• OVC Baseball Report – April 6 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Monday, April 6
Bellarmine
at Southern Indiana, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Tuesday, April 7
Southern Indiana at Butler, 2:00 p.m.
Eastern Illinois at Northern Illinois, 3:00 p.m. (NIUHuskies.com)
UT Martin at North Alabama, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Morehead State at Ohio, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Little Rock at #22 Arkansas, 6:00 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Southeast Missouri at Southern Illinois, 6:00 p.m.
Austin Peay
at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wednesday, April 8
SIUE at Indiana State, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Lindenwood at Evansville, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, April 10
*Southern Indiana at Eastern Illinois, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Lindenwood, 5:00 p.m.
*Tennessee Tech at UT Martin, 5:00 p.m.
*Little Rock at SIUE, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Southeast Missouri, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, April 11
*Southern Indiana at Eastern Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m.
*Morehead State at Southeast Missouri, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at SIUE, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee Tech at UT Martin, 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 12
*Southern Indiana at Eastern Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m.
*Little Rock at SIUE, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Southeast Missouri, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee Tech at UT Martin, 1:00 p.m.
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Mike O'Conor, 3B • 5-11, 190, Sr. • Des Plaines, Ill. • Eastern Illinois
O'Conor helped Eastern Illinois to a series victory at Tennessee Tech by hitting .667 (8-for-12) with four runs scored, four home runs, 11 RBI, a .615 on-base percentage and 1.667 slugging percentage. In Saturday's series finale, the senior smashed three home runs and drove in seven runs as the Panthers won 9-6. That included a solo shot in the fifth, a three-run blast in the seventh that tied the game and a three-run shot in the eighth that put EIU ahead 9-4. O'Conor was 3-for-3 in the opener and added two hits, including a two-run home run, in the middle game. During the week he raised his batting average from .255 to .328.
Others Nominated: Blake Simpson, Little Rock; Ian McCubbin, Morehead State; Micajah Wall, Southern Indiana; Connor Crowson, Tennessee Tech; Colten Payton, UT Martin; Gage Hoover, Western Illinois.
CO-PITCHER
Josh Newell, RHP • 6-2, 190, Sr. • St. Charles, Mo. • Lindenwood
Newell tossed a complete game in the opener of the Southeast Missouri series, allowing three hits, two unearned runs and one walk while striking out five. The righty went 8.2 innings without allowing a run before a two-out error extended the game. He was able to weather the storm, finish the game and get his fourth victory of the season.
CO-PITCHER
Andrew Carroll, RHP • 6-2, 200, Jr. • Scottsdale, Ariz. • Southeast Missouri
Carroll tossed a nine-inning complete game shutout, scattering three hits while striking out five with no walks in an 8-0 win over Lindenwood on Friday. The junior allowed two singles in the first inning and then retired 22 batters in a row before allowing a single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Carroll struck out the next batter and retired the side in the ninth inning to improve to 6-1 on the season. Overall he threw 96 pitches, facing 30 total batters.
Others Nominated: Bryce Riggs, Eastern Illinois; Gage Haley, Little Rock; Connor Davis, Morehead State; Tim Teixeira, SIUE; Andres Gonzalez, Southern Indiana; Carter Casabella, Tennessee Tech; Brett Buchanan, Western Illinois.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
•
Bryce Riggs (RHP, Jr.), Eastern Illinois. Pitched six scoreless innings at Tennessee Tech, allowing three hits and striking out three in earning the victory to improve to 5-0 on the season.
•
Ian McCubbin (OF, Jr.), Morehead State. Hit .533 (8-15) with four runs scored, three home runs and seven RBI in three-game sweep of UT Martin.
•
Colten Payton (1B/C, Jr.), UT Martin. The junior smashed two home runs and drove in seven runs in three games at Morehead State.
•
Blake Simpson (INF, R-Jr.), Little Rock. In four games hit .625 (5-for-8) with four runs scored, a home run and five RBI.
•
Connor Crowson (INF, Sr.), Tennessee Tech. In four games he had five runs scored, two home runs and five RBI while slugging 1.077.
•
Gage Haley (P, R-Jr.), Little Rock. Earned a win and save in two appearances against Western Illinois, allowing only one hit while striking out six in 2.2 innings.
•
Tim Teixeira (RHP, So), SIUE. Pitched seven innings, allowing three hits and one earned run while striking out five.
•
Brett Buchanan (RHP, Jr.), Western Illinois. Struck out eight while walking only one over six innings against Little Rock.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: SIUE dropped its first Conference game of the season (after starting 8-0, its best-ever OVC start) but still finds itself in first place in the OVC after three weeks ... The Cougars have a one-game lead over Eastern Illinois and Little Rock (both 7-2) while Southeast Missouri is another game back (6-3) ... As a Conference the OVC is ranked No. 17 in the RPI ... EIU's James Love was reached base safely in 28-straight games while teammate Brett Stanley has a 25-game hitting streak, the longest by an EIU player since 1991 ... UT Martin's TJ Grines continues to rank first nationally in stolen bases with 33; he is just four away from tying the UTM Division I single-season record ... The OVC record for stolen bases in a season is 57 by EKU's Josh Anderson (2003) ... Morehead State swept UT Martin last week, its first OVC sweep since the end of the 2024 season.
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.
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.
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.