Winners of five straight and 11 of their last 14, the Morehead State baseball team is getting hot at the right time heading into the OVC Tournament. The Eagles secured the three seed for the third straight season (2020 not included) with a sweep of Austin Peay over the weekend and will play an elimination game with the winner of Tennessee Tech (6) and Murray State (7) Wednesday night.
With the OVC Tournament being played in Lexington, Ky.'s Wild Health Field this season, the Eagles have a sort of home field advantage compared to the seven other schools in the tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET, with live streaming available on ESPN+. A link to live stats can be found on the schedule page (link at the top of the story).
ABOUT THE EAGLES
Season Record: 27-26
OVC Record: 14-10
Last 10 Games: 8-2
Current Streak: W5
POSSIBLE OPPONENTS (1st Round)
Tennessee Tech (6)
- Season Record: 27-25
- OVC Record: 11-13
- Last 10 Games: 4-6
- Current Streak: W2
Morehead State took two of three from the Golden Eagles in Cookeville in April.
Murray State (7)
- Season Record: 30-24
- OVC Record: 11-13
- Last 10 Games: 5-5
- Current Streak: L2
Morehead State took two of three from the Racers at Allen Field in March.
PROBABLE STARTER (2022 STATISTICS)
John Bakke (4-3, 3.63 ERA, 8 SV)
NOTABLE
- Morehead State holds the longest active qualifying streak in the OVC, with 2022 marking their eighth consecutive appearance in the tournament, a program record. The Eagles were seeded third back in 2018, their most recent OVC Baseball Championship.
- Against the field, Morehead State holds a 12-10 record, winning series against Eastern Illinois, Tennessee Tech, Murray State, and Austin Peay.
- Morehead State is one of two teams with multiple OVC Tournament titles since 2015, winning the conference in both 2015 and 2018. The only other school who has won the same amount in that time is 2021 defending champion SEMO, who also won it all in 2016.
- Last weekend marked the first time in the history of the program that Morehead State swept Austin Peay in Clarksville, winning the three games by scores of 4-2, 7-6, and 13-5.
- The Eagles posted a +1 run differential overall, but outscored their OVC opponents by 24 runs in 2022. Morehead State hit .315 as a team in conference play with a .931 team OPS, 44 home runs and 51 doubles.
- Graduate student outfielder Alex Jacobs set a school record for on-base streak Sunday, reaching safely in his 51st straight game. Jacobs finished the regular season with a .364 batting average (eighth in OVC), five home runs, and 38 RBI.
- Jackson Feltner comes into the tournament in the top five in nearly every offensive statistic. The sophomore first baseman sits in third place in batting average (.390), home runs (16) OPS (1.186), and hits (82), and has hit 10 of his 16 home runs against OVC opponents.
- Nick Gooden has turned into an everyday player in 2022, starting 49 of 53 games. Gooden is batting .341 on the season and .400 in conference play, with two home runs and 24 driven in against OVC opponents. His bases-clearing double helped secure the series sweep over Austin Peay on Saturday.
- Roman Kuntz has been a force in conference play as well, with a .405 batting average and 1.168 OPS. Kuntz has six home runs and 21 RBI in 18 games vs. OVC opponents and capped his regular season with a four-hit day vs. Austin Peay on Saturday.
- Ryley Preece finished second in the OVC in walks, drawing a base on balls 44 times this season. Preece ranks second on the team and sixth in the OVC in homers with 14. Preece homered twice in the series sweep of Austin Peay.
- Brody Shoupe smashed his second home run of the season on Saturday at Austin Peay to give the Eagles a 6-4 lead. Shoupe has been a wall behind the plate in his career as an Eagle, but especially in 2022. Shoupe holds a .982 fielding percentage as the primary catcher and is part of the reason Morehead State has the least amount of wild pitches in the OVC.
- Luke Helton delivered his finest start as an Eagle on Friday night at APSU, striking out a career-high nine over six innings. Helton ranks eighth in the conference in innings pitched, throwing 73.1 innings as the workhorse of the Eagle rotation.
- Head Coach Mik Aoki has experience in winning conference titles, having won the ACC twice in his career. Aoki won the conference in 2009 while at Boston College, and in 2015 during his tenure at Notre Dame.
By Hunter Hurst, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations