• 2023 OVC Baseball Preseason Poll/Teams (PDF)
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Two-time defending OVC Tournament Champion
Southeast Missouri has been picked as the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference preseason baseball favorite in a vote of OVC head baseball coaches and communications directors.
In additional voting, Morehead State junior first baseman
Jackson Feltner was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year while MSU graduate left-handed pitcher
John Bakke was tabbed OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
This season marks the 75th anniversary of the Ohio Valley Conference, as the league was formed in 1948. The league includes three teams making their OVC debut, including Lindenwood, Little Rock and Southern Indiana, each who became official members on July 1.
The Redhawks picked up 16 of 18 first-place votes (schools could not vote for themselves) and 128 points to be a unanimous first-place pick.
Morehead State received the other two first-place votes to tally 100 points and be picked second.
Eastern Illinois was tabbed third (89 points) and followed by
Little Rock (86),
Tennessee Tech (78),
SIUE (76),
UT Martin (41),
Southern Indiana (26) and
Lindenwood (24).
In all 16 players were selected to the Preseason All-OVC team, seven 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. Morehead State, Southeast Missouri and SIUE led the way with three selections apiece.
Southeast Missouri will try to become the first team to win three-straight OVC Tournament crowns since Austin Peay from 2011-13. A season ago the Redhawks lost its tournament opener but won three-straight games to claim its fifth overall tournament championship. The Redhawks placed three players on the Preseason All-OVC Team including outfielders
Jevon Mason and
Brett Graber and reliever
Kyle Miller. Mason smashed 14 home runs last season, including an extra inning blast that proved to be the tournament game-winner. Graber hit .321 and drove in 46 runs while stealing 13 bases in his debut season with the Redhawks. Miller was versatile out of the bullpen, making 24 appearances, winning eight games and recording six saves in 45.2 innings.
Morehead State has finished third in the league standings each of the past two seasons under head coach
Mik Aoki. The team has the Preseason Player (Feltner) and Pitcher (Bakke) of the Year as well as Preseason All-OVC second baseman
Nick Gooden (.332, 63 hits, 41 runs, 33 RBI). Feltner, a Preseason All-American selection by Collegiate Baseball, hit .393 in 54 games last season and ranked third in the OVC in on-base percentage (.478) and fifth in slugging (.706). Bakke has been both a starter and relief pitcher during his Eagle tenure. Last year he ended the season as a starter and for the season had four wins and eight saves in 26 appearances.
Eastern Illinois is coming off a season where they posted 33 overall victories, the program’s most wins since 2001. The Panthers had strong pitching last season, ranking second in the OVC in pitching, while ranking fourth in team batting average. EIU placed two players on the Preseason All-OVC team in sophomore shortstop
Chris Worcester and senior utility player
Ryan Ignoffo. Worcester, the OVC Freshman of the Year, hit .320 with 49 hits, 29 RBI and 10 stolen bases. Ignoffo led the team in hitting (.359), hits (73), home runs (14) and RBI (58) and also made three appearances on the mound.
New to the OVC, Little Rock is under the direction of head coach
Chris Curry who begins his ninth season with the Trojans. The team won 24 games a season ago and among its returning players is hurler
Hoss Brewer, who made 10 starts a season ago, and outfielder
Tyler Williams, who hit .302 and stole a team-best 21 bases. Newcomer pitcher
Jackson Wells, who was 8-2 with a 3.95 E.R.A. at Rich Mountain Community College last season, was named to the Preseason All-OVC Team.
Last season marked the return of head coach
Matt Bragga, who coached the team for 15 years before departing for another job. Bragga returned to the Golden Eagles and guided the Golden Eagles to the semifinal round of the OVC Championship. The usually potent TTU bats were back last year as the Golden Eagles led the OVC in team batting average (.303) and home runs (114). A pair of Tennessee Tech players were named to the Preseason All-OVC team in junior catcher
Hayden Gilliland (.313, 46 hits, 31 RBI) and junior pitcher
Peyton Calitri (6-5, 5.04 E.R.A., 85.2 IP).
SIUE had one of its best seasons at the Division I level a year ago, winning 27 games, the second-most of its DI tenure. The Cougars hit .303 (percentage points out of first in the OVC) and smashed a school record 99 home runs. The Cougars had three players selected to the Preseason All-OVC Team in third baseman
Josh Ohl, outfielder
Brennan Orf and designated hitter
Brady Bunten. Ohl hit .314 with 64 hits and 45 runs in 50 games while Orf led the Cougars with a .357 batting average. Bunten, a first-team All-OVC pick in 2022, hit .308 last season and hit 13 round trippers to increase his career home runs total to 30 (fourth in SIUE history).
UT Martin begins its sixth season under head coach
Ryan Jenkins. Among the Skyhawks key returning players is outfielder
Will Smith who was second on the team in batting average last season. UTM had one player selected to the Preseason All-OVC Team in redshirt junior pitcher
Eric Steensma. Steensma missed all of last season with an injury, but in 2021 made 18 appearances while striking out 40 in 40.2 innings of work.
Southern Indiana begins its transition to Division I under head coach Tracy Archuleta, who begins his 17th season with the Screaming Eagles and led the program to a pair of Division II National Championships (2010, 2014). Senior catcher
Lucas McNew was named to the Preseason All-OVC Team after hitting .321 with 61 hits, 16 doubles, eight home runs and 57 RBI a season ago.
After spending just over a decade at the Division II level, Lindenwood begins its reclassification to Division I in 2023. The Lions were 27-24 in its final season as DII program. Among the team’s returning players is graduate student outfielder
Sam Kissane, who led the team with a .329 batting average last season.
The 75th season of OVC baseball will get underway on Friday, February 17 with the first weekend of league play being held March 24-26. This year’s OVC Tournament will feature the top eight teams squaring off at Rent One Park in Marion, Illinois from May 24-27. The Championship was last held in Marion in 2019.
2023 OVC Baseball Preseason Predicted Order of Finish
1. Southeast Missouri (16 first-place votes) – 128 points
2. Morehead State (2) - 100
3. Eastern Illinois - 89
4. Little Rock - 86
5. Tennessee Tech - 78
6. SIUE - 76
7. UT Martin - 41
8. Southern Indiana - 26
9. Lindenwood - 24
2023 OVC Baseball Preseason All-OVC Team
Preseason OVC Player of the Year: Jackson Feltner (1B), Morehead State
Preseason OVC Pitcher of the Year: John Bakke (LHP), Morehead State
C - Lucas McNew, Southern Indiana
C - Hayden Gilliland, Tennessee Tech
1B - Jackson Feltner, Morehead State
2B - Nick Gooden, Morehead State
SS - Chris Worcester, Eastern Illinois
3B - Josh Ohl, SIUE
OF - Brett Graber, Southeast Missouri
OF - Brennan Orf, SIUE
OF - Jevon Mason, Southeast Missouri
DH - Brady Bunten, SIUE
UT - Ryan Ignoffo, Eastern Illinois
SP - John Bakke, Morehead State
SP - Peyton Calitri, Tennessee Tech
SP - Jackson Wells, Little Rock
SP - Eric Steensma, UT Martin
RP - Kyle Miller, Southeast Missouri