Austin Peay Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s softball team will play host to Ohio Valley Conference leading Southern Illinois Edwardsville for a three-game series at Cheryl Holt Field as part of the Governors Spring Fling weekend.
The series will begin with a noon, Saturday doubleheader and concludes with a noon, Sunday single game.Austin Peay (8-23, 4-8 OVC) enters the series having dropped a midweek non-conference doubleheader to Evansville, while SIUE (29-9, 11-3 OVC), despite losing its last two games to Tennessee Tech last weekend, comes in receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball NCAA Division I poll.
Offensively, five Lady Govs are batting more than .300 this season, led by Rikki Arkansas (.341), while Niya Sparks (.329/7HR/20 RBI), Laurel Burroughs (.319/5 HR/17 RBI), Chandler Groves (.316/4 HR/23 RBI) and Christiana Gable (.309/7 HR/28 RBI) round out the quintet.
The Cougars are led at the plate by Rebecca Gray (.387), with Haley Chambers (.372/6 HR/25 RBI) and Jordan LaFave (.327/4 HR/25 RBI) providing considerable pop in the middle of the SIUE lineup.
In the circle, Natalie Ayala (4-8. 5.85 ERA, 22 Ks) leads the Lady Govs pitching staff, while Sidney Hooper (2-7, 7.70 ERA, 21 Ks) has multiple wins for APSU this season.
SIUE’s pitching staff is led by Chambers’ 17-4 win-loss record, which includes a 1.49 ERA and 206 Ks in 141.1 innings of work, while Baylee Douglass (11-4, 2.07 ERA, 104 Ks) has been solid for the Cougars as their number two hurler.Â