Coeur d'Alene native Troy Shepard earns MVC Pitcher of the Week honor

Coeur d’Alene native Troy Shepard turned in the kind of outing that travels fast back home: Southern Illinois’ senior right-hander was named Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week after a dominant April 18 performance against Bradley in Peoria, Illinois.

Shepard, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior from Coeur d’Alene, earned the honor after throwing eight no-hit innings in the Salukis’ 6-2 win over the Braves. He carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning, allowed just one hit through eight full frames and struck out a Division I career-high 12 batters in one of the most overpowering starts of his college career.

The weekly conference recognition, announced as the MVC’s honors for the week of May 11, came with Southern Illinois sitting in the thick of the league race and the postseason field already set. All six spots for the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship had been clinched, with the tournament scheduled for May 20-23 at Johnny Reagan Field at Taylor Family Park in Murray, Kentucky.

For Shepard, the award marked another step in a season that has steadily built his profile in the league. He was previously named the MVC Newcomer of the Week on April 20 after the same Bradley start, and Southern Illinois said he was the first Saluki to win a conference weekly award this season.

Shepard’s route to Carbondale runs through the Inland Northwest. Southern Illinois lists him as a Coeur d’Alene native who previously pitched at Washington State University and Spokane Falls Community College. His college resume at Spokane Falls included 8-2 record, a 2.30 ERA and 109 strikeouts over 82.0 innings in 2024, production that helped set the stage for his move into the MVC.

That path gives Kootenai County another example of a local athlete reaching a higher level of Division I competition and producing in the spotlight. Shepard’s latest outing did more than win a game for Southern Illinois; it put a Coeur d’Alene name at the center of one of the conference’s strongest pitching performances of the spring.