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Austin Peay State University Baseball begins final month of the season hosting Morehead State

Austin Peay State University Governors SportsClarksville, TN – Following a six-day break, Austin Peay’s baseball team returns to action when it hosts Morehead State in a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series scheduled to begin with a 6:00pm, Friday contest at Raymond C. Hand Park.

APSU's Casey Delgado.. Austin Peay Baseball. (Courtesy: Brittney Sparn/APSU Sports Information)
APSU’s Casey Delgado.. Austin Peay Baseball. (Courtesy: Brittney Sparn/APSU Sports Information)

The Govs have won six of their last seven contests, including OVC series victories against Belmont and Eastern Kentucky in the last two weekends. Morehead State brings a two-game losing streak into the weekend but has won six of its last nine, including series wins against SIU Edwardsville and UT Martin in its past two weekends.

Austin Peay owns a 49-27 advantage in the all-time series, including a 29-11 edge in games played at Raymond C. Hand Park. The Govs have won the last six games in the series, including last season’s sweep in Clarksville. APSU has won 16 straight games against MSU in Clarksville. The Eagles last win in Clarksville was a 7-3 victory on April 20th, 2002.

Morehead State enters May seventh in the OVC regular-season race, 1½ games behind Southeast Missouri for the final spot in the tournament. The Eagles are attempting to bounce back from a disastrous 13-game losing streak from March 28th-April 16th that saw them lose six straight OVC games. Morehead State won six of its last nine, posting a 5-1 record against OVC foes, over April’s final 15 days.

Sophomore first baseman Kane Sweeney leads Morehead State with a .366 batting average that ranks third among OVC hitters and his .451 on-base percentage is fourth in the league. Senior shortstop Chase Greenwell is batting .328 and is ranked among the league’s top 15 hitters.

Sophomore Blake Smith has not earned a decision in his last two outings, but Morehead State rallied to win the series opener against both UT Martin and SIU Edwardsville. Junior Noah Smallwood notched his season’s first win at UT Martin, April 20th, and was left with no decision last week despite holding SIUE to two unearned runs. Freshman Matt Anderson also picked up his season’s first win at UT Martin, April 21st, but was tagged by SIUE for eight runs (three earned) last weekend in a loss.

The MSU defense has been shaky in OVC play, posting a league worst 36 errors in 21 games (.954 fielding percentage) and responsible for 1.5 unearned runs per game.

Rogers Sets OVC Single-Season Saves Mark

Carrer Mark In Sight

Closer Tyler Rogers, who already owns both the APSU single-season and career saves marks, became the OVC’s single-season saves record holder, April 24th, with a save in each game of the Evansville doubleheader. He followed that outing with a save in the Eastern Kentucky series, giving him 17 saves this season. Rogers, who has 29 career saves, now turns his attention to the OVC career saves mark held by Hornsby who recorded 32 saves (2010-12).

GOVS Ranked No. 7 In Mid-Major Poll

Austin Peay’s series victory at Eastern Kentucky helped it move to No. 7 in the CollegeBaseballDaily.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll. Mercer remained in the poll’s top spot for a second consecutive week. They were followed by No. 2 Louisville, No. 3 Indiana, No. 4 South Alabama, No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 6 Gonzaga. The Mid-Major Poll includes all baseball conferences except the ACC, Big 12, Big West, Conference USA, Pac 12 and the SEC.

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