• OVC Baseball Report – March 16 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, March 17
Milwaukee
at Western Illinois, 2:00 p.m.
Eastern Illinois at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 2:00 p.m.
Oral Roberts
at Little Rock, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Tennessee Tech at North Alabama, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
SIUE at Illinois State, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wednesday, March 18
Southern Indiana at Bellarmine, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Eastern Illinois at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 2:00 p.m.
Ohio
at Morehead State, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Oral Roberts
at Little Rock, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southeast Missouri at Evansville, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
UT Martin at Southern Illinois, 6:00 p.m.
Friday, March 20
*Eastern Illinois at Lindenwood, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Morehead State, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Southeast Missouri, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Southern Indiana, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, March 21
*Eastern Illinois at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m.
*SIUE at Morehead State, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Southeast Missouri, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Tennessee Tech, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Southern Indiana, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, March 22
*SIUE at Morehead State, 12:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Tennessee Tech, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Southeast Missouri, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Southern Indiana, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Joshua Heyder, DH • 6-0, 250, Grad. • Washington, Ill. • SIUE
Heyder helped SIUE to a 3-1 record last week by hitting .500 (6-for-12) with five runs scored, two doubles, two home runs, six RBI, a .625 on-base percentage and 1.167 slugging percentage. He opened the week by going 1-for-4 against Southern Illinois, going 1-for-4 with a home run in the 13-3 victory. Heyder scored two runs and drove in two runs in the opening game against Valparaiso, then went 2-for-3 in each of the final two games, including homering in the finale. He scored at least one run in each of the games last week.
Others Nominated: Chris Worcester, Eastern Illinois; William Zareh, Lindenwood; Ty Rhoades, Little Rock; Aubrey Kearns, Morehead State; Joe Hall, Southeast Missouri; Jesse Velders, Southern Indiana; Jorsixt Jimenez, Tennessee Tech; TJ Dunsford, UT Martin; Liam Bushey, Western Illinois.
PITCHER
Josh Newell, RHP • 6-2, 190, Sr. • St. Charles, Mo. • Lindenwood
Newell became the third different Lindenwood pitcher to earn this honor in 2026, tossing eight shutout innings in a 4-0 win over Murray State on Friday. The senior allowed a pair of singles and struck out five without issuing a walk. After giving up a single in the first inning (which was erased by a caught stealing), he retired the next 20 batters before allowing a single in the eighth inning. Overall, he threw 98 pitches over his eight innings in improving to 3-1 on the season.
Others Nominated: Jarrett Kinder, Eastern Illinois; Brigden Parker, Little Rock; Mason Pennington, Southeast Missouri; Spencer Stearns, SIUE; Ean DiPasquale, Southern Indiana; Carter Casabella, Tennessee Tech; Harrison Dubois, Western Illinois.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Mason Pennington (RHP, Sr.), Southeast Missouri. Allowing one run and four hits over six innings while striking out nine in a win over Wright State on Saturday.
•
Spencer Stearns (RHP, R-Jr.), SIUE. Picked up his first victory of the season against Valparaiso, pitching five innings and allowing only three hits and no runs while striking out four.
•
Ean DiPasquale (RHP, Jr.), Southern Indiana. Went 7.2 innings against Southern Illinois, picking up the win while striking out seven batters and allowing only two hits.
•
Carter Casabella (RHP, So.), Tennessee Tech. Made two appearances last week, pitching 9.2 innings overall and striking out 12 batters. He picked up the win against Mercer on Sunday.
•
Jesse Velders (OF/DH, Grad.), Southern Indiana. Hit .700 (7-for-10) with three runs scored, three doubles, three RBI and a stolen base last week.
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Jorsixt Jimenez (OF, Sr.), Tennessee Tech. Smashed three home runs and drove in nine RBI while scoring six runs in five games.
•
Chris Worcester (INF, Grad.), Eastern Illinois. Hit .500 (7-for-14) with four runs scored, a home run, six RBI and a .786 slugging percentage as EIU won two of three at Memphis.
•
Aubrey Kearns (INF, So.), Morehead State. In five road games, hit .526 (10-for-19) with three runs, four doubles and six RBI.
•
William Zareh (C, R-So.), Lindenwood. Hit two home runs and drove in eight runs, including hitting a walk-off grand slam in a 4-0 win over Murray State on Sunday.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: Conference play begins this weekend for OVC teams ... Southeast Missouri enters the week with the best overall record (14-7) after having won nine-straight games (its longest streak since winning 11-straight during the 2022 season) ... Eastern Illinois scored 25 runs in a victory at Memphis on Sunday (its most runs in a game since scoring 25 against Morehead State in 2011); it marked the fifth-straight year that the team had scored 20 or more runs in a game ... UT Martin's Andrew Davis has reached base safely in every game this season; the Skyhawks TJ Grines is third nationally in stolen bases (21) ... Lindenwood's William Zareh hit a walk-off grand slam in the Lions' 4-0 win over Murray State on Sunday; it was the second 4-0 shutout win over the Racers during the weekend.
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 31 wins over nationally-ranked non-conference opponents.
February 17 - Morehead State 8, #18 Kentucky 6
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.