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BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Morehead State junior outfielder
Ryley Preece was named the 2023 OVC Player of the Year while his coach
Mik Aoki was named OVC Coach of the Year in a vote of league head coaches and communication directors. In addition, Little Rock sophomore
Jackson Wells was tabbed OVC Pitcher of the Year while UT Martin pitcher
Zach Wager was named OVC Freshman of the Year.
The honors, along with first and second-team All-OVC and All-Freshman honors were announced ahead of the 2023 OVC Baseball Championship which begins on Wednesday at Mtn Dew Park in Marion, Illinois.
Morehead State had the most selections across the three teams with eight, followed by six apiece from Tennessee Tech and UT Martin while Little Rock and Southeast Missouri had five picks.
Preece lead Morehead State to its first OVC regular season championship since 1985 and its first outright title since 1979. Entering the postseason he ranks 11th nationally in runs (70), 15th in home runs (21), 16th in total bases (159), 18th in slugging (.772), 24th in triples (5) and 44th nationally in walks (45). Among OVC players, he ranks second in runs (1.32/game) and home runs (0.40/game), seventh in hits (1.34/game) and eighth in batting (.345). In 23 Conference games he hit .415 (second in the league) with 11 home runs, 33 RBI, an .894 slugging percentage and 12 stolen bases. Preece tallied 19 multi-hit games and 15 multi-RBI games during the season and enters the OVC Tournament having reached base safely in 34-straight games. Twice during the season he hit three home runs in a game, doing so against each Ohio and Southeast Missouri. Preece is the 10th Morehead State player to be named OVC Player of the Year and first since 2017 (Niko Hulsizer).
Now in his fourth season at Morehead State, Aoki has improved the Eagles overall and Conference record in each of his seasons. This year the Eagles finished 34-19 overall, including 16-7 in OVC play, which was 1.5 games better than second place. It marked the first OVC regular season championship for the team since 1985 (when MSU won the North Division title) and first outright crown since 1979. The Eagles won six of its final eight OVC games to claim the title and wrapped up the year 19-4 in home games. The team enters the postseason ranked 14th nationally in double plays (48), 17th in triples (19), 24th in home runs (96) and 27th in slugging (.518). Aoki is the fifth different Morehead State skipper to be named OVC Coach of the Year and first since the 2015 (Mike McGuire). The other MSU coaches to take home the honors include Rex Chaney (1964, 1965, 1966), Sonny Allen (1969, 1973) and Steve Hamilton (1977, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986), all of whom are in the OVC Hall of Fame.
In Little Rock's first season in the OVC, Wells was dominant, compiling a 1.71 E.R.A. (which ranks second nationally )in 14 appearances. That number was 1.35 prior to his final start of the regular season, which was first in the country. His E.R.A. is less than half of the second-place player in the OVC. The sophomore tallied a 6-4 record (4-2 in OVC play) in 84 innings of work (most in the OVC), striking out 73 and holding opponents to a .227 batting average (tops in the OVC). Wells tossed a complete game shutout against SIUE on April 21 and had two other starts (vs. Bradley and Grambling) where he combined with other Trojans for a shutout. Wells had a season-best 11 strikeouts against Tennessee Tech on May 12, walking just one Golden Eagle over 8.1 innings.
In his debut season with UT Martin, Wager started the season as a starter, making five starts in his first seven appearances. But he found his most success out of the bullpen and ended the season with four saves (three of which came over the final two weeks), which ranked him fifth in the OVC. In OVC play Wager tallied a 1.08 E.R.A., 2-0 record and two saves in nine appearances while striking out 15 and walking only five. In 12 overall appearances from April 1 through May 13, he allowed just two earned runs. Wager is the first UT Martin player to be named OVC Freshman of the Year since the award was first given out in 2005. He is the first pitcher to earn the honor since 2014 (APSU's Alex Robles).
2023 OVC Baseball Award Winners
OVC Player of the Year: Ryley Preece (OF), Morehead State
OVC Pitcher of the Year: Jackson Wells, Little Rock
OVC Freshman of the Year: Zach Wager (RP), UT Martin
OVC Coach of the Year: Mik Aoki, Morehead State
ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
C - Hayden Gilliland, Tennessee Tech
1B - Jackson Feltner, Morehead State
1B - John Dyer, Tennessee Tech
2B - Skyler Trevino, Little Rock
SS - Andrew Fernandez, UT Martin
3B - Nico Baumbach, Little Rock
OF - Ryley Preece, Morehead State
OF - Brennan Orf, SIUE
OF - Tyler Williams, Little Rock
DH - Roman Kuntz, Morehead State
UT - Ryan Ignoffo, Eastern Illinois
SP - Jackson Wells, Little Rock
SP - Noah Niznik, Southeast Missouri
SP - Ky Hampton, Eastern Illinois
RP - Zane Robbins, Eastern Illinois
ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
C - Grant Lashure, Eastern Illinois
1B - Blaze Bell, UT Martin
2B - Nick Gooden, Morehead State
SS - Colton Becker, Morehead State
3B - Peyton Mills, Tennessee Tech
3B - Mac Danford, UT Martin
OF - Josh Cameron, Southeast Missouri
OF - Caleb Hobson, UT Martin
OF - Avery Owusu-Asiedu, SIUE
DH - Brady Bunten, SIUE
UT - Joe Copeland, Lindenwood
UT - Lucas McNew, Southern Indiana
SP - Jake Bockenstedt, SIUE
SP - Luke Helton, Morehead State
SP - Haden Dow, Southeast Missouri
RP - Zach Wager, UT Martin
RP - Jacob Morin, Tennessee Tech
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
RHP - Easton Rakers, Lindenwood
OF - Ty Rhoades, Little Rock
RP - Luke Lyman, Morehead State
OF - Carter Owens, Morehead State
RHP - Gavin Johnston, Southeast Missouri
RHP - Eddie White, Southeast Missouri
SS - Chase Bloomer, SIUE
3B - Ethan Willoughby, SIUE
RP - Garrett Helsel, SIUE
3B - Caleb Niehaus, Southern Indiana
2B - Eddie Garza, Tennessee Tech
RHP - Brody Lanham, Tennessee Tech
LHP - Zach Wager, UT Martin
Note: There are 2 1B's on the first-team, 2 3B's, 2 Utility Players and 2 RP's on the second-team due to ties in voting.