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Instant Peay Play: APSU Baseball, Men’s Golf Teams open seasons with a flourish

Instant Peay Play - APSU SportsClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s baseball and men’s golf teams opened their respective spring schedules this past weekend with impressive starts, as Governors athletics continue to shine during the 2017-18 school year.

Both teams couldn’t have asked for much more to kick-off their seasons, with baseball going 3-0, with two wins versus South Dakota State and a victory versus Big-10 Conference member Illinois, while men’s golf went right down to the wire in finishing second out of 16 teams at the Invitational at Savannah Harbor – won and hosted by William & Mary.

Austin Peay Baseball and Men's Golf starts the 2018 season with a bang. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Baseball and Men’s Golf starts the 2018 season with a bang. (APSU Sports Information)

For the Govs baseball team, the 3-0 start is their best under third-year head coach Travis Janssen, as well as its best overall start since the 2012 season.

While the offense did its part in averaging five runs per game in the season-opening wins, it was the APSU pitching that impressed the most, with the Govs holding its opponents to a .161 batting average while posting an impressive 1.00 ERA.

In 2017, the Governors pitching staff posted a 6.34 ERA, with opponents hitting at a .288 clip.

Over the weekend, the Govs got three solid starting pitching performances from Brandon Vial, Michael Costanzo and Jacques Pucheu, with each going at least five innings in their starts, and giving up just one earned run total in their 17.2 combined innings of work – giving up just 10 hits and two walks, while striking out 19.

If the Governors pitchers can keep that type of performance up all spring pre-season Ohio Valley Conference favorite Tennessee Tech will have more than its hand full.

While the Govs baseball team was getting great pitching efforts in its opening weekend, the Govs men’s golf team and fourth-year head coach Robbie Wilson watched the future now, with three sophomores and two freshmen push the tournament’s host and defending champions William & Mary over the final 18 holes.

In fact, the Govs were the only team in the 16-team tournament field that posted under-par scores in each of the three rounds, finishing at seven-under overall as a team, with only the tournament-low eight-under-par posted by the Tribe in the opening round of play being the difference.

Michael Busse would lead the Govs, finishing in a tie for third overall, with a four-under par tournament total 212, while Alex Vegh posted a three-under total to place sixth.

Austin Lancaster finished one over and tied for 14th place, while Chase Korte finished the weekend five over and Jay Fox at 13 over.

Overall, eight of the 15 total rounds played by the five Govs golfers were at par or under par, with no rounds higher than 79.

Chris Austin
Chris Austinhttp://www.clarksvillesportsnetwork.com
Chris Austin is a graduate of Clarksville High School and Austin Peay State University. Chris is a former Head Softball Coach for APSU, and assistant basketball coach for CHS. Chris has worked at the Leaf-Chronicle, and WJZM News/Talk/Sports radio. Has also worked at the Sports Information Department at APSU, and has covered championship events for the Ohio Valley Conference and NCAA. Chris is an avid sports fan and can be found at most Austin Peay State University sports events.
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