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OVC Baseball Report – May 19 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
2025 OVC Baseball Championship presented by SERVPRO
Mtn Dew Park - Marion, Illinois
All Games Air on ESPN+
Wednesday, May 21
Game 1:
#5 Southern Indiana vs. #8 Little Rock, 9:00 a.m.
Game 2:
#6 Lindenwood vs. #7 UT Martin, 12:30 p.m.
Game 3:
#4 Southeast Missouri vs. Winner Game 1, 4:00 p.m.
Game 4:
#3 Tennessee Tech vs. Winner Game 2, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 22
Game 5:
#1 Eastern Illinois vs. Winner Game 3, 11:00 a.m.
Game 6:
#2 SIUE vs. Winner Game 4, 3:00 p.m.
Game 7: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, May 23
Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 2:00 p.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. Lower Game 8, 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 24
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 12:00 p.m.
Game 11: Repeated Pairing (if necessary), 60 Minutes After Game 10
NOTE: The first four games are single elimination.
All Times Central
OVC Players of the Week
CO-PLAYER
Daniel Gierer, OF • 5-10, 180, So. • Glen Carbon, Ill. • SIUE
Gierer closed out the regular season by hitting .615 (8-for-13) with six runs scored, a double, four home runs, 10 RBI, a .643 on-base percentage and 1.615 slugging percentage as SIUE locked up its highest-ever OVC regular season finish (second). In a mid-week game with Southern Illinois, the outfielder was 3-for-4 with two home runs and six RBI against the Salukis. Against UT Martin, he was 3-for-4 with a run scored and RBI in the opener and 2-for-5 with three runs scored, two home runs and three RBI in the final game of the series. Among OVC player the sophomore ranks third in batting (.352) and fourth in stolen bases (0.43/game).
CO-PLAYER
Jackson Green, OF • 6-0, 220, Sr. • Nicholasville, Ky. • Tennessee Tech
In four games Green hit .588 (10-for-17) with 10 runs scored, three doubles, four home runs, 12 RBI, three stolen bases, a .667 on-base percentage and 1.471 slugging percentage. He opened the week by going 1-for-2 with a RBI in a victory over Middle Tennessee. After going hitless in the first game of the Morehead State series, the senior rebounded by going 9-for-11 over the final two games. In the middle game of the series he was 5-for-5 with five runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI as TTU won 27-11. The eight RBI tied for the third-most in a game in Golden Eagle history. He finished out the regular season by going 4-for-6 with five runs scored, a double, two more home runs and three RBI in a 26-15 win.
Others Nominated: Jake Ottensmeier, Eastern Illinois; Davis Germann, Morehead State; Cole Warehime, Southeast Missouri; Peeko Townsend, UT Martin.
PITCHER
Nathan Mertens, RHP • 6-3, 200, Jr. • La Canada, Calif. • Southeast Missouri
Mertens won is seventh game of the season on Thursday, combining for a shutout in a 19-0 victory over Little Rock. The junior pitched seven innings, allowing only one hit and no walks while striking out six. He retired the first nine batters of the game before allowing a single in the fourth inning. Mertens then retired the final 11 batters he faced (including a double play to erase the base runner), throwing 76 pitches to 21 batters. Mertens ranks first nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (0.92) and third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.25). This marks his third Pitcher of the Week honor of the season.
Others Nominated: Tyler Kapraun, Eastern Illinois; Tim Teixeira, SIUE; Abdriel Figueroa, Southern Indiana; Garrett Holpuch, Tennessee Tech.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Abdriel Figueroa (RHP, So.), Southern Indiana. Earned a pair of saves in three appearances during the week. Pitched 6.0 total innings, allowing three hits and no runs while striking out seven.
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Tyler Kapraun (LHP, Grad.), Eastern Illinois. Pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing only two hits while striking out three in victory over Western Illinois. He is 4-0 in his last four starts.
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Cole Warehime (OF, Jr.), Southeast Missouri. In sweep of Little Rock the outfielder hit .444 (4-for-9) with four runs scored, two doubles, a home run, nine RBI and 1.000 slugging percentage.
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Peeko Townsend (OF, Sr.), UT Martin. Townsend hit .538 (7-for-13) with five runs scored, a double, two home runs, .571 on-base percentage and 1.077 slugging percentage.
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Davis Germann (OF, R-So.), Morehead State. Hit .615 (8-for-13) with seven runs scored, three doubles, a triple, two home runs and 1.385 slugging percentage against Tennessee Tech.
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Tim Teixeira (RHP, Fr.), SIUE. Scattered five hits and allowed only one run over six innings against UT Martin.
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Jake Ottensmeier (OF, Fr.), Eastern Illinois. Hit .417 (7-for-17) with four runs, two triples and six RBI as EIU swept Western Illinois to win OVC regular season crown.
General Tournament Notes
This year marks the 46th OVC Baseball Tournament; the first elimination style event was held in 1979 (prior to that the winner of each division matched up in a three-game series to be crowned league champion)...Since 2001 the event has been played at a neutral site, first Paducah, Kentucky (2001-09), then Jackson, Tennessee (2010-16), Oxford, Alabama (2017-18), Marion, Illinois (2019, 2023-25), Jackson, Tennessee (2021) and Lexington, Kentucky (2022)...This year marks the 24th at a neutral site...No event was held in 2020 due to the pandemic...Since the tournament went to a neutral site, the No. 1 seed has won eight titles, the No. 2 seed has won seven titles, the No. 3 seed has won four titles, the No. 4 has won twice and No. 5 seed has claimed two championships.
EASTERN ILLINOIS
Appearances: 20
Titles: 3 (1999, 2008, 2023)
All-Time Record: 25-27
This season Eastern Illinois won its fifth OVC regular season championship and first since 2009 ... The team won eight of its last nine OVC games down the stretch to win the title ... The Panthers are in the field for the fourth-straight year ... In 2023 the team was the No. 5 seed and won twice (to advance out of the single elimination portion of the bracket) before losing to No. 1 seed Morehead State; the Panthers then won three-straight games to claim its third tournament title ... EIU was second in the OVC in team batting (.292) and team pitching (4.88) this season ... As the No. 1 seed the Panthers have a bye until Thursday's action; the team will play either Southern Indiana, Little Rock or Southeast Missouri.
LINDENWOOD
Appearances: 1
Titles: 0
All-Time Record: 0-0
In its third year in the OVC, Lindenwood qualified for its first OVC Tournament ... The last postseason tournament the program competed in was the 2022 Great Lakes Valley (GLVC) Tournament ... The Lions won the 2021 GLVC Tournament and competed in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional ... Head coach PJ Finigan is in his second year as head coach and third year with the program; he previously was an assistant coach at SIUE ... Lindenwood ranked third in the OVC in team E.R.A. (5.24) this season ... Lindenwood is reclassifying to Division I and ineligible to compete in the NCAA Tournament; per OVC policy, should the team win the OVC Tournament Championship, the automatic bid would be awarded to the tournament runner-up (if both teams in the final are ineligible, the bid would go to the team who finishes third).
LITTLE ROCK
Appearances: 3
Titles: 0
All-Time Record: 1-4
Now in its third year in the OVC, Little Rock is making its third OVC Tournament appearance ... A year ago the Trojans won the OVC regular season championship and were the No. 1 seed ... The team's lone OVC Tournament win came against Tennessee Tech in 2023 ... Little Rock was 1-9 in its last 10 OVC games down the stretch but won the head-to-head tiebreaker with Western Illinois to claim the final spot in the field ... Prior to that stretch the team did win eight games in a row, including knocking off No. 11 Ole Miss (the only OVC team to beat a Top 25 team this season) ... The Trojans will open the Tournament against No. 5 seed Southern Indiana; USI won two of three games in the series played in Evansville at the end of March.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
Appearances: 30
Titles: 6 (1998, 2002, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2025)
All-Time Record: 51-50
Southeast Missouri has won three of the last five OVC Tournaments, claiming titles in 2021, 2022 and last season (2025) ... After not winning a tournament game at Mtn Dew Park previously, SEMO was 3-1 in last year's event ... The Redhawks were the No. 2 seed last year (after winning nine of its final 10 games); this year the team is the No. 4 seed and will play the winner of the Southern Indiana/Little Rock game ... The Redhawks swept Little Rock last season but were swept by USI earlier this year ... Prior to sweeping the Trojans, SEMO had lost six-straight OVC games ... This year marks the 30th tournament appearance for the Redhawks, which is an OVC all-time record ... SEMO has 51 all-time OVC Tournament wins, the second-most among all teams (EKU being the most).
SIUE
Appearances: 6
Titles: 0
All-Time Record: 3-8
SIUE earned its highest-ever OVC Tournament seed (No. 2) and will receive a bye into Thursday's action (and the double elimination portion of the bracket) ... The Cougars will play either Lindenwood, UT Martin or Tennessee Tech (SIUE was a combined 6-2 against those teams) ... This marks the fourth consecutive season the team has been in the Tournament field ... SIUE finished the regular season with an 18-8 League mark, which put it just percentage points behind first-place Eastern Illinois ... The team won seven of nine OVC series in 2025 (falling only to EIU and SEMO) ... The 18 OVC wins were the most under ninth-year head coach Sean Lyons, and the second-most all-time for the program (the team won 19 in 2015) ... The team is 1-2 in OVC Tournament games played at Mtn Dew Park.
SOUTHERN INDIANA
Appearances: 3
Titles: 0
All-Time Record: 2-3
In its third year in the OVC Southern Indiana is back in the OVC Tournament for the third time ... The Screaming Eagles picked up their first two Tournament wins a season ago after entering the event as the No. 4 seed; that included beating No. 1 seed Little Rock ... This season the team is the No. 5 seed and will open play with No. 8 seed Little Rock; USI won two of three games from the Trojans this season ... With a win the team would advance to play No. 4 seed Southeast Missouri ... The team won six of its final eight games in the regular season ... USI led the OVC in batting average (.315), a mark that ranks in the Top 20 nationally ... Southern Indiana is reclassifying to Division I and ineligible to compete in the NCAA Tournament; per OVC policy, should the team win the OVC Tournament Championship, the automatic bid would be awarded to the tournament runner-up (if both teams in the final are ineligible, the bid would go to the team who finishes third).
TENNESSEE TECH
Appearances: 24
Titles: 4 (1997, 2001, 2009, 2017)
All-Time Record: 40-40
Tennessee Tech is in the field for the fourth-straight season...Overall the team has made 10-straight tournaments under head coach Matt Bragga, who left after the 2018 season but returned prior to the 2022 campaign ... Bragga has 563 wins as TTU's head coach, which ranks fourth in OVC history ... The program won the OVC Tournament in 2017 and advanced to the Championship Round in 2018 (a year they got an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Super Regionals) ... Last season the team was eliminated in the first game of the event, a year after winning two elimination contests to advance to the double elimination portion of the bracket ... TTU will face the winner of the Lindenwood/UT Martin matchup; the Golden Eagles were 2-1 against each of those teams this season ... TTU won 13 of its final 16 games during the regular season who finish with 37 overall victories, its most wins since 2018 (and only second time with over 30 wins since that season).
UT MARTIN
Appearances: 7
Titles: 0
All-Time Record: 2-7
For the first time in its history UT Martin has qualified for the OVC Tournament in three-straight years ... The team has been in the event all four times it has been held in Marion ... After only having one previous victory in tournament play (coming in 2011), the Skyhawks added a second win a season ago, eliminating Tennessee Tech in the first game of the event last year ... UTM will open play against No. 6 seed Lindenwood (who is making its first-ever tournament appearance); the Lions earned a three-game sweep of the Skyhawks in St. Charles back in March ... The Skyhawks have 114 stolen bases this season, 29 more than any other OVC team; that ranks in the Top 35 nationally entering the postseason.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: Eastern Illinois swept Western Illinois to finish 17-7 in OVC play and win its fifth overall OVC Regular Season Championship and first since 2009 ... Eight teams will compete for the OVC Tournament Championship this week at Mtn Dew Park in Marion, Illinois; this year marks the 46th OVC Tournament ... Seven of the teams were in the field a year ago ... Lindenwood is making its first-ever OVC Tournament appearance while Southeast Missouri is making a record 30th appearance ... The event is at Mtn Dew Park for the third year in a row; last week it was announced the event will be at the venue through 2029 ... The 2025 All-OVC awards will be announced on Tuesday ... SIUE finished second in the league standings to earn its highest-ever seed for the OVC Tournament; the teams 18 OVC wins are the most under head coach Sean Lyons (and second most trailing only 19 by the 2015 team) ... USI's Cameron Boyd has the longest active hitting streak in the OVC (20); it is one of four current hitting streaks of 10 games or greater entering the week ... The only hitting streak longer this season was a 21-game streak by WIU's Liam Bushey ... Jalen Fithian became the UT Martin NCAA Division I single season stolen base leader with his 37th stolen base in the top of the first against Ole Miss; he ranks in the Top 15 nationally in stolen bases ... Tennessee Tech head coach Matt Bragga is now in sole possession of fifth in league history for wins with 563 in his career; he now sits just two wins away from passing Jacksonville State's Jim Case for fourth on the league's ranking ... 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.
Eastern Illinois Wins 2025 OVC Regular Season Championship: Eastern Illinois finished the regular season with a 17-7 league record to claim the 2025 OVC Regular Season Championship. It marked the fifth time for the Panthers (1998, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2005). The Panthers, who had three games canceled due to weather, had the top winning percentage in the OVC (.708 compared to .692).
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. It was announced in May 2025 that the event will be held at the venue through 2029. 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.
Seeding Success: Since the OVC Tournament switched to a neutral site format in 2001 (23 tournaments), the No. 1 seed has won eight championships, the No. 2 seed has seven titles, the No. 3 seed has won four times, the No. 4 seed has won twice and the No. 5 seed has won twice (including Eastern Illinois last year).
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.
Two Named to Midseason Stopper of the Year Watch List: Southeast Missouri junior
Jackson Kranawetter and Tennessee Tech sophomore
Juan Vargas were among the 56 players nationally added to the Midseason Watch List for the 20th Annual Stopper of the Year Award as announced by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). The award goes to the top relief pitcher in Division I baseball.
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.