For former Saxony Lutheran pitcher and current Lindenwood Lion Eli Brown, he had big goals for this last spring season.
Unfortunately for him and his teammates they came close but were unable to achieve them.
“Our goal was to make the Ohio Valley Conference tournament as it is every season, but it came down to the very last weekend and we came up short.”
Lindenwood, who announced its move from Divison II to Division I in 2022, is in its infancy at the top college level.
When Brown comitted to Lindenwood, the baseball program was traditional Division II powerhouse, but transitioning to the Division I level has been a challenge of sorts. Lindenwood finished 16-38 overall on the season and 9-18 in the OVC, but Brown enjoys the challenge of building a foundation of success at Lindenwood.
“We have a good group of guys on this team, that want to compete at this level and the coaches do a good job of bringing guys in that fit that mission of the program.”
Brown had a successful season in 2024 as a junior Brown was sixth in innings pitched in the OVC (79) and fifth in batting average against (.243) and ninth in strikeouts within the conference (65).
“I just wanted to give my team a chance to win every time I stepped out on the mound,” Brown said. “I had a few rough outings this year, but you have to move past those so when your number is called you are ready to go out there and compete again.”
Brown credits his success this season as a product of improving his fourth pitch: a slider.
“To develop a fourth pitch and my ability to throw them all for strikes is something that I worked very hard on,” Brown said “As I continue to work that should make me even harder to hit as I go into my senior season.”
Brown saw time on the mound in various ways this season, including pitching nearly every day of the week including Fridays, Tuesdays and on the weekend against conference opponents.
“It was tough at times,” Brown said. “Probably the toughest part was being able to amintain my velocity throughout the season. But my coaches did a great job of preparing me throughout the week to be ready to carry such a workload.”
As a senior Brown has many goals, which again includes reaching the OVC Tournament in his final season at Lindenwood.
He would also like to see how far he could take his baseball career.
“I have been working this offeseason on my strength and on just being an athlete,” he said. “Obviosuly I would like to go professional and maybe get into the draft and see how far I can take this. However, right now I’m focused on being there for my teammates and having the best season possible. I think we can be something special here at Lindenwood and set the foundation for success that future players here have to match.”
