• OVC Baseball Report – April 27 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, April 28
Quincy
at Western Illinois, 2:00 p.m.
Southern Illinois
at Lindenwood, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
UT Martin at Belmont, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Marshall
at Morehead State, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Little Rock at Arkansas State, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Missouri
at Southeast Missouri, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
SIUE at Evansville, 6:00 p.m.
Tennessee Tech at Lipscomb, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wednesday, April 29
Morehead State at Bellarmine, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southern Indiana at Purdue, 5:00 p.m. (B1G+)
Eastern Illinois at Bradley, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, May 1
*UT Martin at Western Illinois, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Eastern Illinois, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at SIUE, 6:00 p.m.
*Morehead State at Little Rock, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee Tech at Southern Indiana, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, May 2
*UT Martin at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at SIUE, 2:00 p.m.
*Morehead State at Little Rock, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee Tech at Southern Indiana, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Eastern Illinois, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, May 3
*UT Martin at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Eastern Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at SIUE, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee Tech at Southern Indiana, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Little Rock,1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Joe Hall, DH/OF • 6-2, 215, So. • Kansas City, Mo. • Southeast Missouri
Hall helped Southeast Missouri to a 3-1 week by hitting .417 (8-for-17) with four runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, six RBI and a 1.118 slugging percentage. The sophomore homered in the team's non-conference win over Southern Illinois to begin the week. In Friday's opener against SIUE, Hall smashed two more home runs, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored and five RBI in the 10-3 victory. He had a double in the middle game of the series and capped the week with two singles on Sunday to extend his hitting streak to six games.
Others Nominated: Mike O'Conor, Eastern Illinois; Cade Martin, Little Rock; Griffin Olson, Morehead State; Ryan Niedzwiedz, SIUE; Hunter Miller, Southern Indiana; Jorsixt Jimenez, Tennessee Tech; TJ Dunsford, UT Martin; Josh McClintock, Western Illinois.
PITCHER
Brannon Westmoreland, RHP • 6-6, 210, Jr. • Haskell, Okla. • Little Rock
Westmoreland earned his second OVC Pitcher of the Week honors of the season after tossing a shutout in Friday's 2-0 victory at Lindenwood. The junior allowed six hits (all singles) over nine innings, striking out five with a 1.22 WHIP. The righty tossed 108 pitches in picking up his fifth victory of the season. After hitting the first batter of the game he retired the next nine Lindenwood batters and then ended the game by retiring seven of the final eight he faced.
Others Nominated: James Geshel, Eastern Illinois; Seth Benes, Lindenwood; Nathan Mertens, Southeast Missouri; Spencer Stearns, SIUE; Ryan Weller, Southern Indiana; Jaxson Pease, Tennessee Tech; Eric Rawlings, Western Illinois.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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TJ Dunsford (OF, Jr.), UT Martin. Hit .389 (7-for-18) with four runs, two doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI in four games.
•
Jorsixt Jimenez (OF, Sr.), Tennessee Tech. Hit .421 (8-for-19) over five games, scoring seven runs with two home runs and seven RBI.
•
Mike O'Conor (3B, Sr.), Eastern Illinois. In four games hit .389 (7-for-18) with seven runs scored, two doubles, three home runs and six RBI.
•
Ryan Niedzwiedz (1B, Jr.), SIUE. Hit .412 (7-for-17) with five runs, two home runs and four RBI in four games.
•
Seth Benes (RHP, Jr.), Lindenwood. Struck out seven (without a walk in seven innings against Little Rock.
•
Nathan Mertens (RHP, Sr.), Southeast Missouri. Tossed a complete game against SIUE, allowing only four hits while striking out eight without issuing a walk.
•
Spencer Stearns (RHP, R-Jr.), SIUE. Pitched 6.1 innings, allowing only three hits against Southeast Missouri.
•
Eric Rawlings (RHP, Jr.), Western Illinois. Rawlings picked up a win and made two saves in three appearances (6.0 innings). He struck out seven and did not walk a batter.
•
James Geshel (RHP, Grad.), Eastern Illinois. Had two saves in two appearances for the Panthers, striking out six in 4.2 innings of work.
•
Griffin Olson (INF, Sr.), Morehead State. Had three doubles and scored seven runs as Morehead State was a perfect 4-0 week.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: After six weeks of Conference play, four teams are tied atop the League standings at 12-6: Eastern Illinois, Little Rock, Southeast Missouri and SIUE ... That quartet has a two-game advantage over Lindenwood who has won nine of its last 10 OVC contests ... OVC teams were 11-2 in non-conference games last week ... As a Conference the OVC is ranked No. 13 in the RPI; SEMO has the top RPI (56) while EIU (74) is also in the Top 75 nationally and Little Rock has moved up to 102 ... SEMO was the first OVC team to reach 30 wins on the season; it marks the third-straight season (and fifth time in the last six year) the Redhawks have reached 30 wins in a season ... EIU's James Love extended his on-base streak to 43-straight games ... EIU's Tyler Conklin won his 24th career game on the mound, establishing a new EIU career record ... SIUE has hit 75 home runs, two from last year's total of 77, which was second most in the Division I era.
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).
Grines Steals Bases: UT Martin senior OF
TJ Grines leads Division I with 45 stolen bases, which is the UTM Division I single-season record (the old mark was 37). The OVC record for stolen bases in a season is 57 by EKU's Josh Anderson in 2003.
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.
Two on Buster Posey Award Watch List: Tennessee Tech's
Manny Garza and Little Rock's
Cade Martin were named to the mid-year Buster Posey Award Watch List. The award is given to the top collegiate catcher. The award is sponsored by the Greater Wichita Sports Commission.
Two Named to Stopper of the Year Award Midseason Watch List: Two OVC baseball players were on the Midseason 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 were Southeast Missouri senior
Jackson Kranawetter and SIUE redshirt sophomore
Easton Harris.
Riggs Named Semifinalist for National Pitcher of the Year Award: Eastern Illinois'
Bryce Riggs was named a semifinalist for the National Pitcher of the Year Award by the College Baseball Foundation. A total of 43 pitchers were selected as a semifinalist for the National Pitcher of the Year award.
Two on Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Semifinalist List: Southeast Missouri's
Andrew Ramirez and SIUE's
Chase Bloomer are two of 50 semifinalists for the Brooks Wallace Award, honoring the best shortstop in college baseball. The award is presented by the College Baseball Foundation.
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.