Ohio Valley Conference

• OVC Baseball Report – April 29 (PDF)

This Week’s Schedule
 
Tuesday, April 30
Morehead State at Bellarmine, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Bradley at Western Illinois, 3:00 p.m.
Murray State at UT Martin, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Lindenwood at Missouri, 6:00 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Evansville at Southeast Missouri, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southern Indiana at Southern Illinois, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Tennessee Tech at #13 Vanderbilt, 6:00 p.m. (SEC Network+)

Wednesday, May 1
UT Martin at Murray State, 3:00 p.m.
Western Illinois at Illinois State, 5:00 p.m.

Friday, May 3
*Little Rock at Western Illinois, 3:00 p.m.
*Southeast Missouri at Lindenwood, 3:00 p.m.
*UT Martin at Morehead State, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m.
*SIUE at Southern Indiana, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Saturday, May 4
*Southeast Missouri at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m.
*UT Martin at Morehead State, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Tennessee Tech, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Western Illinois, 2:00 p.m.
*SIUE at Southern Indiana, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Sunday, May 5
*UT Martin at Morehead State, 12:00 p.m.
*Southeast Missouri at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m.
*Eastern Illinois at Tennessee Tech, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Southern Indiana, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m.
 

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OVC Players of the Week
 
PLAYER
Daniel Gierer, OF • 5-10, 180, Fr. • Glen Carbon, Ill. • SIUE
Gierer hit .500 (7-for-14) with six runs, two home runs, six RBI, three stolen bases, a .588 on-base percentage and .929 slugging percentage in four games last week. The outfielder hit a home run in game two of Saturday's doubleheader with Little Rock, and later scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning. He capped the weekend by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI. The freshman enters this week with an eight-game hitting streak. Gierer ranks seventh in the OVC in stolen bases (0.34/game)
 
Others Nominated: Lucas Loos, Eastern Illinois; Luke Pectol, Little Rock; Isaias Guzman, Morehead State; Ren Tachioka, Southern Indiana; Hayden Gilliland, Tennessee Tech; Hunter McLean, UT Martin.
 
PITCHER
Jason Buhl, LHP • 6-5, 205, Jr. • Winnebago, Ill. • Western Illinois
Buhl picked up the victory in game one of the series at Lindenwood with a complete game. The junior scattered five hits and allowed only one run. The lefty struck out five batters on nine innings in recording the first complete game by a WIU pitcher since 2022. Buhl is the first Leatherneck player to be named OVC Pitcher of the Week.
 
Others Nominated: Christian Carew, Eastern Illinois; Josh Newell, Lindenwood; Hunter Royal, Little Rock; Trevor Callahan, Morehead State; Kyle Miller, Southeast Missouri; Kyle Athmer, SIUE; Carson Seeman, Southern Indiana; Tristan Walton, UT Martin.
 
 
Notes From Around the League
 
Highlights From Around the League: With three weekends of Conference play remaining, Little Rock has a one game lead over five teams: Morehead State, Southeast Missouri, SIUE, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin ... Two other teams (Eastern Illinois and Southern Indiana) are just two games behind those five teams ... SIUE recorded its first tie since 2006 last week when heavy fog prevented its game with Bradley from being completed ... UT Martin swept Tennessee Tech last week, its first sweep of the Golden Eagles since 2019 ... UTM's Will Smith became the program's all-time leader in walks (99) and tied the all-time record in runs scored (145) ... EIU's Lucas Loos has reached base safely in 35 games, the longest active streak in the OVC and the third-longest for EIU over the past five seasons ... SIUE's Lucas Spence has 70 hits, which ranks fifth on the program's Division I single-season list ... Morehead State's Roman Kuntz has 22 home runs, which is 11th in OVC single-season history, just five away from the all-time record; Kuntz leads the OVC in multiple-RBI games (20) ... Tennessee Tech head coach Matt Bragga has 523 victories at TTU, which is three away from moving into a tie for sixth place (with SEMO's Mark Hogan) in OVC history ... Little Rock's Tyler Williams set the Trojans career home run record (28) over the weekend ...  Nationally, Morehead State ranks fourth in hits (4), fifth in batting average (.324), runs (419) and home runs (96) and seventh in slugging (.577) while Tennessee Tech ranks 10th in double plays (42) and 14th in triples (17) ... Individually, TTU's Austin Turner is fourth in walks (47) while teammate Peyton Calitri is seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.78) and 18th in wins (7) ... EIU's Lucas Loos is 13th in doubles, MSU's Ryley Preece and SIUE's Lucas Spence are tied for eighth nationally in hits (70); Preece also ranks second in runs (70) while MSU's Roman Kuntz is fifth in home runs (22) and RBI (67) and WIU's Caden Kratz and Little Rock's Jacob Weatherley are tied for seventh in saves (8).
 
2024 OVC Baseball Championship presented by SERVPRO: For the second year in a row the OVC Baseball Championship presented by SERVPRO will be held at Mtn. Dew Park in Marion, Illinois. This year the event runs May 22-25. The event was also held at the venue (which was previously known as Rent One Park) in 2019. For the third year in a row, the bracket includes four single-elimination games on Wednesday, with the winners advancing to the double elimination portion of the bracket which will include the No. 1 and 2 seeds (who receive a bye until Thursday games). 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 45th 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.
 
Four OVC Players on Brooks Wallace Award Watch List: Four OVC shortstops are among those on the 2024 Brooks Wallace Award Watch List. The players are Morehead State's Colton Becker, UT Martin's Andrew Fernandez, Western Illinois' Trevor Leon and Eastern Illinois' Lucas Loos. The award honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation later this year. It is named for former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died of leukemia at the age of 27.
 
Two OVC Players Named to Pitcher of the Year Watch List: Two OVC players - Little Rock's Hoss Brewer and Tennessee Tech's Peyton Calitri - have been named to the 2024 Pitcher of the Year Watch List by the College Baseball Foundation. The award is presented by the College Baseball Foundation.
 
Stopper of the Year Watch List: Little Rock senior Jacob Weatherley was one of 59 pitchers nationally on the Midseason Watch List for the 19th Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball. The NCBWA will announce the finalists on Wednesday, June 5 with the winner being named on Friday, June 14 at the 2024 College World Series.
 
Kuntz Named National Hitter of the Week by the NCBWA (March 20): Morehead State senior DH Roman Kuntz has been named the Dick Howser Trophy National Hitter of the Week by the NCBWA. In five games Kuntz hit .455 (10-for-22) with 10 runs scored, two doubles, five home runs, 14 RBI, a .538 on-base percentage and 1.227 slugging percentage. The senior homered in four of five games (each of which was a MSU victory) as the Eagles averaged 16 runs per game during the week. He scored twice and drove in three runs in the team's midweek win over Ohio. In the first game of a weekend series with Eastern Michigan, he was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI before combining to go 6-for-9 with five runs scored and eight RBI in a Saturday doubleheader sweep. Overall Kuntz scored 10 of the 12 times he reached base.
 
Little Rock Picked as 2024 OVC Preseason Favorite: Little Rock was picked as the 2024 OVC preseason baseball favorite in a vote of OVC head baseball coaches and communications directors. The Trojans picked up 12 of 20 first-place votes and 155 points in being picked first, just ahead of Morehead State who received the other eight first-place votes and 148 points. Southeast Missouri was predicted third (127) and followed by UT Martin (106), defending tournament champion Eastern Illinois (100), Tennessee Tech (93), SIUE (67), Southern Indiana (52), Lindenwood (31) and Western Illinois (20).

MSU's Preece and LR's Wells Named OVC Preseason Player/Pitcher of the Year: In a vote of OVC head baseball coaches and communications directors, Morehead State senior outfielder Ryley Preece and Little Rock junior right-hander Jackson Wells were tabbed OVC Preseason Player and Pitcher of the Year. Each earned their respective Player of the Year award at the end of the 2023 season. Additionally, 18 total players were named to the Preseason All-OVC team, all of whom were either first or second-team selections last year and were automatic picks for this year’s team. The 18 players came from six OVC teams with Morehead State leading the way with five selections and Little Rock and UT Martin having four apiece.
 
OVC Professional Success: Former OVC baseball players have found professional success at the Major League. 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. 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 2020 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). 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. SEMO pitcher Dylan Dodd was then 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.
 
New Teams: After welcoming three new teams last year, the OVC welcomed another new program in 2023-24. Western Illinois joined the OVC on July 1 after previously being in the Summit League. They are just the 25th full-time member in the 76-year history of the OVC.
 
All Teams Eligible for OVC Tournament: Both reclassifying teams, Lindenwood and Southern Indiana, are eligible to compete and win the OVC Tournament Championship this season. Should a transitioning school win an OVC Tournament Championship, the AQ shall be awarded to the tournament runner-up. Should the tournament runner-up also be a transitioning school, the AQ representative shall be the third-place team (where the third-placed team cannot be determined, the AQ shall be the semifinal team that had the highest remaining seed going into the tournament).
 
The 2024 Season: The 2024 season marks the 76th year of competition in the OVC. Over the previous 75 years, 13 different teams have claimed an OVC baseball regular season championship.
 
ESPN+: This year marks the sixth of the OVC’s media rights deal with ESPN to air games on ESPN+, the multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company Direct-to-Consumer & International segment. 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 $10.99 a month (or $109.99 per year) or as part of a bundle with Disney+ and ad-supported Hulu ($15.99/month). ESPN+ is an integrated part of the ESPN App (on mobile and connected devices). More information can be found at www.OVCSports.com/ESPN.