• OVC Baseball Report – April 14 (PDF)

This Week’s Schedule

Tuesday, April 15
Little Rock at #11 Ole Miss, 11:00 a.m. (SEC Network+)
Southern Indiana at Northern Kentucky, 2:00 p.m.
Saint Ambrose at Western Illinois, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saint Xavier (Ill). at Eastern Illinois, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Lindenwood at Saint Louis, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southeast Missouri at Murray State, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Morehead State at Austin Peay, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
SIUE at Illinois, 6:00 p.m. (B1G+)

Thursday, April 17
*Tennessee Tech at Eastern Illinois, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at UT Martin, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Little Rock, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Southeast Missouri, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at SIUE, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Friday, April 18
*Tennessee Tech at Eastern Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at UT Martin, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Little Rock, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Southeast Missouri, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at SIUE, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Saturday, April 19
*Tennessee Tech at Eastern Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Little Rock, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at SIUE, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at UT Martin, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Southeast Missouri, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
 

---

OVC Players of the Week

PLAYER
Eddie Garza, 2B • 5-10, 200, Jr. • Rio Grande City, Texas • Tennessee Tech
In four games last week (including a weekend sweep of Southern Indiana) Garza hit .667 (8-for-12) with four runs scored, three home runs, nine RBI, a .692 on-base percentage and 1.417 slugging percentage. In the team's midweek game with Lipscomb, the second baseman pinch hit and had a single and run scored. In the opening contest of the USI series, he smashed his first home run of the season, a three-run shot that resulted in the game-winning RBI. He added a clutch, two-run single late in the game for insurance runs, finishing the game with five RBI. After one hit in Saturday's game, Garza closed the weekend by going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, two home runs and four RBI. The round trippers came in back-to-back innings (fifth and sixth) to help the Golden Eagles captured the weekend sweep.
 
Others Nominated: James Love, Eastern Illinois; Jake Radosevich, Lindenwood; Cade Martin, Little Rock; Parker Martin, Southern Indiana; Blaze Bell, UT Martin; Kenneth Perez, Western Illinois.
 
PITCHER
Josh Newell, RHP • 6-2, 190, Jr. • St. Charles, Mo. • Lindenwood
Newell improved to 6-2 on the season in tossing his second complete game shutout of the season, this time in a 7-0 win over SIUE (who had entered the day in first place). The junior allowed just four hits (three singles), three of which came in the third and fourth innings. He allowed just one other hit after the fourth inning, retiring 17 batters in a row before allowing a hit with two outs in the ninth inning. Newell struck out seven batters while only walking one. This marks the third time this season he has been named OVC Pitcher of the Week. Newell ranks tied for first in the OVC in victories (6), second in E.R.A. (3.30) and third in opponent batting average (.223).
 
Others Nominated: Dalton Boruff, Eastern Illinois; Jack Cline, Little Rock; Landon Waugh, Morehead State; Mason Pennington, Southeast Missouri; Spencer Stearns, SIUE; Reece McDuffie, Tennessee Tech


Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
 
• Spencer Stearns (RHP, R-So.), SIUE. Struck out nine and did not walk a batter over six innings in picking up a victory at Lindenwood on Sunday.
 
• Kenneth Perez (INF, Fr.), Western Illinois. In four games hit .555 (10-18) with four runs scored, a double, two home runs and six RBI. Perez had a grand slam in Sunday's win at UT Martin.
 
• Dalton Boruff (RHP, Jr.), Eastern Illinois. Pitched 6.2 innings in relief in the team's 19 inning victory at Southeast Missouri. Allowed zero runs and three hits.
 
• Jack Cline (RHP, Sr.), Little Rock. Was the winning pitcher in Saturday's victory at Morehead State. Pitched six innings and allowed no runs while striking out six.
 
• Cade Martin (C, Fr.), Little Rock. Hit .533 (8-15) with seven runs scored, two home runs and six RBI as the Trojans completed a perfect 4-0 week including a sweep of Morehead State.
 
• Reece McDuffie (RHP, Jr.), Tennessee Tech. Earned the win on Saturday against Southern Indiana, allowing no runs and no walks while giving up just three hits over 5.2 innings.
 
• Mason Pennington (RHP, Jr.), Southeast Missouri. Pitched 9.1 innings over two games, allowing one unearned run.
 

Notes From Around the League

Highlights From Around the League: After four weeks of Conference play, Tennessee Tech is now on the top of the standings with a 9-3 record ... It marks the third-straight week that a new team has been in first place ... Southeast Missouri and SIUE are one game back in second place ... Little Rock swept Morehead State and has now won four-straight OVC games ...  Eastern Illinois topped Southeast Missouri 6-3 on Friday night in a game that lasted 19 innings, the longest game in OVC history ... Dating back to last season, Western Illinois junior Liam Bushey has reached base safely in 55 games, the longest active streak in the OVC; Bushey also has the longest hitting streak (18) in the League entering the week (and longest by any player in the OVC this season) ... TTU head coach Matt Bragga won his 600th career game as a head coach last week (the wins game at TTU and Rice); he ranks 41st nationally among active head coaches for Division I victories ... Bragga is just four wins away from fifth place for career wins in OVC history (550) ... Three former OVC players were on Major League Baseball Opening Day rosters, including former Eastern Illinois 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.
 
Longest Game in OVC History: The Eastern Illinois at Southeast Missouri game on April 11 lasted 19 innings, making it the longest game by innings in OVC history. It broke the previous record of 17 innings done twice before (Jacksonville State vs. Kennesaw State in 2014, and Austin Peay vs. Eastern Illinois in 2002). After the seventh inning neither team scored again until EIU plated three runs in the top of the 19th to win 6-3.
 
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 level. 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.