• OVC Baseball Report - March 17 (PDF)
This Week's Schedule
Tuesday, March 18
Morehead State at Bellarmine, 1:00 p.m.
Eastern Illinois at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 2:00 p.m.
Central Arkansas
at Little Rock, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Union University
at UT Martin (2), 3:00 p.m.
Southeast Missouri at Middle Tennessee, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
SIUE at Illinois State, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Austin Peay
at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Western Illinois at Southern Illinois, 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, March 19
Eastern Illinois at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 2:00 p.m.
Southern Indiana at Austin Peay, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, March 21
*Southern Indiana at Western Illinois, 2:00 p.m.
*Lindenwood at Eastern Illinois, 3:00 p.m.
*Morehead State at SIUE, 4:00 p.m.
*Southeast Missouri at UT Martin, 5:00 p.m.
*Tennessee Tech at Little Rock, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, March 22
*Southern Indiana at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m.
*Lindenwood at Eastern Illinois, 1:00 p.m.
*Morehead State at SIUE, 1:00 p.m.
*Southeast Missouri at UT Martin, 3:00 p.m.
*Tennessee Tech at Little Rock, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, March 23
*Southern Indiana at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m.
*Tennessee Tech at Little Rock, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Eastern Illinois, 1:00 p.m.
*Morehead State at SIUE, 1:00 p.m.
*Southeast Missouri at UT Martin, 1:00 p.m.
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Chase Bloomer, SS • 5-11, 180, Jr. • Ottawa, Kan. • SIUE
In four games last week Bloomer hit .444 (8-for-18) with six runs scored, two doubles, four home runs, nine RBI, a .444 on-base percentage and 1.222 slugging percentage. Bloomer started the week by smashing three home runs and driving in seven runs in a 12-11 win over Evansville (the team was down 10-0 in that victory). In that game he was 3-for-5 with three runs scored. He followed that with another 3-for-5 performance in the opener of the Missouri State series, an 11-4 SIUE victory. In that win he scored three runs once again and had a double and home run. He also had two hits in the middle game of the MSU series. Bloomer ranks eighth in the OVC in batting average (.353), third in home runs/game (0.29) and total bases/game (2.65) and fourth in slugging (.662).
Others Nominated: Chris Worcester, Eastern Illinois; Jake Radosevich, Lindenwood; Ty Rhoades, Little Rock; Hunter Thomas, Morehead State; Chase Bloomer, SIUE; Cole Kitchens, Southern Indiana; Owen Lee, Tennessee Tech; Jalen Fithian, UT Martin; Liam Bushey, Western Illinois.
PITCHER
Nathan Mertens, RHP • 6-3, 200, Jr. • La Canada, Calif. • Southeast Missouri
Mertens struck out a career-high 10 batters over seven innings (without issuing a walk) in a 3-1 victory over Jacksonville State on Friday. The junior allowed six hits (five singles) and one earned run before making way to the bullpen. Mertens retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced and had multiple strikeouts in three different innings. He helped stem the tide for the Redhawks who had lost game one of the doubleheader by a 11-1 margin. Mertens leads the OVC and ranks 22nd nationally in E.R.A. (1.09) and leads all Division I players in strikeout-to-walk ratio (31.0). He is the third different SEMO player to earn Pitcher of the Week honors this season.
Others Nominated: Tyler Kapraun, Eastern Illinois; Jack Cline, Little Rock; Logan Moller, Tennessee Tech.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
• Jake Radosevich (C, Jr.), Lindenwood. Hit .500 (11-22) and drove in eight runs in five games last week. Had three doubles and two home runs for the Lions. Had five RBI in the week's first game against Murray State.
• Hunter Thomas (C, Grad.), Morehead State. Had two home runs and seven RBI while hitting .412 (7-17) in four games. His nine home runs and 28 RBI leads the OVC.
• Cole Kitchens (DH, Jr.), Southern Indiana. Kitchens hit .500 (11-22) with five runs scored, a double, triple and four RBI in five games. Went 4-for-6 with an 11th inning double in Sunday's win over Murray State.
• Owen Lee (INF, R-Fr.), Tennessee Tech. Slugged 1.059 in four games, including clobbering four home runs. He tied the TTU single-game record with three home runs in a mid-week victory at Middle Tennessee.
• Jalen Fithian (UTIL, Sr.), UT Martin. Hit .538 (7-13) with two RBI, two stolen bases and a .588 on-base percentage last week.
• Liam Bushey (INF, Sr.), Western Illinois. Bushey hit .400 (8-20) with four runs scored, two doubles, two home runs, eight RBI and an .800 slugging percentage.
• Ty Rhoades (UTIL, Jr.), Little Rock. Drove in eight RBI over five games. Smashed two home runs and had a .882 slugging percentage.
• Tyler Kapraun (LHP, Grad), Eastern Illinois. Pitched 6.2 innings allowing one earned run and striking out five at Western Carolina.
Notes From Around the League
Royal Named to Stopper of the Year Watch List: Little Rock senior relief pitcher Hunter Royal has been named to the 2025 Watch List for the 20th Annual Stopper of the Year Award as announced by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). Royal is one of 76 players chosen by the organization; the award goes to the top relief pitcher in college baseball.
2025 OVC Baseball Championship presented by SERVPRO: For the third year in a row the OVC Baseball Championship presented by SERVPRO was held at Mtn. Dew Park in Marion, Illinois. This year's event is May 21-24. The event was also held at the venue (which was previously known as Rent One Park) in 2019. For the fourth 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 46th 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.
Southeast Missouri Picked as 2025 OVC Preseason Favorite: Defending tournament champion Southeast Missouri was picked as the 2025 OVC preseason baseball favorite in a vote of OVC head baseball coaches and communications directors. The Redhawks picked up 13 of 20 first-place votes and 157 points in being picked first, just ahead of Little Rock who picked up five first-place votes and 144 points. Tennessee Tech was picked third (118), Morehead State fourth with one first-place vote (107), Eastern Illinois fifth (92) and SIUE got the final first-place vote while being picked sixth (89). The poll was rounded out by UT Martin (69), Southern Indiana (57), Lindenwood (45) and Western Illinois (22).
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 became the first former OVC player to be on the active roster of a World Series Champion. 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; Sweeney is now with the Detroit Tigers and made his MLB debut in 2024. Also in 2021, former SEMO pitcher Dylan Dodd was 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.
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-place team cannot be determined, the AQ shall be the semifinal team that had the highest remaining seed going into the tournament).
Division I Council Adopts New Reclassification Criteria: On January 15 the NCAA Division I Council adopted a proposal that requires schools moving into Division I to meet objective measures that focus on the student-athlete experience and support a school’s successful transition to Division I. The change reduces the reclassification period from four to three years for Division II schools and four years for Division III schools. Members currently in the reclassification process (Lindenwood and Southern Indiana) can use the new timeline IF they meet all other criteria. Progression through the process is dependent upon meeting each year’s benchmarks. If the benchmarks are met, teams would be eligible for NCAA postseason events in the 2025-26 school year.
The 2025 Season: The 2025 season marks the 77th year of competition in the OVC. Over the previous 76 years, 14 different teams have claimed an OVC baseball regular season championship.
ESPN+: The OVC has a 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 $11.99 a month (or $119.99 per year) or as part of a bundle with Disney+ and ad-supported Hulu ($16.99/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.