Eastern Illinois University Athletics

2009: ESPN the Magazine First Team Academic All-America… ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District… Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award candidate… OVC Scholar-Athlete Award… Morrell pitched in a team-high 25 games, starting five times… repeated as an Academic All-America honoree, only the fifth Panther since 1980 to accomplish the feat… became the first EIU baseball player to win the OVC Scholar-Athlete Award (one of three males in the conference)… selected as one of 30 candidates nationally for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award… Eastern went 4-1 in the five games he started, highlighted by big victories against Indiana and Illinois… recorded both of his saves in OVC play… excelled at getting ground ball outs, averaging 12.7 per nine innings… was solid at home, posting a win and two saves while averaging one strikeout per inning… did not give a home run in his team-high 11 appearances in true road games… started four of EIU’s 14 midweek games, holding opposing batters to a .211 average and striking out 25 in 23 1/3 innings pitched… registered two wins and a save during the 13-game win streak… was the winning pitcher in the season opener, working 4 1/3 innings of relief against Southeastern Louisiana… struck out six and did not issue a walk through five innings against Indiana in his first start of the season… worked five scoreless innings and struck out seven in his midweek start at Chicago State… limited Illinois to one run in five innings in EIU’s victory in Champaign… struck out a season-high eight in five innings against Saint Louis at home… closed out the series-opening win against SIU Edwardsville, teaming up with Josh Mueller for the shutout victory… pitched a combined 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball throughout the course of the Eastern Kentucky doubleheader… Top 10 OVC Rankings: third in appearances and 10th in batting average against.

2008: ESPN the Magazine Second Team Academic All-America... OVC Scholar-Athlete Award... ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District... OVC Medal of Honor (4.0 GPA)... OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll... Morrell pitched in 24 games and started the Akron contest on the spring break trip… his flawless 4.0 GPA made him the program’s second Academic All-America honoree in as many years… was outstanding in OVC play, going 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA and .163 batting average against… ranked second in the OVC in ERA and batting average against in conference play… was the winning pitcher in the series finales against Murray State, Southeast Missouri and Eastern Kentucky… earned a win and a save at the OVC Tournament… surrendered only one extra-base hit in 29 1/3 innings pitched in league play… OVC hitters batted only .109 (5-for-46) against him with runners on… went 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA and .173 batting average against at home… was the only Panther to record multiple victories in true road games… jumpstarted his season in April, posting a 2-0 record with a 2.05 ERA and 1.69 batting average against… was the winning pitcher in three of EIU’s nine victories in May… began a streak of five straight appearances without allowing a run with an inning and two-thirds of scoreless relief in the opener of the Tennessee Tech series… worked 4 2/3 innings of relief in the rubber-game win at Murray, allowing no earned runs… pitched seven innings of scoreless relief against Jacksonville State, giving up only three in the blowout win… struck out a career-high eight over seven innings of one-run relief against SEMO, allowing the Panthers to rally for a rubber-game win… was the first man out of the bullpen at the OVC Tournament and NCAA Regional, working 2 1/3 inning of hitless relief to earn a save against Tennessee Tech in the OVC Tourney… pitched 4 1/3 innings, giving up just one earned run, in the upset win over top-seeded JSU at the tournament... gave up nine hits against Jax State, but eight were singles… Top 10 OVC Rankings: ninth in appearances.

2007: OVC Medal of Honor (4.0 GPA)... Commissioner's Honor Roll... He pitched in nine games and started three contests… allowed just 11 hits and two earned runs through 21 1/3 innings pitched… led the pitching staff in ERA and batting average against… gave up just one extra-base hit to the 81 batters he faced… that lone extra-base he gave up was in his first outing of the year… was lights out with runners on base (2-for-28) and with two outs (3-for-20)… won both of his starts and did not give up an extra-base hit at home… was great in post-spring break midweek action, surrendering just one earned run while striking out 11 through 16 innings… tossed two innings of one-hit relief in his first outing of the season to earn his first career save… also pitched multiple innings of scoreless relief at Charleston Southern and versus Saint Louis… won his midweek starts against Chicago State and Olivet Nazarene… pitched four scoreless innings while striking out four in his last start of the year, versus Northern Illinois at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva, Ill.

2006: OVC Medal of Honor (4.0 GPA)... Commissioner's Honor Roll... He pitched in three games and started the finale of the Kansas State series… struck out the side in his inning of relief against league champion Samford… also took the mound against Yale during the spring break trip, tossing an inning of relief.

HIGH SCHOOL: He was a four-year letter-winner for coach John Wyss... also lettered twice in basketball... two-time Quincy Herald Whig First Team All-Area selection as an upperclassman... Class A All-State Team in 2005... team captain... class valedictorian... National Honor Society... Notre Dame was runner-up in the 2004 IHSA Class A State Tournament... also took third in basketball in the IHSA State Tournament the same year... presidential scholarship winner at EIU... pitched for the Quincy Gems of the of Collegiate league of Central Illinois in the summer of the last two summers.

PERSONAL: No. 1 sports highlight was winning the state quarterfinal game and pitching in the Class A State Championship game his junior year in high school... credits his father, a member of Quincy College national champion soccer team, for "always being there to help me"... most admires Hall of Famer Bob Gibson "because he was the best big-game pitcher ever"... son of Tim and Amy Morrell... MAJOR: Biological Sciences.