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OVC Baseball Report – April 21 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, April 22
Eastern Illinois at Butler, 3:00 p.m.
Southern Indiana at Saint Louis, 3:00 p.m.
UMSL
at Lindenwood, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Belmont
at UT Martin, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Morehead State at Marshall, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
USC Upstate
at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m.
Southern Illinois
at Southeast Missouri, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
SIUE at Bradley, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Western Illinois at Iowa, 6:05 p.m. (BTN+)
Little Rock at #5 Arkansas, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Wednesday, April 23
USC Upstate
at Tennessee Tech, 3:00 p.m.
Illinois Wesleyan
at Eastern Illinois, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Little Rock at #5 Arkansas, 5:00 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Marshall
at Morehead State, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Rockhurst
at Lindenwood, 5:00 p.m.
Bellarmine
at Southern Indiana, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, April 25
*Lindenwood at Western Illinois, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Morehead State, 5:00 p.m.
*UT Martin at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m.
*SIUE at Little Rock, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Southern Indiana, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, April 26
*Lindenwood at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Morehead State, 1:00 p.m.
*UT Martin at Tennessee Tech, 2:00 p.m.
*Eastern Illinois at Southern Indiana, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Little Rock, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, April 27
*Southeast Missouri at Morehead State, 12:00 p.m.
*UT Martin at Tennessee Tech, 1:00 p.m.
*SIUE at Little Rock, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Southern Indiana, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Cooper Chaplain, 2B • 5-9, 185, Jr. • Jackson, Miss. • Little Rock
In four games last week Chaplain hit .500 (9-for-18) with six runs scored, three home runs, 10 RBI, a .550 on-base percentage and 1.000 slugging percentage as the Trojans knocked off nationally-ranked Ole Miss and won two of three against Western Illinois. At No. 11 Ole Miss, the junior drove in what proved to be the game-winning run in the eighth inning and added a two-run single in the ninth as Little Rock won 7-3. Chaplain finished the game 3-for-5 with three RBI. The second baseman would homer in each game of the WIU series, including a two-run blast in the opener, as he went 2-for-5 with a stolen base and three RBI. Cooper finished game two of the series 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBI as Little Rock extended its winning streak to eight games. Chaplain was also perfect in the field, converting all 32 chances with 16 putouts and 16 assists while helping the Trojans turn six double plays. The junior has reached base safely in 33 consecutive games, has an 11-game hitting streak and currently ranks eighth in the OVC in batting (.350).
Others Nominated: Jake Ferguson, Eastern Illinois; Sam Grunberg, Lindenwood; JJ Dutton, Morehead State; Bryce Cannon, Southeast Missouri; Daniel Gierer, SIUE; Cole Kitchens, Southern Indiana; Nicho Jordan, Tennessee Tech; Garner Anderson, UT Martin; Brock Lummus, Western Illinois.
PITCHER
Nathan Mertens, RHP • 6-3, 200, Jr. • La Canada, Calif. • Southeast Missouri
Mertens pitched 7.2 innings and combined with the bullpen for a 2-0 shutout victory over Lindenwood in the series opener. The junior scattered five hits (four of which were singles and struck out seven without walking anybody in improving to 5-1 on the season. He retired 11 of the final 14 batters that he faced before giving way to the bullpen. Mertens leads all Division I players in strikeout-to-walk ratio and walks allowed per nine innings and leads the OVC in E.R.A. (2.77).
Others Nominated: Tyler Kapraun, Eastern Illinois; Easton Rakers, Lindenwood; Lucas Vega, Tennessee Tech; Zach Wager, UT Martin; Harrison Dubois, Western Illinois.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Cole Kitchens (DH, Jr.), Southern Indiana. The junior smashed five home runs, drove in 12 runs and slugged 1.294 in four games. He had three home runs in USI's 13-11 win over SIUE in game two of the weekend series.
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JJ Dutton (OF, Jr.), Morehead State. Dutton hit .579 (11-18) with four runs scored, two doubles, a triple and home run in four games. He was 5-for-5 and a home run short of hitting for the cycle in a victory over Austin Peay.
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Brock Lummus (C/DH, Sr.), Western Illinois. Lummus hit .500 (9-18) with five runs scored, a double, home run, five RBI and a .722 slugging percentage.
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Zach Wager (LHP, Jr.), UT Martin. The junior pitched a season-best 6.2 innings and netted a season-high five strikeouts versus Morehead State.
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Tyler Kapraun (LHP, Grad.), Eastern Illinois. Scattered three hits over six innings in Friday's 6-1 victory over Tennessee Tech.
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Easton Rakers (RHP, Sr.), Lindenwood. Rakers tossed three scoreless innings in relief, allowing one hit and striking out three as the Lions topped Southeast Missouri.
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Hunter Thomas (C, Grad.), Morehead State. Drove in nine runs and hit .444 (8-18) with four doubles and a home run in four games.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: After five weeks of Conference play, Southeast Missouri and SIUE are tied atop the OVC standings with identical 10-5 records while Eastern Illinois is just one game back after a three-game sweep of Tennessee Tech (who had entered last week in first place) ... It marks the fourth-straight week that a new team has been in first place ... Little Rock won at No. 11 Ole Miss on April 15, the 28th win for an OVC team over a nationally-ranked opponent since 2018 ... Dating back to last season, Western Illinois junior Liam Bushey has reached base safely in 57 games, the longest active streak in the OVC; Bushey also has the longest hitting streak (20) in the League entering the week (and longest by any player in the OVC this season) ... WIU is just three wins away from the most wins by the program since the 2019 season ... Two weeks ago TTU head coach Matt Bragga won his 600th career game as a head coach (the wins coming at TTU and Rice); 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.
Ranked Wins: Here is a look at OVC teams with wins over nationally-ranked teams this season. From 2018 to the present OVC teams have 28 wins over nationally-ranked non-conference opponents.
April 15 - Little Rock 7, #11 Ole Miss 3
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.