• OVC Baseball Report – April 8 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Monday, April 7
*Lindenwood 14-6, @Little Rock 2-13
*@Western Illinois 8, Tennessee Tech 1
*@SIUE 6, Southeast Missouri 2
*@Southern Indiana 6, Morehead State 4
Tuesday, April 8
Eastern Illinois at Northern Illinois, 2:00 p.m.
UT Martin at Belmont, 4:00 p.m.
Southern Indiana at #25 Western Kentucky, 5:00 p.m.
Southeast Missouri at Southern Illinois, 6:00 p.m.
Missouri
at SIUE, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wednesday, April 9
Little Rock at Central Arkansas, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Morehead State at Eastern Kentucky, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Western Illinois at Bradley, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Lipscomb
at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Columbia College (Mo.)
at Lindenwood, 6:00 p.m.
Friday, April 11
*SIUE at Lindenwood, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Morehead State, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at UT Martin, 5:00 p.m.
*Southern Indiana at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Southeast Missouri, 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 12
*SIUE at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m.
*Little Rock at Morehead State, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at Tennessee Tech, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Southeast Missouri, 2:00 p.m.
*Western Illinois at UT Martin, 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 13
*Little Rock at Morehead State, 12:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m.
*Southern Indiana at Tennessee Tech, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Southeast Missouri, 1:00 p.m.
*Western Illinois at UT Martin, 1:00 p.m.
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Parker Martin, 2B/3B • 5-10, 190, So. • Missouri City, Texas • Southern Indiana
In a perfect 4-0 week, Martin his .538 (7-for-13) with two runs scored, two doubles, two home runs, nine RBI, a .647 on-base percentage and 1.154 slugging percentage. After a midweek shutout of Northern Kentucky, the Screaming Eagles swept Morehead State to take over sole possession of first place in the OVC standings. He had two hits (including a double) and RBI in the 10-0 win over NKU. In Sunday's 9-5 come-from-behind victory, the sophomore had a three-run blast that capped a six-run eighth inning and sealed the victory. In the second game of Sunday's doubleheader he had a double and home run and finished with five RBI. He capped the weekend with two hits in Monday's 6-4 win. Through nine OVC games Martin ranks second in RBI (1.44/game), sixth in on-base percentage (.500) and ninth in slugging percentage (.643).
Others Nominated: Filip Sarota, Lindenwood; Jackson Green, Tennessee Tech; Brody Capps, UT Martin; Liam Bushey, Western Illinois.
PITCHER
Jackson Kranawetter, LHP • 5-10, 190, Jr. • Campbell Hill, Ill. • Southeast Missouri
Kranawetter picked up his fifth save of the season on Sunday, striking out the only two batters he faced after entering with the game-winning run at home plate. He also closed out the first game of the weekend series at SIUE, pitching two perfect innings and striking out four as SEMO won 9-5. The Redhawks won two of three during the series and are just one game out of first place. For the week the junior pitched 2.2 innings, not allowing a hit or run while striking out six and not walking a batter. On the season, his five saves rank second in the OVC and 29th nationally.
Others Nominated: Tyler Kapraun, Eastern Illinois; Josh Newell, Lindenwood; Ethan Davis, Morehead State; Juan Vargas, Tennessee Tech; Brandon King, UT Martin.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
•
Filip Sarota (OF/1B, Sr.), Lindenwood. Hit .583 (7-13) with four runs scored, a double, home run and five RBI in three games.
•
Jackson Green (OF, Sr.), Tennessee Tech. Led team to series victory at Western Illinois, hitting .467 (7-15) with four runs, a double, triples, six RBI and three stolen bases. He was 2-for-4 with a double during the midweek at No. 1 Tennessee.
•
Liam Bushey (INF, Sr.), Western Illinois. Extended his streak of reaching base safely to 51 games dating back to last season in four games last week. Hit .438 (7-16) with two runs scored, three doubles and four RBI.
•
Josh Newell (RHP, Jr.), Lindenwood. Allowed five hits and one run without walking a batter in 14-2 win over Little Rock. Struck out three batters over six innings to pick up his fifth win of the season.
•
Ethan Davis (RHP, Jr.), Morehead State. In midweek game at Ohio, allowed only one hit and no runs while striking out three over five innings. It marked the longest outing of his collegiate career and was his second victory of the season.
•
Brody Capps (INF, Jr.), UT Martin. Had two multi-hit games, going 4-for-10 over three games. Scored two runs, homered and drove in six runs.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: After three weeks of Conference play, Southern Indiana is in first place with a 7-2 record ... After winning the final two games of last weekend's Little Rock series, the Screaming Eagles swept Morehead State this past weekend; in all games USI has won six-straight contests ... Southeast Missouri, SIUE and Tennessee Tech are just one game out of first place ... Weather played havoc on the schedule this past weekend, with five games being played on Monday; two games were lost due to weather ... Dating back to last season, Western Illinois junior Liam Bushey has reached base safely in 51 games, the longest active streak in the OVC; Bushey also has the longest active hitting streak (14) in the League entering the week ... Nationally, Eastern Illinois is fifth in sac bunts (31), UT Martin is 28th in triples/game (0.35) and 32nd in stolen bases (68), Morehead State is 35th in home runs/game (1.52) and Southeast Missouri is fourth in walks allowed per nine innings (3.00), seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.11), 23rd in WHIP (1.30) ... Individually, Tennessee Tech's Jack Brafa is fourth in wins (6) while teammate Juan Vargas is 16th in saves (6), UTM's Jalen Fithian is 19th in stolen bases (20), MSU's Hunter Thomas is 21st in home runs (12) and SEMO's Nathan Mertens is first in walks allowed per nine innings (0.64) and second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (13.67) ... 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.
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.