APSU Softball takes on Middle Tennessee, Wednesday

Austin Peay at Middle Tennessee

Tuesday, March 14th, 2017 | 5:00pm CT
Murfreesboro, TN | Blue Raider Softball Field

Clarksville, TN – On Tuesday afternoon, March 13th the Austin Peay State University’s softball team will make the short drive down Interstate 24 to face Middle Tennessee in a 5:00pm single game at Blue Raider Softball Field.

The contest was originally scheduled to be played back on March 1st, but was postponed due to rain on that date.

The matchup is the 52th all-time meeting between the Governors (8-11) and the Blue Raiders (9-11) dating back to their first contest on March 11th, 1993. The series is the eighth-most played in APSU history, with the Govs trailing in the overall series 34-17, including a 19-5 mark in games played in Murfreesboro, Tennessee

The Govs are coming off a 1-3 weekend at the Murray State Racer Classic, picking up a win versus Northern Illinois, while MTSU went 0-3 versus Western Kentucky to open Conference USA play.

Through 19 games, sophomore third baseman Danielle Liermann lead the Govs offense, coming into the game batting .419 on the season – including four doubles, five home runs and a team-high 17 runs driven in.

Liermann’s last home run this past weekend versus Saint Louis moved her into aa tie for 10th most in school history.

Sophomore catcher Carly Mattson is right behind Liermann, hitting at a .393 clip, with five doubles, four home runs and 12 RBI.

Sophomore shortstop Kendall Vedder is the other Governor coming into the MTSU matchup hitting at least .300 this season, reaching that mark after batting .545 last week in five games.

Overall, Vedder has recorded four doubles and three home runs so far this season.

In the circle, freshman Kelsey Gross leads the Govs pitching staff with a 5-3 win-loss mark, with a 4.97 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 50.2 innings of work.

This past Friday, Gross recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts versus Saint Louis, which ended a string of 132 games played by Austin Peay without having a pitcher record at least 10 k’s in a contest.

Seniors Autumn Hanners (2-6, 1 save, 4.17 ERA) and Christiana Gable (1-2, 4.39 ERA) have also picked up wins this season for the Govs.

The Blue Raiders are lead at the plate by Precious Birdsong, who comes in with a .442 batting average, while Cori Jennings (5-6, 1.88 ERA, 43 K’s) has been the workhorse for the Blue Raiders pitching staff this season.