BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Morehead State has been picked as the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference preseason baseball favorite. The defending tournament champions were picked first in a vote of OVC head baseball coaches and communications directors. It marks the first time the Eagles have been selected the favorites since the polls were first conducted in 2000.
In additional voting, Tennessee Tech senior outfielder/designated hitter Kevin Strohschein was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year while Austin Peay senior Jacques Pucheu was tabbed OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
The voting saw three different teams pick up first-place votes with Morehead State picking up 11 of the 22 total first-place votes, Jacksonville State getting six first-place votes and defending regular season champion Tennessee Tech picking up five first-place votes. Morehead State tallied 185 total points, edging Jacksonville State (173) by 12 points and Tennessee Tech (166) by 19 points. Austin Peay was picked fourth (143), one point ahead of Southeast Missouri (142). Eastern Kentucky was sixth (110) and followed by Belmont (88), Eastern Illinois (77), Murray State (51), SIUE (45) and UT Martin (32).
In all 17 players were selected to the Preseason All-OVC team. The 17 players represented nine of the 11 teams who will compete for the OVC championship this season. Morehead State led the way with four selections, following by Jacksonville State with three picks.
A year ago Morehead State won 37 games, one off the program record, marking the fourth-straight season the team has tallied 30 or more victories. The Eagles finished third in the regular season but won five games in the OVC Tournament, including topping nationally-ranked Tennessee Tech in back-to-back games to win its second tournament crown in four seasons. Among head coach Mike McGuire’s returning players is senior first baseman Trevor Snyder, senior shortstop Reid Leonard, senior outfielder Connor Pauly and sophomore reliever Cory Conway, all of who earned Preseason All-OVC honors. Snyder was named a Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-American after he hit 18 home runs and drove in 69 RBI a season ago. Leonard, a three-time All-OVC selection, hit .344 a season ago and was one of five finalists nationally for the Brooks Wallace Award (given to the top shortstop in Division I). Pauly hit .339 with 17 doubles and 53 RBI in 2018 while Conway, a Freshman All-American, appeared in 35 games, recording eight wins, four saves and a 3.63 E.R.A. in 52 innings of work. A year ago the MSU pitching staff established an OVC record for strikeouts (570) in a season.
Jacksonville State returns 15 players from last year’s team that won 32 games overall, including 18 OVC contests to finish fourth in the standings. The Gamecocks will begin play in a new state-of-the-art facility named after current head coach Jim Case, who begins his 18th season with the program in 2019. The program has had to play the past two seasons at an off-campus site while the venue was finished. Among the team’s returning players is senior catcher Nic Gaddis, a Preseason All-American selection by Collegiate Baseball. A year ago he collected 67 hits, blasted 10 home runs and drove in 55 RBI. Also returning is sophomore third baseman Cole Frederick, who earned Freshman All-American honors a season ago after tallying 52 hits, scoring 41 runs and stealing nine bases in 53 games. On the mound junior Garrett Farmer returns after compiling a 7-2 record and 3.80 E.R.A. in 15 appearances; he is one of nine pitchers returning for the Gamecocks.
Tennessee Tech had a season to remember in 2018, winning an OVC record 53 total and 27 Conference games, becoming the first OVC team to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship and first OVC team to advance to the Super Regionals (after winning the Oxford Regional). The Golden Eagles won the first game of the Super Regional against host Texas, but ultimately lost the final two games of the series to come up just short of a trip to Omaha and the College World Series. During the season TTU became the first OVC team ranked in the Top 10 (reaching No. 10 in the NCBWA poll) and finished the year ranked in all six national polls, including 11th in both the NCBWA and Baseball America polls. First-year head coach Justin Holmes, who spent the past four years as an assistant with the program, will see many new faces in the program, after the team saw a record eight players drafted and several other players graduate. He does return senior All-American Kevin Strohschein, the 2018 OVC Player of the Year and 2019 Preseason Player of the Year, who tallied 106 hits a year ago, two off the OVC record and second-most nationally in 2018. Strohschein hit .375 on the season with 18 doubles, 18 home runs, 67 RBI and a .650 slugging percentage.
Austin Peay returns 17 players from last year’s team that compiled 30 overall wins and finished fifth in the OVC standings with a 17-13 mark. Fourth-year head coach Travis Janssen returns junior slugger Parker Phillips, who was named a Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball in addition to earning a spot on the Preseason OVC Team. Phillips smashed 19 home runs last year (ranking him 11th nationally), tying the Austin Peay single-season record, and increasing his career total to 31, just seven shy of establishing a new APSU record. Phillips also ranked 19th nationally in slugging percentage (.667) and 36th in RBI (62) and after the season competed in the College Home Run Derby in Omaha. Senior Jacques Pucheu, the OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year, returns to anchor the pitching staff. A year ago he compiled a 7-4 record and 4.03 E.R.A. in 15 appearances. Pucheu struck out 101 batters in 89.1 innings of work.
Southeast Missouri finished second in the OVC standings a year ago, going 20-10 in League play and winning seven of its 10 Conference series. It marked the fourth time in the past five years that the Redhawks had been one of the top two seeds in the OVC Tournament. This season the team’s offense will be bolstered by senior outfielder Justin Dirden, a Preseason All-OVC selection. A year ago he ranked 14th nationally in RBI (1.19/game) and 21st in slugging (.665). Overall in 57 games he batted .340 with 72 hits, 46 runs, 19 doubles, 16 home runs and 68 RBI. On the mound, senior Christian Vick is back after winning five games a season ago. Also back is senior reliever Daniel Bergtholdt who compiled five saves in 23 appearances in 2018.
After being picked last in the OVC preseason poll a year ago, Eastern Kentucky finished the year with 30 total wins, beat a pair of Top 25 opponents and were one of the final three teams at the OVC Tournament a season ago, including qualifying for the eight-team event for the first time since 2013. This season head coach Edwin Thompson, who enters his fourth year with the program, has 18 players, including five positional starters, returning this season. Among the returning players is junior utility player Nick Howie who batted .333 with 75 hits, 43 runs, 10 home runs, 50 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 60 games a year ago. He was named to the OVC All-Tournament Team after helping the Colonels to a trio of victories at the event. On the mound senior Aaron Ochsenbein, a Preseason All-OVC pick along with Howie, returns to anchor the pitching staff. Ochsenbein had nine saves (tied for second in the OVC) to go along with a pair of wins and 71 strikeouts in 51.2 innings of work.
Belmont looks to return to the OVC Tournament after failing to qualify a season ago (finishing one game out of eighth place). This season the Bruins have six starters returning and welcome 12 newcomers. Among the returning players is senior starting pitcher Casey Queener, a Preseason All-OVC selection. Queener led the OVC in innings pitched per game (6.10) last season. Overall he won five games and compiled a 4.22 E.R.A. in 85.1 innings of work. Queener also struck out 96 batters and held opponents to a .239 batting average. Also back is sophomore pitcher/infielder Kyle Brennan. Brennan appeared in 28 games last season, netting a 2.83 E.R.A. and three saves.
Eastern Illinois finished last season by winning its final three regular season games to qualify for the OVC Tournament field for the first time since 2014. The Panthers have a pair of Preseason All-OVC selections in senior second baseman Jimmy Governand senior starting pitcher Tyler Jones. Govern led the team with a .331 batting average in 46 games a year ago. He had 59 hits, 12 doubles, 38 RBI and eight stolen bases while committing just three errors in 158 chances. Jones started 12 games last season, compiling a 7-3 record and 3.52 E.R.A. in 69 innings of work.
Murray State begins its first year under the direction of Dan Skirka, who returns to the team after serving as an assistant coach with the program from 2009-14. The Racers will have to replace a majority of its offensive production from last year but does return junior outfielder Ryan Perkins and senior infielder/pitcher Jaron Robinson. Perkins had 45 hits and scored 42 runs a season ago while Robinson, who will also take to the mound for the first time in his collegiate career, had 44 hits, 10 doubles and 27 RBI in 52 games.
Sean Lyons begins his third season as head coach at SIUE. The Cougars welcome back senior catcher Brock Weimer, who hit .275 with 50 hits, 12 doubles, eight RBI and a .987 fielding percentage in 50 games a year ago. SIUE also returns redshirt senior outfielder Dustin Woodcock who played in only one game a year ago before suffering an injury. In 2017 he hit .330 with 14 doubles and 42 RBI. On the mound junior hurler Kenny Serwa is back after appearing in 14 games last season and pitching a team-best 85 innings.
Among UT Martin’s returning players is Preseason All-OVC outfielder Jordan Stoner. Stoner was a first-team All-OVC pick a year ago after ranking second in the OVC in batting average (.382). Stoner started 51 games, adding 79 hits, 17 doubles, four triples, 25 RBI and 11 stolen bases. Stoner was the first-ever UTM outfielder to earn first-team All-OVC honors and just the fifth Skyhawk (any position) to accomplish the feat. Also back is sophomore first baseman Ethan Whitley who hit .267 with nine home runs and 32 RBI last year, earning him Freshman All-American honors. Catcher Blake Davis also earned Freshman All-American accolades after tallying 47 hits, 23 RBI and a .974 fielding percentage in 51 games.
The 71st season of OVC baseball will get underway on Friday, Feb. 15 with the first weekend of league play being held March 8-10. The season will culminate with the 2019 OVC Championship which will be held for the first time at Rent One Park in Marion, Illinois; the venue is home of the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League. The tournament runs May 21-26.
2019 Preseason OVC Baseball Predicted Order of Finish
1. Morehead State (11 first-place votes) – 185 points
2. Jacksonville State (6) – 173
3. Tennessee Tech (5) – 166
4. Austin Peay – 143
5. Southeast Missouri – 142
6. Eastern Kentucky – 110
7. Belmont – 88
8. Eastern Illinois – 77
9. Murray State – 51
10. SIUE – 45
11. UT Martin – 32
2019 Preseason All-OVC Baseball Team
Preseason OVC Player of the Year: Kevin Strohschein (OF/DH), Tennessee Tech
Preseason OVC Pitcher of the Year: Jacques Pucheu (LHP), Austin Peay
C – Nic Gaddis, Jacksonville State
1B – Parker Phillips, Austin Peay
1B – Trevor Snyder, Morehead State
2B – Jimmy Govern, Eastern Illinois
SS – Reid Leonard, Morehead State
3B – Cole Frederick, Jacksonville State
OF – Justin Dirden, Southeast Missouri
OF – Jordan Stoner, UT Martin
OF – Connor Pauly, Morehead State
DH – Kevin Strohschein, Tennessee Tech
UT – Nick Howie, Eastern Kentucky
SP – Tyler Jones, Eastern Illinois
SP – Garrett Farmer, Jacksonville State
SP – Jacques Pucheu, Austin Peay
SP – Casey Queener, Belmont
RP – Aaron Ochsenbein, Eastern Kentucky
RP – Cory Conway, Morehead State
