Ohio Valley Conference

MARION, Ill. - Little Rock Baseball entered the Ohio Valley Conference Championship like a freight train Wednesday, taking down two higher seeds in single elimination play, and the train kept rolling Thursday with a win over OVC regular season champion Eastern Illinois in a 9-8, 10-inning affair at Mountain Dew Park.

Even with their new signature early lead – a 6-0 advantage in the second that chased EIU starter Tyler Kapraun – the Trojans (22-32) needed some late magic to knock off the top-seeded Panthers (29-21) in the first game of the double elimination bracket. That magic came in the form of Sammy Harris – who roped a pinch-hit, RBI double to left center that scored the go-ahead run – and also Brody Bunting, who had seen limited action in the last two months but entered in the 10th to get the save and shut the door on EIU.
 
Little Rock has won its first three games of the OVC tournament, the first time the lowest seed has done so in the neutral site era, which began in 2001.
 
Four Trojans had multiple hits, including Cooper Chaplain, who hit a home run in the fifth and finished with two RBIs and two runs. Ryan Geck hit a three-run blast early to give Little Rock a 6-0 lead, and Alex Seguine drove in a pair of runs. Cade Martin also doubled and knocked in a run.
 
While Bunting picked up the save, Hunter Royal earned the victory with 2.1 innings of relief, giving up just two hits and one run. Gage Haley ate up more than three innings with a pair of strikeouts while starter Noah Burkey and Blake Van Cleve combined for 3.1 innings and two strikeouts.

#6 LINDENWOOD 7, #2 SIUE 4
MARION, Ill. - Lindenwood baseball (30-28) reached the 30-win mark for the first time since the 2021 season on Thursday as they advanced to the Ohio Valley Conference Championships semifinals with a 7-4 victory over #2 SIUE. The win marks the third straight for the Lions this weekend as they look to clinch a berth in the OVC Championship game.

Brown in his OVC Championship debut on the mound made quick work in the first inning putting up the first of six shutout innings. Lindenwood got on the board early in the second after the Lions loaded the bases. Short and Funkhouser both drove in runs as the Lions took the early 2-0 lead.
 
Short added his second RBI of the day in the fourth inning after singling to right center field scoring Arnette. Brown would allow his first hit of the game in the fourth inning, but the Lions turned the 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning.

The Lions poured on two more runs in the sixth inning after Arnette doubled to right center scoring Filip Sarota. Kam Edwards later walked in a run with the bases loaded putting Lindenwood in the driver's seat 6-0. SIUE got on the board in the seventh off of Brown scoring two runs to cut into the lead.

Both teams scored one run in the eight and one in the ninth including a Funkhouser solo home run and a RBI single by Jake Radosevich as the Lions claimed victorious for their 30th win of the season. This marks the fourth time since the 2012 season (NCAA era - present) that the Lions have reached the 30 win mark.

#1 EASTERN ILLINOIS 11, #2 SIUE 6
MARION, Ill. -  The Eastern Illinois baseball team (30-21, 17-7 OVC) came away with an 11-6 win over SIUE (26-28, 18-8 OVC) on Thursday night to extend their season and advance to the OVC Tournament elimination bracket final. Six of EIU's ten hits in the game went for extra bases.

The Eastern offense was fronted by Mike O'Conor, who went 4-5 with three extra-base hits and three RBIs. Brett Stanley and Ethan Rossi matched O'Conor with three RBIs apiece, while Tyler Castro was the only other Panther with multiple hits (2-4).

Tyler Conklin picked up the win on the mound to improve his record to 5-1 on the season. He allowed four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts through six innings. Anthony Solis was awarded the save after giving up two runs on four hits with a strikeout through the game's final three innings.

The Cougars opened up the scoring in the top of the first with a Joshua Heyder RBI single that scored Daniel Gierer, who had reached base on a double earlier in the frame.

The Panthers quickly responded, though, and following Tyler Castro leadoff base hit and Peyton Wilson walk, Brett Stanley delivered a two-RBI double down the left field line to push EIU in front.

After a scoreless second inning, Brett Stanley tacked on another run with an RBI groundout that plated Mike O'Conor, who had doubled to lead off the inning.

However, SIUE roared right back in the fourth with three runs to surge into the lead.

With two on and one out, a single to left field by Ratliff scored Ryan Niedzwiedz before John Stallcup was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A run was subsequently walked in before a Mack Mitchell sacrifice fly put the Cougars in front 4-3.

Their lead was short lived, however, as Eastern hung a crooked number of their own in the bottom of the fourth to regain control.

The inning started with an Ethan Rossi walk and Chris Worcester single before a Jake Ottensmeier sacrifice bunt moved them both into scoring position with just one out. After Tyler Castro was walked, Peyton Wilson was hit by a pitch to bring in a run.

With the bases still juiced, a Mike O'Conor triple down the right field line scored all three runners to put EIU up 7-4.

Neither team scored in the fifth before a Zak Goodwin sacrifice bunt in the sixth plated Peyton Wilson, who had doubled to lead off the inning before moving to third on a Mike O'Conor base hit, extending the lead to 8-4.

SIUE threw their final punch in the seventh, as they cut the lead in half behind RBIs from Niedzwiedz and Heyder
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However, with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth, Ethan Rossi threw the knockout blow with a three-run homer to left field, which expanded the EIU lead to 11-6.

Now working with a five-run cushion, Anthony Solis and the EIU defense retired the final three SIUE batters in order to secure the win and extend the season at least one more game.