BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - The 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship field is now set. The event will be held May 25-28 at Wild Health Field in Lexington, Kentucky. This year marks the 43rd OVC Baseball Tournament (the first elimination style event was held in 1979). It is the first time it has been held in Lexington.

The venue opened in 2001 and has a seating capacity of 6,994 with additional picnic, lawn and standing room only areas. It is home to both the Lexington Legends and the newly formed Wild Heath Genomes, MLB Partner League professional baseball teams that compete in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Legends won the Atlantic League Championship in 2021, marking the fourth championship in the franchise's 20-year history.

The event has been held at five neutral site locations after moving from the campus of the regular season champions in 2001. The event has been held in Paducah, Kentucky (2001-09), Jackson, Tennessee (2010-16, 2021), Oxford, Alabama (2017-18), Marion, Illinois (2019) and now Lexington (2022).

Tickets will be $10 per adult per day and $5 per day for children (12 and under) and college students with valid ID and can be purchased in-person at Wild Health Field or online. Parking is $5 per day. All seats are general admission for the OVC Championship.

This year marks a change in the bracket which will include four single elimination games on Wednesday, with the winners advancing to the double elimination portion of the bracket which will include the No. 1 and 2 seeds (who receive a bye until Thursday games). Saturday's Championship Game will be a one-game "Winner Take All" matchup.

Belmont (37-19, 18-6 OVC) captured its first OVC Championship by winning two of three games this weekend. The Bruins won seven of eight OVC series this year, only falling to No. 2 seed Southeast Missouri. The team has won 9 of its last 12 and 14 of its last 19 games overall. The team's 37 wins are tied for the most in the program's regular season history and are the most overall since the 2013 squad won 38 games (including postseason). Belmont advanced to the title round of the OVC Championship in 2017, but has not claimed an OVC Tournament Championship. The Bruins, who led the OVC in team E.R.A. this season (.454), get a bye until Thursday's games and will meet either the No. 4, 5 or 8 seed on Thursday at 11am ET.

Defending OVC Tournament Champion Southeast Missouri (34-19, 16-8 OVC) came up two games short of sharing its second-straight OVC crown. The team failed to make the 2019 field (after 24-straight appearances) but won the four-team bracket in 2021 in Jackson. The Redhawks are the only OVC team to take a series from Belmont this season, winning two of three games in Nashville at the end of April. SEMO, who has four total OVC Tournament crowns, opens the tournament on Thursday against either the No. 3, 6 or 7 seed.

Morehead State (27-26, 14-10 OVC) is in the field for the eighth-straight tournament and looking for its first tournament crown since 2018. The Eagles have won 11 of 14 games entering the postseason, including sweeping Austin Peay on the road this past weekend. Graduate student Alex Jacobs enters the postseason having reached base safely in 51-straight games, which is a new MSU record. Morehead State begins play on Thursday night against the winner of the Tennessee Tech/Murray State contest.

Eastern Illinois (33-19, 12-12) won 25 road games this season, the most of any Division I team. The Panthers were forced to play the majority of its home schedule away from Coaches Stadium due to renovations, but reached the 30-win plateau for the first time since the 2009 season. The team capped the regular season by winning two of three games against SEMO. EIU started the 2022 campaign 17-3 (its second-best start in program history) and currently rank second in the OVC in fielding percentage and third in E.R.A. The Panthers have claimed OVC Tournament titles in 1999 and 2008 and are looking for its first win at the tournament since 2014 (the team lost single elimination games in each 2018 and 2019). Eastern Illinois will open OVC Tournament play on Wednesday against the winner of the SIUE/Austin Peay game.

SIUE (25-26, 12-12 OVC) is in the OVC Tournament field for only the third time in its history and first since 2015. The Cougars are 0-4 all-time in the event and will be looking for that first win on Wednesday when they face No. 8 seed Austin Peay in an elimination game at 9 a.m. ET. SIUE leads the OVC in team batting average (.301) and has clubbed a program record 88 home runs this season. Of those, 23 have come off the bat of junior Brett Johnson; the 23 round trippers are the eighth-most in OVC single-season history, four from tying the all-time record.

After making the Super Regionals in 2018, Tennessee Tech (27-25, 11-13 OVC) missed the last two OVC Tournament fields, but are back this season under head coach Matt Bragga. Bragga left the program after the 2018 run, but returned this season to guide the team to its 21st all-time appearance in the event. The Golden Eagles have four OVC Tournament crowns, with the most recent coming in 2017. TTU has smashed over 100 home runs this season and ranks in the Top 10 nationally in home runs/game. Senior outfielder Jason Hinchman has 22 home runs this season and earlier this year established a new OVC career home run record (he now has 66, the most among any active Division I player). During the season TTU defeated No. 1 Tennessee at a neutral site, handing the Vols one of just seven losses on the season. Tennessee Tech will play Murray State (a team they won two of three from this past weekend) in an elimination game on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Murray State (30-24, 11-13 OVC) started Conference play 1-8 this season before rebounding to make the tournament field. The Racers, who were the runners-up at last year's OVC Tournament, reached the 30-win plateau for the second-straight season, marking the first time the program has accomplished that since the 1975 and 1976 seasons (prior to last year the team had not won 30 games since 2009). The Racers have won two OVC Tournament crowns, 1979 and 2003. Junior starting pitcher Hayden Wynja enters the postseason with a streak of 26.0 consecutive innings without allowing a run. The Racers open play on Wednesday in an elimination game against Tennessee Tech.

Austin Peay (19-36, 10-14 OVC) is in its sixth-straight OVC Tournament field and is making its 29th overall appearance, the second-most in League history. The program won three-straight OVC Tournament titles from 2011-13 and its six overall tournament titles are the second-most in league history. This season the team ranks third in the OVC in fielding percentage. The Govs open OVC Tournament play in an elimination game with No. 5 seed SIUE on Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET.

Fans can watch the entire 2022 OVC Baseball Tournament live on ESPN+. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for $6.99 a month (or $69.99 per year) or as part of a bundle with Disney+ and ad-supported Hulu ($19.99/month). ESPN+, the multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company's Direct-to-Consumer & International segment, is an integrated part of the ESPN App and (on mobile and connected devices) and ESPN.com. More information can be found at www.OVCSports.com/ESPN.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Wednesday, May 25
Game 1: #5 SIUE vs. #8 Austin Peay, 9 a.m. ET (ESPN+)
Game 2: #6 Tennessee Tech vs. #7 Murray State, 12:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Game 3: #4 Eastern Illinois vs. Winner of Game 1, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Game 4: #3 Morehead State vs. Winner of Game 2, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
   
Thursday, May 26
Game 5: #1 Belmont vs. Winner of Game 3, 11 a.m. ET (ESPN+)
Game 6: #2 Southeast Missouri vs. Winner Game 4, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Game 7: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
   
Friday, May 27
Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
   
Saturday, May 28
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 12 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

NOTE: The first four games are single elimination. The Championship Game (Game 10) is winner-take-all.