Click here to see the complete Preseason All-OVC Team!
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team has been picked by league head coaches to finish sixth out of 10 teams in the Ohio Valley Conference this spring. The top six teams in the league advance to the OVC Tournament at the conclusion of the regular season.
The overall voting in the preseason poll was close as three different teams received first-place votes and just six points separated first and second place. Austin Peay, last year’s OVC regular season and tournament champion, claimed seven of the 10 first-place votes and garnered 79 point to be picked as the favorite. Jacksonville State was second with one first-place vote and 73 points while Tennessee Tech picked up the other two first-place votes and 63 total points to be picked third. Southeast Missouri was picked fourth (52) and was followed by SIUE (48), EKU (45), Eastern Illinois (34), UT Martin (25), Murray State (21) and Morehead State (10).
For the second straight year, senior outfielder
Jacob Daniel was the lone Colonel named to the Preseason All-OVC Team. The right-handed hitting Daniel broke free of his pigeonholed role as a designated hitter in 2011, starting 56 games in left field, providing the Colonels with middle-of-the-lineup power and run production and, according to head coach
Jason Stein, “turning himself into a quality defender in the outfield.” Daniel, a native of Russellville, Ala., hit .330 with nine home runs and a team-best 44 RBI on his way to being named first team All-OVC last season, and he will be looked upon to provide similar numbers in the heart of the Colonel lineup this season.
In all, 13 players were selected to the Preseason All-OVC team. The 13 players represented six of the 10 teams who will compete for the OVC championship this season. JSU led the way with five selections while APSU had four picks. EKU, Morehead State, SEMO and UT Martin had one selection apiece. Returning players who were first-team selections at the end of last season were automatic picks for this year’s team.
In additional voting, SEMO All-American senior third baseman Trenton Moses was picked to repeat as the OVC Player of the Year, while JSU senior closer Todd Hornsby was tabbed the OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Daniel leads an EKU offense that is bolstered by the return of all nine position starters, including senior shortstop
Richie Rodriguez, a two-time second team All-OVC selection and a mainstay in the Colonels’ lineup over the last three years, and sophomore third baseman
Bryan Soloman, who posted senior-like power numbers in 2011 en route to being named a Freshman All-American and the OVC Freshman of the Year.
The Colonel pitching staff lost its ace, right-hander Stephen Hefler, to graduation, but senior right-hander
Matt Harris should fill his shoes. Harris, who moved into the starting rotation at the end of last season and finished the year with a team-best 2.68 ERA, pitched his best against conference competition last season, recording a 0.59 ERA against OVC teams while stifiling OVC hitters to just a .168 batting average.
EKU will also be strengthened by the arrival of a recruiting class that was ranked by
Collegiate Baseball newspaper as one of the top-100 classes in the country (EIU was the only other OVC team named in the evaluation
Despite being picked to finish on the fringe of the OVC Tournament by league head coaches, EKU was picked to finish third in the conference in
Baseball America’s recent college preview issue, an indicator that the Colonels might have the talent to be the dark horse team that surprises everyone.
EKU opens the 2012 campaign with a three-game set at East Tennessee State from February 17-19.
Order of Finish Points
1. Austin Peay (7 first-place votes) 79
2. Jacksonville State (1) 73
3. Tennessee Tech (2) 63
4. Southeast Missouri 52
5. SIUE 48
6. Eastern Kentucky 45
7. Eastern Illinois 34
8. UT Martin 25
9. Murray State 21
10. Morehead State 10
(Per league head coaches)
