Bats Govs begin Red-White World Series, Thursday

APSU Men’s Baseball

Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s baseball team will finish fall practice with the annual Red-White World Series this weekend, at Raymond C. Hand Park. After weeks of practice the Bat Govs will be split into teams to compete against each other.

The series will be played 4:30pm, Thursday; 5:30pm, Friday, and 11:00am, Saturday. Admission is free.

Fall practice has seen many new faces, but so far Govs head coach Gary McClure has been happy with the team’s effort and performance.

“More than half our team is new,” said McClure. “Sometimes you figure it’s going to be hectic in the fall getting all these new players in the system, but really it’s gone pretty well. I think it’s a tribute to the guys who were brought in, and I think they have worked really hard.”

The Govs have done major rebuilding, bringing in 17 newcomers. With all the losses many might believe the Bat Govs would be too young and inexperienced to compete in the Ohio Valley Conference’s upper echelon this year, but McClure knows a majority of their success relies on the newcomers. With that question mark surrounding the Govs preseason practice and finding so many holes to fill, McClure is optimistic.

“I believe our new guys have to have a major impact,” McClure said. “We lost so many guys that played an important role on our team, but I believe our new guys are going to make an impact. I feel we have the right guys at the right positions, to mix with the guys we have coming back. I feel the new recruits will be able to handle the situation.”

Seeking to return as OVC front-runners, the Govs coaching staff knew recruiting additional pitching was going to be important as they look for a deeper staff than in past years.

“Our depth is much better then it’s ever been,” McClure said. “We’re not only deep, but it is with some quality guys. That was a huge need in our recruiting.”

With the arms in place to form a potential strong starting rotation and bullpen, the Govs coaching staff is looking for one more thing.

“We still have to find that number one guy that just jumps out at you and when he’s on the mound you know ‘this is our guy’,” McClure said. “You just have to have a guy like that, it’s so important to set the tone the first game of conference weekend and have a guy you know will win most of the time.”

With only five days left the Bat Govs are gunning to show the coaching staff what they can do.

“It’s going to be interesting,” McClure said. “I think the guys are looking forward to it, there’s still a lot to figure out.”