level. To begin the 2026 MLB season, three former OVC players were on Opening Day rosters (
Will Klein, Joey Lucchesi and
Tyler Rogers) while four others were on 40-man rosters (including
Trey Sweeney who started on the DL). At the end of the 2025 season, former Eastern Illinois pitcher
Will Klein captured a World Series Championship as a member of the active playoff roster for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who topped the Toronto Blue Jays in extra innings in a thrilling Game 7. Klein appeared in both Game 1 and Game 3 of the World Series, including picking up the win in Game 3 when he pitched 4.0 innings of scoreless relief as L.A. won 6-5 in 18 innings. He allowed one hit and struck out five in that appearance. Klein pitched 1.0 innings in Game 1, allowing one hit. Klein is the first former OVC player to be on an active roster of a World Series Champion since 2020, when Belmont's
Matt Beaty won a title also with the Dodgers. Former UT Martin pitcher
Alec Mills tossed the 16th no-hitter in Chicago Cubs history (and 305th in MLB history) against the Milwaukee Brewers on September 13, 2020. In 2021 Eastern Illinois SS
Trey Sweeney was selected in the First Round by the New York Yankees (No. 20 overall), becoming just the third First Round pick in OVC history; Sweeney is now with the Detroit Tigers and made his MLB debut in 2024. Also in 2021, former SEMO pitcher
Dylan Dodd was selected in the Third Round by the Atlanta Braves, marking the first time in OVC history two players were selected in the Top 3 rounds of the same draft.
All Teams Eligible for Postseason Play: Lindenwood and Southern Indiana have completed their reclassification to Division I and are now eligible to earn to compete in NCAA sanctioned postseason play.
The 2026 Season: The 2026 season marks the 78th year of competition in the OVC. Over the previous 77 years, 14 different teams have claimed an OVC baseball regular season championship.
ESPN+/ESPN Unlimited: The OVC signed a new multi-year media rights agreement with ESPN ahead of the season that continues the long-standing partnership to air games on the Family of Networks. This season over 200 men’s and women’s basketball regular season Conference games and non-conference games will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for $11.99 a month (or $119.99 per year). For the first time ever, ESPN now offers its full suite of 12 networks and services directly to fans within an enhanced ESPN App that integrates game stats, ESPN Fantasy sports, commerce, multiview options, a synchronized two-screen experience, a vertical video feature called Verts and a personalized SportsCenter For You. Designed to give fans more choice, flexibility and access to all of ESPN, these new features and functionality are available to all fans who watch on the ESPN App on mobile and connected TV devices, whether they subscribe directly or through a traditional pay TV package. Bundling options available for fans include a special offer at launch for the ESPN DTC Unlimited plan with Disney+ and Hulu for $29.99/month for the first 12 months.