• OVC Baseball Report – February 16 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, February 17
Morehead State at #18 Kentucky, 3:00 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Saint Louis
at Southeast Missouri, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Illinois State
at SIUE, 3:00 p.m.
Lipscomb
at Tennessee Tech, 3:00 p.m.
Little Rock at Memphis, 4:05 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wednesday, February 18
Eastern Illinois at Butler, 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, February 19
Oakland
at Southern Indiana, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, February 20
Oakland
at Southern Indiana (2), 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
St. Thomas
at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m.
Morehead State at Winthrop, 2:00 p.m.
Western Illinois vs. Akron, 2:00 p.m. (Millington, TN)
Eastern Illinois at Arkansas State, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
West Georgia
at Little Rock, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Ohio
at Tennessee Tech, 3:00 p.m.
Southeast Missouri at Western Kentucky, 3:00 p.m. (Varsity Network)
SIUE at Southeastern Louisiana, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
UT Martin at Nicholls, 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 21
Ohio
at Tennessee Tech (2), 12:00 p.m.
St. Thomas
at Lindenwood (2), 12:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Morehead State at Winthrop, 1:00 p.m.
Western Illinois vs. Akron, 1:00 p.m. (Millington, TN)
Southeast Missouri at Western Kentucky (2), 1:00 p.m. (Varsity Network)
Oakland
at Southern Indiana, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Eastern Illinois at Arkansas State, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
West Georgia
at Little Rock, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
SIUE at Southeastern Louisiana, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
UT Martin at Nicholls (2), 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 22
Western Illinois vs. Akron, 12:00 p.m. (Millington, TN)
Morehead State at Winthrop, 12:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southeast Missouri at Western Kentucky, 12:00 p.m. (Varsity Network)
St. Thomas
at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Eastern Illinois at Arkansas State, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
West Georgia
at Little Rock, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
SIUE at Southeastern Louisiana, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Ohio
at Tennessee Tech, 1:00 p.m.
UT Martin at Nicholls, 1:00 p.m.
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Ian McCubbin, OF/DH • 6-2, 210, Jr. • Bossier City, La. • Morehead State
McCubbin opened the season by hitting .500 (5-for-10) with three runs scored, two home runs, six RBI, a .545 on-base percentage and 1.100 slugging percentage as Morehead State won two of three games against UMass Lowell in a series relocated to Winchester, Kentucky. He had a home run and drove in three runs in the season opener. The junior had a pair of hits in the second game of the season and capped the weekend with a home run and three more RBI.
Others Nominated: James Love, Eastern Illinois; Will Geary, Lindenwood; Nico Baumbach, Little Rock; Cal Sullivan, Southeast Missouri; Patrick McLellan, Southern Indiana; Eddie Garza, Tennessee Tech; TJ Grines, UT Martin.
PITCHER
Bryce Riggs, RHP • 6-0, 195, Jr. • Cicero, Ind. • Eastern Illinois
Riggs tossed a seven-inning complete game shutout at Florida A&M on Saturday, as the Panthers won 2-0 to capture the season-opening series. The junior retired the first seven batters of the game before allowing a double in the third inning. He then faced the minimum until allowing a walk in the final inning, before getting a strikeout and fly out to end the game. Riggs finished the contest with six strikeouts and a 0.29 WHIP in picking up the win.
Others Nominated: Seth Benes, Lindenwood; Zack Busick, Little Rock; Landon Waugh, Morehead State; Mason Pennington, Southeast Missouri; Joseph Martin, SIUE; Maxwell Schumacher, UT Martin.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
•
TJ Grines (UTIL, Sr.), UT Martin. Hit .571 (8-for-14) with five runs scored, five RBI and six stolen bases as UT Martin won two of three against Butler.
•
Seth Benes (RHP, Jr.), Lindenwood. Combined for a shutout, going 7 innings and scattering six hits while striking out five without walking anybody.
•
Zack Busick (RHP, Jr.), Little Rock. Did not allow a hit over five innings, combining with the bullpen for a 2-0 win over Eastern Michigan. He struck out six batters.
•
Nico Baumbach (3B, Grad.), Little Rock. Hit .500 (6-for-12) with four runs scored, a home run and two RBI as the Trojans won two of three games against Eastern Michigan.
•
Landon Waugh (RHP, So.), Morehead State. Struck out seven over five innings, allowing an unearned run against UMass Lowell.
•
Cal Sullivan (UTIL, Jr.), Southeast Missouri. Homered twice and drove in eight runs in three games against Illinois State.
•
Patrick McLellan (1B, Sr.), Southern Indiana. In four games at Cal State Bakersfield, the senior hit .471 (8-for-17) with six runs scored, two doubles, a home run and seven RBI.
•
James Love (DH, So.), Eastern Illinois. Drove in six runs as EIU won two of three games at Florida A&M. Love hit .400 (4-for-10) and scored four runs.
•
Lucas Niemeyer (LHP, Fr.), Lindenwood. Pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Notes From Around the League
Recent Baseball Success: Highest NET Ranking in 25 Years/Wins Over No. 1 Ranked Teams: Last season the OVC ranked 15th in the final NCAA RPI, its highest finish in the rankings in the past 25 years. OVC teams also have four victories over the No. 1 ranked team since 2019, including Austin Peay over Vanderbilt (2-27-19), Morehead State over Louisville (3-2-21), Tennessee Tech over Tennessee (4-12-22) and Little Rock over LSU (6-1-25).
Six Named to Stopper of the Year Watch List: Six OVC baseball players were among 104 players nationally named to the initial 2026 Watch List for the 21st Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball. The selections included Little Rock graduate
Hunter Royal, senior
Preston Davis and junior
Gage Haley, Eastern Illinois senior
Nate Marshall, Lindenwood senior
Easton Rakers and Tennessee Tech senior
Reece McDuffie.
2026 OVC Baseball Championship: For the fourth year in a row the OVC Baseball Championship will be held at Mtn Dew Park in Marion, Illinois (May 19-23). 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. This year the bracket has been slightly adjusted with the first two games (now played on Tuesday) being single-elimination (previously the first four games of the event were single-elimination and played on Wednesday). The winners of Tuesday's games will advance to the double elimination portion of the bracket. The Championship will now have 12 games (with the if necessary game being a 13th). 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 47th 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.
SIUE Picked as 2026 OVC Preseason Favorite: SIUE was picked as the 2026 Ohio Valley Conference preseason baseball favorite in a vote of OVC head baseball coaches and communications directors. The Cougars picked up 10 first-place votes and 137 points in being picked first, one point ahead of Southeast Missouri, who received three first-place votes and 136 points. Eastern Illinois got four first-place votes and 132 points in being tabbed third while Little Rock picked up the other three first-place votes and 122 points in coming in fourth. The poll was rounded out by Tennessee Tech (98), Lindenwood (86), Southern Indiana (70), UT Martin (54), Morehead State (37) and Western Illinois (28).
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. At the end of the 2025 season, former Eastern Illinois pitcher
Will Klein captured a World Series Championship as a member of the active playoff roster for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who topped the Toronto Blue Jays in extra innings in a thrilling Game 7. Klein appeared in both Game 1 and Game 3 of the World Series, including picking up the win in Game 3 when he pitched 4.0 innings of scoreless relief as L.A. won 6-5 in 18 innings. He allowed one hit and struck out five in that appearance. Klein pitched 1.0 innings in Game 1, allowing one hit. Klein is the first former OVC player to be on an active roster of a World Series Champion since 2020, when Belmont's
Matt Beaty won a title also with the Dodgers. 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. 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 Postseason Play: Lindenwood and Southern Indiana have completed their reclassification to Division I and are now eligible to earn to compete in NCAA sanctioned postseason play.
The 2026 Season: The 2026 season marks the 78th year of competition in the OVC. Over the previous 77 years, 14 different teams have claimed an OVC baseball regular season championship.
ESPN+/ESPN Unlimited: The OVC signed a new multi-year media rights agreement with ESPN ahead of the season that continues the long-standing partnership to air games on the Family of Networks. 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). For the first time ever, ESPN now offers its full suite of 12 networks and services directly to fans within an enhanced ESPN App that integrates game stats, ESPN Fantasy sports, commerce, multiview options, a synchronized two-screen experience, a vertical video feature called Verts and a personalized SportsCenter For You. Designed to give fans more choice, flexibility and access to all of ESPN, these new features and functionality are available to all fans who watch on the ESPN App on mobile and connected TV devices, whether they subscribe directly or through a traditional pay TV package. Bundling options available for fans include a special offer at launch for the ESPN DTC Unlimited plan with Disney+ and Hulu for $29.99/month for the first 12 months.