Southeast Missouri Tabbed OVC Baseball Favorite, EIU Seventh

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- With baseball season one week away Eastern Illinois was selected to finish seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll released Friday morning. The Panthers had two players named to the preseason All-Conference team with outfield Caleb Howell and third baseman Brant Valach. Howell hit .420 last season ranking third in the NCAA in batting average. He is the top returning player in the nation in batting average this season. Valach hit .333 last season with 34 RBI in OVC play despite missing part of the season with injury. He was the OVC Rookie of the Year in 2012. EIU opens the 2015 baseball season next weekend at Georgia.

After winning the Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship a season ago and returning 19 letterwinners this year Southeast Missouri has been tabbed the 2015 preseason favorite for the 11-team league in a vote of OVC head baseball coaches and sports information directors. In additional voting Tennessee Tech senior shortstop Dylan Bosheers was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year while Murray State starter Brock Downey was tabbed OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

Southeast Missouri received 12 of the 22 first-place votes while Jacksonville State (7) and Tennessee Tech (3) picked up the other first-place votes. Overall the Redhawks received 187 total points to be picked the favorite. Defending tournament champion Jacksonville State was picked second (171 points) and followed by Tennessee Tech (160), Austin Peay (149), Morehead State (134), SIUE (92), Eastern Illinois (91), Belmont (87), Eastern Kentucky (59), Murray State (56) and UT Martin (24).

In all, 15 players were selected to the Preseason All-OVC team. The 15 players represented nine of the 11 teams who will compete for the OVC championship this season. Morehead State led the way with three selections while Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Jacksonville State and Murray State had two selections apiece.

Last season the Redhawks were picked sixth under second-year head coach Steve Bieser but the team finished 23-7 in Conference play to earn its second OVC Regular Season Championship. Overall the squad won 37 games in 2014, tying the school’s single-season record. The Redhawks did lose OVC Player of the Year Matt Tellor (a 10th Round Draft Pick of the Atlanta Braves) but returns OVC Co-Pitcher of the Year Travis Hayes. Hayes was 8-2 overall with a 3.23 earned run average in 17 appearances. The squad also returns junior Alex Winkelman who was 6-2 with a 3.48 E.R.A. in 75 innings of work. Offensively the team returns infielders Andy Lennington (.312, 18 doubles, 45 RBI) and Jason Blum (.271, 22 RBI, 23 stolen bases).

Jacksonville State made OVC history a season ago in becoming the first team to lose in the opening round of the OVC Tournament and rebound to win six-straight elimination games to claim the tournament title. Overall it was the fourth OVC crown for the Gamecocks who return 18 total players from that team. Among the returning players for head coach Jim Case are Preseason All-OVC selections Paschal Petrongolo and Travis Stout. The designated hitter Petrongolo hit .328 with 76 hits, 38 runs, 19 doubles and 54 RBI a season ago; he also earned a spot on the OVC All-Tournament Team in helping the Gamecocks to the crown. Stout finished his junior campaign with 15 saves (11th nationally), the third-most in OVC single-season history; he enters this year with 32 career saves, just three shy of the OVC all-time record.

Tennessee Tech compiled a 40-19 record last year, marking the second-straight season the program had won 40 or more games, marking only the second time in OVC history a team had achieved that feat. The Golden Eagles led the nation in home runs, scoring and slugging a season ago but will have to replace five All-OVC selections (four positional players, one pitcher) from that squad. The team does return shortstop Dylan Bosheers, the OVC Preseason Player of the Year. The shortstop and returning All-American set career-high marks in batting average (.368), runs scored (66), hits (86), home runs (11), RBI (56) and slugging percentage (.577) a season ago. Bosheers was also one of 16 finalists for the Brooks Wallace Award, given to the top shortstop in Division I baseball.

After winning three-straight OVC Tournament Titles, Austin Peay just missed out on the six-team field a year ago with a lineup that included seven true freshmen starting at least 50 percent of the team’s games. This season that once young team now includes six returning positional starters and 13 total returning pitchers. Among those returning players is Preseason All-OVC selection Alex Robles who earned Freshman All-American honors in 2014. The OVC Rookie of the Year, Robles compiled a 3.63 E.R.A. and 6-2 record in 16 games, striking out 56 batters in 84.1 innings of work. He was also the team’s top hitter, batting .349 with 14 doubles and 39 RBI in 55 games. Head coach Gary McClure, the winningest coach in OVC history who returns for his 28th season, also returns Preseason All-OVC utility pick Ridge Smith, who hit .310 with 40 runs scored, 15 doubles, 44 RBI and 11 stolen bases last season while playing third base, outfield and designated hitter.

Morehead State made strides under second-year head coach Mike McGuire in 2014, qualifying for just its fourth OVC Tournament appearance in the past 12 years after recording a 16-14 league mark and 29-28 overall record. That marked an improvement of 13 total wins and six Conference wins from the 2013 campaign. This season the team returns three Preseason All-OVC selections in senior outfielder Brandon Rawe, senior catcher Chris Robinson and senior first baseman Kane Sweeney. Rawe set a MSU single-season hits record a season ago (98) while compiling a .390 batting average to go along with 21 doubles, 10 home runs and 48 RBI. In 56 games a year ago Robinson hit .332 with 75 hits, 37 runs and 40 RBI while Sweeney contributed a .309 average, 71 hits, 41 runs and 48 RBI. The squad also returns pitcher Aaron Goe who missed all of last year and most of 2013 with injuries; the now redshirt junior won six games and struck out 63 in 2012.

SIUE made its first OVC Tournament appearance a season ago after compiling a 16-14 league mark, its most OVC victories since joining the Conference. This year’s squad, headed by third-year head coach Tony Stoecklin, will be strong in the pitching department as Preseason All-OVC pick Ryan Daniels returns after going undefeated (7-0) in 14 starts a season ago. Daniels compiled a 3.53 E.R.A., had four complete games and struck out 69 batters in 97 innings of work. Also returning is redshirt senior Travis Felax who missed all of 2014 with an injury. In 2013 he started 11 games and compiled a 2.26 E.R.A., which was second in the Conference, while striking out 58 and walking only six in 75.2 innings of work.

Eastern Illinois returns six positional starters and six pitchers from last year’s team that was 15-14-1 in OVC competition. After a slow start last year the Panthers were 10-2-1 in Conference play down the stretch to qualify for the OVC Tournament field. This season head coach Jim Schmitz returns two players who were selected to the Preseason All-OVC Team in senior third baseman Brant Valach and senior outfielder Caleb Howell. Valach, the 2012 OVC Rookie of the Year, missed an early part of the season (including six Conference games) but finished the year with 34 RBI in league-only games (a stat that ranked fifth in the OVC); in 38 total games Valach hit .333. Howell finished third nationally with a .420 batting average while also ranking ninth in the nation in hits (94), a mark that established a new EIU single-season record. Howell finished last year with 30 multi-hit games which ranked second in the OVC.

Belmont begins its third season in the OVC with 19 returning letterwinners from last year’s team that was 13-16-1 in Conference play. Among the returning players for the Bruins is Preseason All-OVC outfield selection Drew Ferguson. Last season Ferguson hit .344 with 66 hits, 44 runs, 15 doubles, 10 home runs, 35 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 54 games. The Belmont pitching staff will look to lead the OVC in earned run average for the third consecutive season.

Last season Eastern Kentucky missed out on the OVC Tournament for the first time since 2009. This year the Colonels look to rebound with a group of seven positional starters and 12 returning pitchers. Included among the returning players is outfielder Kyle Nowlin who hit .307 with 69 hits, 47 runs, 14 doubles, six home runs, 26 RBI and 15 stolen bases a season ago. Also back is the infield trio of Doug Teegarden, Kenny Hostrander and Luke Wurzelbacher who each earned OVC All-Newcomer honors in 2013 but struggled at the plate a season ago. On the mound sophomore Caleb Johnson was a perfect 5-0 in 13 appearances (10 starts) as a freshman in 2014.

Murray State has a new coach for the 2015 season, as Racer alum Kevin Moulder takes over the program after previously serving as the associate head coach at Saint Louis University. As a student-athlete Moulder helped Murray State to a NCAA Tournament appearance as a pitcher in 2003. His first MSU team will feature 21 returning letterwinners, including eight positional starters and eight pitchers. Among the returning pitchers is 2014 OVC Co-Pitcher of the Year and 2015 OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year Brock Downey. Downey compiled a 2.76 E.R.A. (second in the OVC) and 9-3 overall record in 15 games (13 starts) last season; he also pitched four complete games while striking out 74 batters in 107.2 innings of work. Also returning is Preseason All-OVC selection Anthony Bayus who led the team in hitting (.327) a season ago.

UT Martin also has a new coach for 2015 as Rick Robinson brings nearly 700 victories at the junior college and Division II level to the Skyhawk program. This year’s team has 19 returning players including senior Taylor Douglas who led the team with a .341 average in 2014; Douglas added 61 hits, 33 runs, 15 doubles, seven home runs and 16 stolen bases in 48 games a year ago.

The 67th season of OVC baseball will get underway on Friday, Feb. 13 with the first weekend of league play being held March 6-8. The season will culminate with the 2015 OVC Championship which will be held for the sixth year in a row at The Ballpark at Jackson in Jackson, Tennessee. The venue is the home of the Jackson Generals, the Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The tournament runs May 20-24.