Ohio Valley Conference

• 2019 OVC Baseball Report - Final (PDF)

Highlights From Around the League: Jacksonville State won 12-straight games (and 16 of its last 17 games) entering on its way to the OVC regular season and tournament championships...The Gamecocks finished OVC play 22-8 to claim the 2019 OVC regular season championship, its third all-time (2005, 2008, 2019)...JSU then swept three games in the OVC Tournament to win its fifth OVC Tournament title (2004, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2019)...After previously being 0-8 in NCAA Regional appearances, the Gamecocks won a pair of games to advance to the Regional Championship Round before eventually falling to host Ole Miss...OVC teams have won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament in 8 of the past 13 years and advanced to the Regional Championship Round four times in the past eight years (including TTU advancing to the Super Regionals in 2018)...Four OVC players were named All-Americans after the season while three OVC players earned Freshman All-American honors; TTU's Kevin Strohschein was named to six of the seven major teams while EKU's Aaron Ochsenbein was named to five different teams...EKU closer Aaron Ochsenbein finished the season with an 0.83 earned run average in 54.1 innings pitched (59 games), making him one of only 11 players in OVC history to have an E.R.A. of under 1.00 in a season where they pitched 50 or more innings (the OVC record is 0.29 by Murray State's George Dugan in 1963)...Ochsenbein was named one of six finalists nationally for the Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in Division I...Morehead State finished the 2019 season with 40 victories, which established a new school record; before 2015, MSU had just one 30-win campaign but has reached that plateau every year since...Eastern Kentucky recorded its second-straight 30-win season, the first time the team has accomplished that since 1999-2000...Tennessee Tech senior Kevin Strohschein concluded his career by finishing 10th in NCAA history (1st in the OVC) with 362 career hits; he set the OVC career records for at-bats, hits, doubles, RBI and total bases and tied the career mark for home runs while finishing second in career games played and games started and second in runs scored...Belmont's Kyle Klotz set the OVC record for career pitching appearances, finishing his career with 118 appearances (breaking the old mark of 114).
 
Jacksonville State in the NCAA Tournament: Jacksonville State made its fifth NCAA Division I Regional appearance this season, joining 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2014. After a pair of twins the Gamecocks are now 2-10 all-time in the NCAA Division I Championship.
 
Recent NCAA Success: 2018 marked the first time an OVC team won a NCAA Regional under its current format, as Tennessee Tech won the Oxford Regional to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals. OVC teams have won at least one game in eight of the past 13 years, including reaching the Regional Championship Round four times in the past eight years.
 
Jacksonville State Wins 2019 OVC Baseball Tournament: No. 1 seed Jacksonville State swept three games to claim the 2019 OVC Baseball Tournament Championship. It marked the fifth title for the Gamecocks (2004, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2019), which ranks third in OVC history.
 
Jacksonville State Wins 2019 OVC Regular Season Championship: Jacksonville State finished the 2019 season with a 22-8 Conference record to claim its third OVC regular season championship. The Gamecocks also won OVC crowns in 2005 and 2008.
 
Ochsenbein One of 11 OVC Pitchers in History With Sub-1.00 E.R.A.: Eastern Kentucky closer Aaron Ochsenbein finished the season with an 0.83 earned run average in 54.1 innings pitched (59 games), making him one of only 11 players in OVC history to have an E.R.A. of under 1.00 in a season where they pitched 50 or more innings (the OVC record is 0.29 by Murray State's George Dugan in 1963). Ochsenbein's mark ranks him seventh in OVC single-season history.
 
Ochsenbein Named Finalist for Stopper of the Year Award: Eastern Kentucky closer Aaron Ochsenbein was selected as one of six finalists for the 15th annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award. Ochsenbein had a 5-2 record with a program best 0.83 ERA and 10 saves. He struck out 90 batters in 54 and one-third innings and allowed just five runs, 24 hits and 16 walks while opponents had a .133 batting average against him. UCLA's Holden Powell was named the winner of the award.
 
Four Earn All-American Honors, Three Named Freshman All-Americans: Overall four different OVC players earned All-American honors in 2019 across the seven major teams. Tennessee Tech's Kevin Strohschein was named to six of the seven teams while Eastern Kentucky's Aaron Ochsenbein was named to five of the seven teams. Eastern Illinois' Jimmy Govern was named to a pair of teams while Austin Peay's Parker Phillips earned one honor. In addition, three players were named Freshmen All-American teams. In addition, three players were named Freshmen All-Americans.
 
Klotz Sets OVC Career Pitching Appearances Record: Belmont senior Kyle Klotz appeared in his 115th game on the mound on May 17, establishing a new OVC record for career pitching appearances. He broke the mark of 114 by Morehead State's Cable Wright (2014-17) and finished his career with 118 appearances.
 
Case Moves Into Fifth Place on OVC Career Victories Chart: With a win at Austin Peay on May 18, Jacksonville State head coach Jim Case secured his 526th overall victory since Jacksonville State has been a member of the OVC (2004-present). That moved him into a tie for fifth place on the OVC's all-time wins list with Southeast Missouri's Mark Hogan (1995-2012). Case passed Hogan during the OVC Tournament for sole possession of fifth place and ended the season with 531 wins. Former Austin Peay coach Gary McClure is the OVC's all-time winningest coach (847 wins from 1988-2015).
 
Strohschein Sets OVC Career Hits and RBI Records With One Swing; Finishes Career 10th in NCAA History For Hits: Tennessee Tech senior Kevin Strohschein established new OVC career records for hits and RBI with a two-run home run on April 23 against nationally-ranked North Carolina State. Strohschein broke the career hits record of 330 previously held by Clayton Daniel (2015-18) and the career RBI record of 229 held by TTU's Zach Stephens. Strohschein finished his career with 362 career hits and 247 career RBI. The 362 hits were the 10th most in NCAA history.

Strohschein Sets OVC Career Total Bases Record: Tennessee Tech senior Kevin Strohschein established a new OVC record for career total bases, passing Tennessee Tech's Zach Stephens (529 bases from 2011-14). Strohschein finished his career with 642 career total bases (the most among all active Division I players).
 
Strohschein Sets OVC Career Doubles Record: Tennessee Tech senior Kevin Strohschein set the OVC career doubles record in a win over Middle Tennessee on May 7. He broke the record of 68 previously held by Jacksonville State's Clayton Daniel (2015-18). Strohschein finished his career with 74 career doubles.
 
Strohschein Sets OVC Career At-Bats Record: Tennessee Tech senior Kevin Strohschein set the OVC career record for at-bats, breaking the previous mark of 975 by Jacksonville State's Clayton Daniel from 2015-18.  Strohschein finished his career with 1,009 career at-bats.
 
Strohschein Ties OVC Career Home Runs Record: Tennessee Tech senior Kevin Strohschein tied the OVC career home runs record of 62 (also held by TTU's Zach Stephens, 2011-14) with a blast against Morehead State on May 10. Strohschein finished his career with 62 home runs.
 
NCAA Statistical Leaders: In the final set of NCAA statistical leaders, Tennessee Tech ranked second in home runs (1.61/game) and 17th in slugging (.472). Eastern Kentucky ranked ninth in stolen bases (2.19/game), 20th in home runs (1.27/game) and 25th in scoring (7.3 runs/game). Morehead State ranked 13th in hits (643) and 17th in batting average (.300). Austin Peay ranked 11th in strikeouts per nine innings (9.9), 17th in home runs (1.32/game) and 21st in slugging (.468). Individually, Tennessee Tech's Kevin Strohschein ranked ninth in total bases (161), 11th in doubles/game (0.43), 19th in hits (89), 22nd in slugging (.691) and 25th in batting (.382). TTU's Jason Hinchman ranked first in home runs/game (0.44) and 20th in slugging (.697). Austin Peay's Parker Phillips ranked second in home runs/game (0.44), 10th in slugging (.732), 15th in hit by pitch/game (0.37), 18th in total bases (153) and 31st in RBI (1.12/game). Southeast Missouri's Tyler Wilber ranked 23rd in batting (.383),, Morehead State's Connor Pauly ranked ninth in hits (92) and Eastern Illinois' Jimmy Govern ranked 17th in runs/game (1.20). Jacksonville State's Garrett Farmer ranked sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.88), 18th in walks allowed per nine innings (1.37) and 33rd in WHIP (1.00). Morehead State's Jason Goe ranked 12th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.91) and 23rd in walks allowed per nine innings (1.45). UT Martin's Nick Wohlbold ranked 11th in saves (13).
 
Austin Peay Tops No. 1 Vanderbilt; First OVC Team in a Decade to Top No. 1: Austin Peay knocked off No. 1 Vanderbilt by a 7-6 margin on February 27. The Govs became the first OVC team to defeat the No. 1 ranked team since Jacksonville State topped Georgia 9-7 on April 22, 2009.
 
Two OVC Players Named to Google Cloud Academic All-Americans: Two Eastern Kentucky student-athletes were named to the 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-American Baseball Teams as selected by CoSIDA. The picks were senior Ryland Kerr and junior Nick Howie. Kerr holds a 4.00 GPA in exercise & sport science while Howie has a 4.00 GPA in finance. The duo are the 283rd and 284th OVC student-athletes to earn Academic All-American honors since 1970 (and ninth this school year). Overall the OVC has had 51 baseball student-athletes earn Academic All-American honors (and 17 earn first-team accolades).
 
Rent One Park in Marion, Illinois to Host 2019 and 2020 OVC Baseball Championships: The 2019 and 2020 OVC Baseball Championships will be held at Rent One Park in Marion, Illinois. It marks the fourth different site to host the event since it moved to neutral locations in 2001. Rent One Park is the home of the Southern Illinois Miners, a professional baseball team playing in the Frontier League. The park, which opened in 2007 and has a Sportexe Turf synthetic surface, features 3,400 chairback seats and lawn seating for over 2,000. The venue includes a brand-new high-definition LED video board, 14 suites, a banquet facility, an entertainment plaza,  kids’ play area and a 10-hole miniature golf course. The stadium is located directly off Interstate 57.
 
Seeding Success: Since the OVC Tournament switched to a neutral site in 2001 (18 total tournaments), the No. 1 seed has won seven championships, the No. 2 seed has five titles, the No. 3 seed has won four times, the No. 4 seed has won twice and the 5 seed has claimed one title (Tennessee Tech in 2009).
 
Jacksonville State Wins OVC Team Sportsmanship Award: Jacksonville State was the recipient of the 2018-19 Team Sportsmanship Award for baseball. Voted on by the student-athletes and coaches of the respective sports, the team awards are bestowed upon the Conference squads deemed to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA. Included in the areas for evaluation are the conduct of student-athletes, coaches, staff and administrators and fans. The 2018-19 school year marks the 14th year the team sportsmanship honors have been awarded. This marks the third award for the JSU program (the team also won in 2007 and 2008).
 
OVC Players in Major League Baseball: Four former OVC baseball players were on Major League Baseball Opening Day rosters this season. Those active players included two players from Austin Peay in relief pitchers Shawn Kelley (Texas Rangers) and Ryne Harper (Minnesota Twins), former Tennessee Tech pitcher David Hess (Baltimore Orioles) and former Southeast Missouri State pitcher Joey Lucchesi (San Diego Padres). Former Morehead State catcher Taylor Davis (Chicago Cubs) and former Belmont outfielder Matt Beaty (Los Angeles Dodgers) were both called up in May. Another player, former UT Martin pitcher Alec Mills (Chicago Cubs), is on a 40-man roster.

Joslin Named National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (April 22): Austin Peay freshman DH/1B Matt Joslin was named National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper on April 22. In four games last week Joslin hit .667 (6-for-9) with six runs scored, a double, two grand slams, 13 RBI, a 1.444 slugging percentage and .750 on-base percentage. The freshman capped the week by going 4-for-6 with four runs scored, a double, grand slam and seven RBI in a 22-11 victory over UT Martin. He began the week with a pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam in a 12-9 victory over Southern Illinois. In game two of the UT Martin series, Joslin had a game-tying, pinch-hit two-run single as the Govs eventually won 5-4. Overall Joslin had 13 RBI in just 12 plate appearances during the week.
 
Hinchman Named National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (March 11): Tennessee Tech sophomore Jason Hinchman was named the National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper on March 11. In four games Hinchman hit .538 (7-for-13) with nine runs scored, two doubles, four home runs, nine RBI, a 1.615 slugging percentage and .647 on-base percentage in helping his team to a 3-1 record. The slugger homered in three consecutive games to being the week, including a pair of home runs in the second game of the SIUE series. He finished that game 4-for-5 with four runs scored, a double and five RBI. He also scored multiple runs in the series opener against SIUE and the team's midweek win at Alabama A&M.
 
Sortor Named National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (Feb. 18): Morehead State junior OF Chase Sortor was named National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper on Feb. 18 following his college debut. In two games at Furman, Sortor hit .714 (5-for-7) with five runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, six RBI, a .778 on-base percentage and 2.286 slugging percentage. He was 1-for-3 with two runs scored, two walks, a home run and two RBI in the first game of a doubleheader. In the second game he was 4-for-4 with three runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and four RBI. He had a two-run double in the second inning, led off the fourth frame with a solo blast, added another double in the sixth inning and smashed his second home run of the game (which proved to be the decisive run) in the eighth inning.
 
Five OVC Players Named Preseason All-Americans: Five OVC players were named 2019 Preseason All-Americans. Tennessee Tech senior outfielder Kevin Strohschein was named a first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball and a second-team pick by the NCBWA. Austin Peay junior first baseman/outfielder Parker Phillips earned first-team honors from Collegiate Baseball, while Jacksonville State senior catcher Nic Gaddis (Collegiate Baseball) and Southeast Missouri senior outfielder Justin Dirden (NCBWA) earned second-team honors. Morehead State senior first baseman Trevor Snyder was named a third-team pick by Collegiate Baseball.
 
Strohschein on Golden Spikes Award Watch Preseason List: Tennessee Tech senior Kevin Strohschein was one of 55 players nationally named to the preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list. The 42nd Golden Spikes Award, which is given to the top amateur baseball player nationally, will be presented in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation on June 14. The preseason watch list features 55 of the nation’s top amateur players, from high school and college baseball. The Golden Spikes Award Advisory Board will maintain a rolling list of players, allowing athletes to play themselves into consideration for the award throughout the season.
 
Six OVC Players on Buster Posey Catcher of the Year Award Watch List: Six OVC baseball players have been named to the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Watch List by The Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. The award, previously known as the Johnny Bench Award, honors the nation’s top division one collegiate catcher as voted on by head coaches and sports information directors. The OVC candidates include Belmont's Jackson Campbell, UT Martin's Blake Davis, Jacksonville State's Nic Gaddis, Eastern Illinois' Ryan Knernschield, Eastern Kentucky's A.J. Lewis and Austin Peay's David Martinez.
 
Four Players Named to Stopper of the Year Award Watch List: Four OVC baseball players were among the 75 players nationally named to the Stopper of the Year Award Watch List by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). The award, now in its 15th season, is given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball. The OVC players included Belmont sophomore Kyle Brennan, Eastern Kentucky senior Aaron Ochsenbein, Jacksonville State sophomore Christian Edwards and Southeast Missouri senior Aaron Stretch.
 
Morehead State Picked as 2019 OVC Preseason Favorite: Defending tournament champion Morehead State was picked as the 2019 OVC preseason favorite in a vote of OVC head baseball coaches and communication directors. The voting saw three different teams pick up first-place votes with Morehead State picking up 11 of the 22 total first-place votes, Jacksonville State getting six first-place votes and defending regular season champion Tennessee Tech picking up five first-place votes. Morehead State tallied 185 total points, edging Jacksonville State (173) by 12 points and Tennessee Tech (166) by 19 points. Austin Peay was picked fourth (143), one point ahead of Southeast Missouri (142). Eastern Kentucky was sixth (110) and followed by Belmont (88), Eastern Illinois (77), Murray State (51), SIUE (45) and UT Martin (32).
 
Tennessee Tech's Strohschein and Austin Peay's Pucheu Earn Preseason OVC Player/Pitcher of the Year Honors: Tennessee Tech senior outfielder/designated hitter Kevin Strohschein was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year while Austin Peay senior Jacques Pucheu was tabbed OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. In all 17 players were selected to the Preseason All-OVC team. The 17 players represented nine of the 11 teams who will compete for the OVC championship this season. Morehead State led the way with four selections, following by Jacksonville State with three picks.
 
OVC Put Two Teams in NCAA Baseball Championship, Advanced Team to Super Regional For First Time in 2018: Last season for the first time the OVC sent two teams to the NCAA Baseball Championship. In addition to Morehead State, who won the OVC Tournament and received the league's automatic bid, Tennessee Tech became the first OVC team to receive an at-large bid. After winning an OVC record 27 Conference games during the regular season, TTU had a RPI of 23 to secure the at-large bid and a No. 2 seed in the Oxford Regional. The Golden Eagles were the second OVC team to earn a No. 2 seed, joining the 2013 Austin Peay team. TTU would win back-to-back games against No. 4 national seed Ole Miss to become the first team to advance to a Super Regional (which began in 1999). Tennessee Tech beat Texas in game one of the Super Regional before falling in the final two games.
 
ESPN+: The OVC has announced an extension of its media rights deal with ESPN that will make ESPN+, the first multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company Direct-to-Consumer & International segment, the exclusive home of regular season and OVC Championship broadcasts. This season select OVC baseball games will air on ESPN+. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year).  ESPN+ is an integrated part of the completely redesigned ESPN App and also available on the web, iPhone, iPad, tvOS, Android Handset, Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast and FireTV. More information can be found at www.OVCSports.com/ESPN.