Caldwell County’s all-time winningest pitcher has been named to the Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference Team.
Shane Burns, a sophomore left-handed hurler at Murray State, is one of 16 players selected in a vote of OVC head baseball coaches and communications directors.
Burns had a 2.60 earned run average and 24 strikeouts in 17.1 innings of work last year before COVID-19 cut the season short.
In 2019, Burns posted a 3-3 record with a 3.84 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 65.2 innings.
At Caldwell, Burns posted a 31-8 mark on the mound and helped the school capture 2nd Region championships in 2016 and 2017.
Meanwhile, the Racers are picked to finish third in the OVC league race.
Murray State won 10 of its final 13 games last year, including winning the opening series of Conference play before the season was postponed.
Belmont has been tabbed as the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference preseason baseball favorite.
Belmont picked up 14 of the 22 first-place votes to tally 188 points. Jacksonville State received seven first-place votes and was tabbed second (176) and followed by Murray State (136) and Austin Peay (132). Southeast Missouri picked up the other first-place vote (and 131 total points) in being picked fifth. Eastern Kentucky (117) was tabbed sixth and followed by SIUE (78), Eastern Illinois (73), Morehead State (67), Tennessee Tech (66), and UT Martin (45).
In additional voting, Tennessee Tech junior outfielder Jason Hinchman was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year while Belmont junior pitcher Joshua South was tabbed OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year for the second-straight season.
The 73rd season of OVC baseball will get underway on Friday, Feb. 19, with the first weekend of league play being held March 12-13. As a cost-saving measure for this season only, OVC teams will play three-game league series over two days instead of the traditional three games over three days. This year’s OVC Tournament will feature the top four teams squaring off in a double-elimination bracket May 27-29. The site of this year’s championship is to be determined.
(Includes information from an OVC press release.)
