Ohio Valley Conference

• OVC Baseball Report – March 31 (PDF)

This Week’s Schedule
 
Tuesday, April 1
Butler at Eastern Illinois, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Alabama A&M at UT Martin, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southern Illinois at Lindenwood, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Morehead State at Ohio, 4:00 p.m.
Northern Kentucky at Southern Indiana, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Tennessee Tech at #1 Tennessee, 5:00 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Southeast Missouri at Evansville, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Indiana State at SIUE, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Western Illinois at Saint Louis, 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 2
Murray State at UT Martin, 3:00 p.m.
Little Rock at Arkansas State, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Friday, April 4
*Tennessee Tech at Western Illinois, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Eastern Illinois, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Little Rock, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Southern Indiana, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at SIUE, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Saturday, April 5
*Tennessee Tech at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Eastern Illinois, 1:00 p.m.
*Southeast Missouri at SIUE, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Southern Indiana, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Little Rock, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Sunday, April 6
*Tennessee Tech at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Eastern Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Little Rock, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Southern Indiana, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at SIUE, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
 

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OVC Players of the Week

PLAYER
Mike O'Conor, 3B • 5-11, 190, Jr. • Des Plaines, Ill. • Eastern Illinois
In four games last week O'Conor hit .571 (12-for-21) with eight runs scored, a double, three home runs, 13 RBI, a .560 on-base percentage and 1.048 slugging percentage. He began the week with two hits (including a three-run home run) and four RBI in a slugfest game against Northern Illinois. The junior opened the weekend series at Morehead State, with a 4-for-5 performance, with a home run, two runs scored and five RBI. After two hits and a RBI in the middle game of the series, he capped the weekend by going 4-for-6 with four runs scored, a home run and three RBI. It marked the first series victory for EIU over Morehead State since 2017.
 
Others Nominated: Charlie Isom-McCall, Lindenwood; Hunter Thomas, Morehead State; Cole Warehime, Southeast Missouri; Mack Mitchell, SIUE, Cole Kitchens, Southern Indiana; Nicho Jordan, Tennessee Tech; Brody Capps, UT Martin.
 
PITCHER
Josh Newell, RHP • 6-2, 190, Jr. • St. Charles, Mo. • Lindenwood
Newell earned his second OVC Pitcher of the Week honor of the season after tossing a complete game shutout in a 10-0 win over UT Martin on Friday. The junior struck out a season-best seven without walking a batter against the Skyhawks. He allowed three hits (all singles) while throwing just 103 pitches over the nine innings. He allowed two singles in the second inning and the third an inning later and then retired the next 17 batters he faced before an error to open the ninth inning.
 
Others Nominated: Tyler Conklin, Eastern Illinois; Brian Strange, Southeast Missouri; Tim Teixeira, SIUE; Blake Kimball, Southern Indiana; Jaxon Pease, Tennessee Tech; Jacob Sitton, UT Martin


Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
 
• Eli Brown (LHP, Sr.), Lindenwood. Tossed a complete game shutout against UT Martin. Allowed three hits while striking out four.
 
• Blake Kimball (RHP, Jr.), Southern Indiana. Pitched eight scoreless innings in combined shutout of Little Rock. It was the most shutout innings by a USI starter since 2019.
 
• Tim Teixeira (RHP, Fr.), SIUE. Tied career-high with six innings, allowing two hits and one run while striking out eight in topping Tennessee Tech.
 
• Mack Mitchell (INF, R-Jr.), SIUE. Smashed four home runs and drove in 12 runs as SIUE won two of three games at Tennessee Tech to remain in first place.
 
• Charlie Isom-McCall (INF, Fr.), Lindenwood. Hit .500 (9-18) with four runs scored, six RBI and a .524 on-base percentage in a perfect 4-0 week for the Lions. He extended his hitting streak to 13 games (second-longest in the OVC).
 
• Cole Kitchens (DH, Jr.), Southern Indiana. Kitchens hit .471 (8-17) with three runs scored, a home run and five RBI as USI won two of three games from Little Rock.
 
• Hunter Thomas (C, Grad.), Morehead State. Had three home runs and drove in five home runs in Eastern Illinois series. He now ranks 11th nationally in home runs (12).
 
• Brian Strange (RHP, Sr.), Southeast Missouri. Strange had two saves in a perfect 4-0 week for the Redhawks. He had six strikeouts, allowed only one hit and did not walk a batter over 3.1 innings of work.


Other Notes From Around the League

Highlights From Around the League: After two weeks of Conference play, SIUE is 5-1 and holds a one game lead over five teams who are 4-2 ... Eastern Illinois took two of three game at Morehead State, its first series win over the Eagles since 2017 ... Dating back to last season, Western Illinois junior Liam Bushey has reached base safely in 47 games, the longest active streak in the OVC ... USI's Cole Kitchens has the longest hitting streak in the OVC this season at 16 games ... Nationally,  Southeast Missouri ranks first in walks allowed per nine innings (2.79), fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.31) and 19th in WHIP (1.27), Tennessee Tech is 15th in double plays (25), Morehead State is 21st in home runs/game (1.68) and UT Martin 19th in triples/game (0.39) ... SEMO Haden Dow is fourth in walks allowed per nine innings (0.68) and fifth in each strikeout-to-walk ratio (13.0) and WHIP (0.80) ... Morehead State's Hunter Thomas is seventh in home runs/game (0.48) while Alex Cisneros is the fourth hardest to strikeout (19.0) ... TTU's Jack Brafa ranks eighth nationally in wins (5) ... Three former OVC players were on Major League Baseball Opening Day rosters, including former Eastern Illnois pitcher Hayden Birdsong (San Francisco Giants), former EIU shortstop Trey Sweeney (Detroit Tigers), the 2021 OVC Player of the Year, and former Austin Peay closer Tyler Rogers (San Francisco Giants), the 2013 OVC Pitcher of the Year ... Three other former OVC players were on 40-man MLB rosters to open the season.
 
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. To begin the 2025 MLB season, three former OVC players were on Opening Day rosters (Hayden Birdsong, Trey Sweeney and Tyler Rogers) while three others were on 40-man rosters. 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.