Austin Peay State University Athletics

Awards & Honors

• APSU Dean's List: F22, S23

2023 | Austin Peay

• Made 13 relief appearances totaling 19.0 innings.
• Tossed 1.1 scoreless innings of relief in the Dallas Baptist series finale (Feb.26), striking out two batters.
• After missing two weeks, provided an inning of scoreless relief in the North Florida series opener (March 17).
• Provided 2.2 innings of relief at Liberty (March 24), allowing one run.
• Supplied 3.2 innings of scoreless relief against Western Kentucky (April 25) in his longest relief outing of the season.
• He allowed one earned run in his final four regular-season appearances, totaling 8.0 innings pitched.

2022 | Missouri State

• Appeared in 13 games, including three starts, and recorded 33 strikeouts in 24.1 innings pitched.
• Opened season as Bears’ No. 3 starter in Central Arkansas series (Feb. 20) and won his debut, striking out six over 5.0 innings. 
• Struck out five batters over 4.0 scoreless innings against Missouri (April 26), allowing two hits as the second man out of the bullpen.
• Made a relief appearance in the NCAA Baseball Tournament’s Stillwater Regional as the last man out of the bullpen in Missouri State’s 29-15 loss to host Oklahoma State (June 5). Struck out five batters in 1.2 innings pitched.

2021 | Northeastern Oklahoma A&M

• Appeared in 14 games, making 13 starts, striking out 89 batters in 54.0 innings pitched and posting a 5-3 record.
• Ranked fifth in NJCAA’s Division I with 14.83 strikeouts per nine innings.
• Fired a pair of five-inning shutouts and was the NJCAA National Pitcher of the Week after allowing just one hit and striking out 20 over 10 innings in starts against Coffeyville and Kirkwood in late February.
• Struck out 13 batters in a start twice during the season: Feb. 28 against Kirkwood Community College and March 20 against Connors State College.

2020 | Northeastern Oklahoma A&M

• Made four starts, striking out 22 batters in 17 innings in COVID-19 shortened season.
• Picked up a victory against Metropolitan Community College (Feb. 22), striking out five over five innings.
• Ended season with nine strikeouts in a 6.0-inning outing against Arkansas Baptist College (March 7).

Prep Career

• Pitched for head coach Darron Replogle on the Tulsa Northeast Oklahoma Association of Homeschools (NOAH).
• A Daily Oklahoma honorable mention All-State selection as a sophomore and senior.
• A Tulsa World First Team All-Metro Team honoree as a senior after earning honorable mention recognition his three previous years.
• Named to Tulsa Baseball Coaches Association and Three Rivers Coaches Association All-Star Teams.
• Earned Homeschool World Series All-America honors three times.
• Helped his team to the 2016 2016 Home School World Series Association World Series Division 1 Championship.
• Ranked No. 10 right-handed pitcher in Oklahoma Class of 2019 ranking.

Personal

• Daniel Loyd Merrill is the son of Rod and Stephanie Merrill.
• Birthday is Feb. 14.
• Has three siblings: Matthew, Anna, and Lily.
• His brother, Matthew, played collegiately at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and was drafted in the 37th round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros. Signed as a free agent with the Washington Nationals in 2020 and has played two seasons in the Nationals organization.
• His sister, Anna, is a member of the Colorado Christian volleyball team. His sister, Lily, is a member of the Missouri State-West Plains volleyball program.