• OVC Baseball Report – March 30 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, March 31
Little Rock at Ole Miss, 11:00 a.m. (SEC Network+)
Alabama A&M
at UT Martin, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southern Indiana at Middle Tennessee, 4:00 p.m.
Lindenwood at Southern Illinois, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Murray State
at Southeast Missouri, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Tennessee Tech at Western Kentucky, 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 2
*Little Rock at Western Illinois, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Morehead State, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Lindenwood, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Southern Indiana, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, April 3
*Little Rock at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Morehead State, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Lindenwood, 5:00 p.m.
*Eastern Illinois at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Southern Indiana, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, April 4
*Little Rock at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Morehead State, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m.
*Eastern Illinois at Tennessee Tech, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Southern Indiana, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Andrew Lawrence, SS • 6-4, 205, R-So. • Huntsville, Ala. • UT Martin
Lawrence led UT Martin to its first OVC sweep since 2004 and a 4-0 overall week, by hitting .563 (9-for-16) with six runs scored, three doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, a .563 on-base percentage and 1.125 slugging percentage. The redshirt sophomore had three multi-hit games, including three in both the first and final games of the Lindenwood series. On Sunday he was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI. Lawrence entered the week with no extra base hits on the season by finished with five (three doubles, two home runs) on the week while raising his batting average from .188 to .375.
Others Nominated: Mike O'Conor, Eastern Illinois; Jerdy Lopez, Little Rock; Brooks Kettering, Southeast Missouri; Ethan Willoughby, SIUE; Patrick McLellan, Southern Indiana; Owen Lee, Tennessee Tech; Liam Bushey, Western Illinois.
PITCHER
Brigden Parker, LHP • 6-2, 200, R-Sr. • Holly, Colo. • Little Rock
Parker pitched seven scoreless innings, scattering three hits (two singles) while striking out six batters as Little Rock shutout Southern Indiana 6-0 on Saturday. He tallied 53 strikes in his 89 pitches and retired eight of the final 10 batters he faced before making way to the bullpen to combine for the shutout (the second for the Little Rock team this year). Parker ranks second in the OVC in hits allowed per nine innings (5.94).
Others Nominated: Bryce Riggs, Eastern Illinois; Jackson Kranwetter, Southeast Missouri; Spencer Stearns, SIUE; Levin East, Southern Indiana; Cason Sharp, UT Martin; Max Tripure, Western Illinois.
Other Notable Performers
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Bryce Riggs (RHP, Jr.), Eastern Illinois. Went 8.1 innings, allowing only two runs (both in the ninth inning), while allowing only two hits and striking out eight in a win over Morehead State.
•
Levin East (RHP, Jr.), Southern Indiana. Picked up two victories during the week, pitching three innings against Ball State and three against Little Rock, allowing four hits and no runs while striking out nine without issuing a walk.
•
Spencer Stearns (RHP, R-Jr.), SIUE. Allowed only one run and three hits over eight innings, striking out six in defeating Tennessee Tech.
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Max Tripure (RHP, Sr.), Western Illinois. Allowed only one run over 6.2 inning, striking out seven with only one walk as WIU defeated SEMO to end the Redhawks 13-game win streak.
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Brooks Kettering (INF, Jr.), Southeast Missouri. Hit .615 (8-for-13) with four runs, two home runs and six RBI in weekend series at Western Illinois.
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Liam Bushey (OF, 5th Year), Western Illinois. Hit .375 (6-for-16) with six runs scored, two home runs and 11 RBI as Leathernecks were 2-2 during the week.
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TJ Grines (OF, Sr.), UT Martin. Helped Skyhawks to 4-0 week by hitting .533 with two doubles, two home runs, five stolen bases, a .632 on-base percentage, 1.067 slugging percentage.
•
Patrick McLellan (1B, Sr.), Southern Indiana. Hit .500 (8-for-16) with five runs score and four RBI in four games.
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Ethan Willoughby (OF, Sr.), SIUE. Hit .462 (6-for-13) with four runs scored, two doubles and two RBI as SIUE swept Tennessee Tech to improve to 6-0 in OVC play.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: SIUE is off to a perfect 6-0 OVC start and is in sole possession of first place after two weekends of Conference play; it marks the second time they have started OVC play 6-0 (first since 2015) ... Eastern Illinois, Little Rock and Southeast Missouri are each one game back at 5-1 ... SEMO saw its 13-game winning streak (which had been second-longest nationally) come to an end on Friday, but the Redhawks won two over Western Illinois to finish out the weekend; the team has now won 17 of its last 19 games and has the top RPI rating in the Conference (58 as of Monday morning) ... As a Conference the OVC is ranked No. 18 in the RPI ... Little Rock's 5-1 start is its best in four years as a member of the OVC (they have won eight of its last 10 games) ... EIU has won 8 of its last 10 games as well and played its first game under the lights at Frost Field at Coaches Stadium on Tuesday ... UT Martin swept Lindenwood, its first Conference sweep since 2024; the team also completed a two-game season sweep of Southern Illinois, its first over the Salukis since 2015 ... Lindenwood topped Missouri last Wednesday, giving the OVC its second win over a SEC school this season ... UT Martin's TJ Grines continues to lead Division I in stolen bases (29) ... SEMO's Andrew Ramirez is the second toughest player nationally in strike out (1 every 41.0 at-bats), EIU's Bryce Riggs is eighth in WHIP (0.76) while teammate James Geshel is sixth in saves (6).
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).
Thompson-Allen Named NCBWA National Co-Hitter of the Week (March 24): SIUE outfielder
Terrick Thompson-Allen was named the National Co-Hitter of the Week by the NCBWA on March 24. He hit .650 (13-20) for the week with four home runs and 11 RBI. He ended the week with an on-base percentage of .682 and a slugging percentage at 1.450 and hit for the cycle in the final game of the week.
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.
Six on National Pitcher of the Year Watch List: Six OVC players are among 141 players named to the College Baseball Foundations National Pitcher of the Year Watch List. The selections included three hurlers from Little Rock -
Zach Busick,
Brigden Parker and
Brannon Westmoreland, Lindenwood's
Seth Benes and
Josh Newell and Eastern Illinois'
Bryce Riggs.
Five on Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Watch List: Five OVC shortstops are among the players on the initial Brooks Wallace Award Watch List released by the College Baseball Foundation. The award honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation later this year. The picks were SIUE's
Chase Bloomer, Southeast Missouri's
Brooks Kettering, Little Rock's
Jerdy Lopez, Tennessee Tech's
Owen Lee and Southern Indiana's
Clayton Slack.
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 2026 MLB season, three former OVC players were on Opening Day rosters (
Will Klein, Joey Lucchesi and
Tyler Rogers) while four others were on 40-man rosters (including
Trey Sweeney who started on the DL). 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.