• OVC Baseball Report – March 15 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, March 16
Morehead State at West Virginia, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southeast Missouri at Saint Louis, 3:00 p.m.
Western Illinois
at SIUE, 3:00 p.m.
#7 Louisville
at Eastern Kentucky, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Murray State at Kentucky, 4:00 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Tennessee Tech at North Alabama, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Eastern Illinois at Alabama State, 6:00 p.m.
Middle Tennessee
at Austin Peay, 6:00 p.m.
Belmont at #2 Vanderbilt, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Wednesday, March 17
Morehead State at West Virginia, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Eastern Illinois at Alabama State, 3:00 p.m.
Friday, March 19
Morehead State at Norfolk State, 2:00 p.m.
*Eastern Illinois at Tennessee Tech, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Jacksonville State at Murray State, 3:00 p.m.
*UT Martin at Eastern Kentucky, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Belmont, 4:00 p.m.
*Austin Peay at Southeast Missouri, 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 20
Morehead State at Norfolk State (2), 11:00 a.m.
*UT Martin at Eastern Kentucky (2), 11:00 a.m.
*Eastern Illinois at Tennessee Tech (2), 12:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Jacksonville State at Murray State (2), 12:00 p.m.
*SIUE at Belmont (2), 1:00 p.m.
*Austin Peay at Southeast Missouri (2), 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, March 21
Morehead State at Norfolk State, 11:00 a.m.
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Alex Webb, C/DH • 6-0, 200, Sr. • Columbia, Tenn. • Jacksonville State
In four games last week Webb hit .529 (9-for-17) with five runs scored, two doubles, a home run, eight RBI, a .824 slugging percentage and .556 on-base percentage. He hit a home run in the team's midweek game at No. 22 Alabama. In the opener at South Alabama (an 11-2 JSU win), he had two hits, scored two runs and drove in four RBI. Webb followed that with two hits and a RBI in Saturday's win and closed the weekend by going 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Webb ranks sixth in the OVC in hits (1.33/game) and eighth in RBI (1.00/game).
Others Nominated: Logan Jarvis, Belmont; Logan Eickhoff, Eastern Illinois; Caleb Upshaw, Eastern Kentucky; Ryan Layne, Morehead State; Jake Slunder, Murray State; Andrew Keck, Southeast Missouri; Golston Gillespie, Tennessee Tech; Casey Harford, UT Martin.
CO-PITCHER
Joshua South, RHP • 6-3, 205, So. • Cookeville, Tenn. • Belmont
South struck out 10 over eight innings and combined with the bullpen for a shutout in an 8-0 win over UT Martin on Friday. He retired the first 11 batters of the game before a walk in the fourth inning. South then allowed a leadoff double in the fifth and seventh innings and a single in the eighth but only one UTM base runner would make it to third base. This marks his second career double-digit strikeout game of his career. South ranks second in the OVC in E.R.A. (1.29) and fourth in opponent batting average (.195).
CO-PITCHER
Louis Davenport III, RHP • 6-0, 160, Jr. • Lithonia, Ga. • Eastern Kentucky
Davenport combined for a seven-inning run-ruled shutout of Morehead State on Saturday. Pitching in a hitter-friendly park, the junior allowed a single in each the third and fourth innings and issued three walks, but did not allow a run while striking out a career-high 10 batters. It marked just the 12th time since 2008 that an EKU player had 10 or more strikeouts in a game. Davenport ranks third in the OVC in strikeouts (12.54/game), ninth in opponent batting average (.220) and 10th in E.R.A. (3.38).
Others Nominated: Luke Brown, Austin Peay; Christian Edwards, Jacksonville State; Jason Goe, Morehead State; Shane Burns, Murray State; Ty Fisher, Tennessee Tech; Seth Petry, UT Martin.
Notes From Around the League
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 18 wins over nationally-ranked non-conference opponents.
Feb. 20 - Eastern Kentucky 9 at #15 Georgia Tech 6
Feb. 24 - UT Martin 9, #22 Alabama 4
Mar. 2 - Morehead State , #1 Louisville 2
Wins Over No. 1 Ranked Teams: Morehead State knocked off No. 1 Louisville on March 2, marking its first-ever win over a Top 10 opponent. It marks the third win by an OVC team over a No. 1 ranked foe since 2009.
Morehead State 5, #1 Louisville 2 (March 2, 2021)
Austin Peay 7, #1 Vanderbilt 6 (February 27, 2019)
Jacksonville State 9, #1 Georgia 7 (April 22, 2009)
Conference Schedule Looks Different: In a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the OVC schedule looks different this year. OVC teams will still play a three-game series, but do so over two days, with a doubleheader scheduled for one of those games. The games are scheduled for Friday/Saturday, but can be moved due to weather prior to the series beginning. All the games will be nine innings and there is a 10-run rule in effect (after 7 innings) for the final game of the series.
2021 OVC Championship: The location of this year's OVC Baseball Championship has yet to be announced. The event will be held May 27-29 and feature the top four teams in the final regular season standings. The event was reduced from eight to four teams in a one-year only cost savings measure across all OVC bracketed team sports.
Campbell Named to Buster Posey Award Watch List: Belmont catcher
Jackson Campbell has been named to the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Watch List by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. The award is given annually to the top catcher in NCAA Division I Baseball, with Campbell being one of 69 catchers to be named to the list. Campbell is the only catcher representing the Ohio Valley Conference, marking the second time in his career being named to the watch list.
Four OVC Players Named to Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List: Four OVC Baseball players have been named to the 2021 Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List Nationally they are among 48 players representing 17 conferences around the country on the list. The OVC picks were Belmont junior catcher
Jackson Campbell and junior infielder
Logan Jarvis, Eastern Kentucky junior second baseman
Daniel Harris IV and Tennessee Tech junior outfielder
Jason Hinchman. The award, created by the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation, was open to nominations from all Division I baseball programs in the country. The BBCSA is based on performance at the plate, academics and personal integrity.
Brennan Named to Stopper of the Year Watch List: Belmont junior pitcher
Kyle Brennan was one of 45 players nationally named to the initial Watch List for the 16th Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball.
Case Moves Into Fifth Place on OVC Career Victories Chart: Jacksonville State head coach
Jim Case currently has 545 victories since the Gamecocks joined the OVC in 2004. That currently ranks him fifth in OVC history. Case needs nine more wins to move into a tie for fourth place. Former Austin Peay coach Gary McClure is the OVC's all-time winningest coach (847 wins from 1988-2015).
Six OVC Players Named Preseason All-Americans: Six OVC players were named 2021 Preseason All-Americans. The selections were Belmont pitcher
Kyle Brennan, Eastern Illinois infielder
Trey Sweeney, Eastern Kentucky second baseman
Daniel Harris IV, Belmont catcher
Jackson Campbell, Murray State second baseman
Jordan Cozart and Tennessee Tech outfielder
Jason Hinchman.
OVC Professional Success: Former OVC baseball players found professional success at the Major League level in 2020. 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. Former Belmont standout
Matt Beaty was a member of the 28-man playoff roster for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who defeated the Tampa Bay Rays four games to two to win the World Series. Since the OVC was formed in 1948, he is the first former OVC player to be on the active roster of a World Series Champion (most recently former SIUE pitcher Spencer Patton was a member of the 2016 Chicago Cubs championship team, but was not active for the World Series).
Belmont Picked as 2021 OVC Preseason Favorite: For the first time since joining the league, Belmont was picked as the 2021 OVC preseason baseball favorite in a vote of OVC head baseball coaches and communications directors. Belmont picked up 14 of the 22 first-place votes to tally 188 points. Jacksonville State received seven first-place votes and was tabbed second (176) and followed by Murray State (136) and Austin Peay (132). Southeast Missouri picked up the other first-place vote (and 131 total points) in being picked fifth. Eastern Kentucky (117) was tabbed sixth and followed by SIUE (78), Eastern Illinois (73), Morehead State (67), Tennessee Tech (66) and UT Martin (45).
Tennessee Tech's Hinchman and Belmont's South Earn Preseason OVC Player/Pitcher of the Year Honors: Tennessee Tech junior outfielder
Jason Hinchman was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year while Belmont junior pitcher
Joshua South was tabbed OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year for the second-straight season. In all 16 players were selected to the Preseason All-OVC team. The 16 players represented 10 of the 11 teams who will compete for the OVC championship this season. Murray State led the way with three selections apiece.
OVC Put Two Teams in NCAA Baseball Championship, Advances Team to Super Regional For First Time in 2018: In 2018, 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 is in year two with ESPN+, the multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment, being the exclusive home of regular season and OVC Championship broadcasts. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year). ESPN+ is an integrated part of the ESPN App and (on mobile and connected devices) and ESPN.com. More information can be found at
www.OVCSports.com/ESPN.