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The 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship presented by
SERVPRO concluded with the Championship Round on Saturday. This year marked the 46th OVC Baseball Tournament (the first elimination style event was held in 1979).
The event is being held May 21-24 at Mtn Dew Park in Marion, Illinois. The venue opened in 2007 and was previously known as Rent One Park. It is now home to the Prospect League Team the Thrillville Thrillbillies, who began play in the summer of 2023. This year marks the fourth time the event has been held at the venue (2019, 2023, 2024, 2025); it was announced last week the event will be held at the venue through 2029.
The event has been held at five neutral site locations after moving from the campus of the regular season champions in 2001. The event has been held in Paducah, Kentucky (2001-09), Jackson, Tennessee (2010-16, 2021), Oxford, Alabama (2017-18), Marion, Illinois (2019, 2023-present) and Lexington, Kentucky (2022).
Game 10: #8 Little Rock 2, #1 Eastern Illinois 1
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#8 LITTLE ROCK 2, #1 EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
MARION, Ill. - Jack Cline gave up just one run while throwing a complete game on two days' rest and freshman Cade Martin drove in the game-winning score in the eighth inning Saturday as Little Rock completed an improbable 5-0 run through the Ohio Valley Conference tournament and claimed the title with a 2-1 win over Eastern Illinois at Mountain Dew Park.
The Trojans move on to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2011 and just the second time in program history via the automatic bid that comes with winning the conference tournament.
Cline went the distance on 129 pitches – the same pitch count by Jackson Wells in his complete game in the tournament opener – allowed just six hits and struck out three. Martin was the only Trojans to have multiple hits and his eighth-inning single to right scored Ty Rhoades, who had just reached base on a triple to left center with two outs. Martin was named OVC Tournament Most Valuable Player while he, along with Wells, Cline, Brody Bunting, Zach Henry, Alex Seguine, and Cooper Chaplain, were all named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Trojans (24-32) entered the tournament having lost 13 of its last 14 games in the regular season, but put it all together during the five-game tourney stretch. After toppling both Southern Indiana (10-1) and SEMO (9-7) on Wednesday's single elimination day, Little Rock returned Thursday to upset regular season champion Eastern Illinois in extra innings before besting Lindenwood in the semifinals on Friday.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Easton Rakers, Lindenwood
Ethan Smith, Lindenwood
Bryce Riggs, Eastern Illinois
Tyler Castro, Eastern Illinois
Ethan Rossi, Eastern Illinois
Mike O’Conor, Eastern Illinois
Jackson Wells, Little Rock
Brody Bunting, Little Rock
Zach Henry, Little Rock
Cooper Chaplain, Little Rock
Alex Seguine, Little Rock
Jack Cline, Little Rock
Cade Martin, Little Rock (MVP)