Austin Peay Governors Baseball hosts the Murray State Racers this weekend

Murray State vs. Austin Peay Baseball

Friday-Sunday, April 13th-15th, 2012
Clarksville, TN | Raymond C. Hand Park (777)

Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay’s baseball team will look to build on its 7-1 Ohio Valley Conference start when it hosts Murray State in a three-game league series, beginning with a 6:00pm, Friday contest at Raymond C. Hand Park.

The series will continue with a 2:00pm, Saturday contest before wrapping up with a 1:00pm, Sunday affair.

Austin Peay continued to alternate wins and losses with a 10-3 Wednesday victory against Middle Tennessee. The Govs are 3-2 in their last five games following a 7-game win streak. In addition, the Govs have won 10 of their 14 contests since ending a 3-game losing streak in mid-March. Austin Peay has not lost an OVC series since the end of the 2010 season – a streak of 12 consecutive series.

Austin Peay’s offense has scored 8 or more runs in 9 of its last 13 contests and is averaging 8.5 runs and batting .300 during that span. Center fielder Michael Blanchard leads the team with a .442 batting average with 19 hits in those 13 games. Catcher P.J. Torres (.395), shortstop Reed Harper (.354) and outfielder Cody Hudson (.320) also are hitting above .300 during the recent 12-game stretch.

Sophomore Ryan Quick, the Govs Game 1 starter, will look to bounce back from his season’s worst start (6 ER, 6.2 IP at EIU) but still ranks fourth among OVC starters in ERA (3.33). Senior Zach Toney returns to his Game 2 starting role after missing the previous two weeks due to an injury.

Junior Casey Delgado, who started at No. 2 in Toney’s absence the past two weeks, will look to build on consecutive quality starts, including a 8.2-inning outing at Eastern Illinois where he allowed only two runs. Closer Tyler Rodgers surrendered his first run since March 11th in Wednesday’s contest against Middle Tennessee, but it was unearned and his Division I-leading ERA dropped to 0.25.

Austin Peay was picked to finish first in the OVC’s preseason poll. Four Governors were selected to the league’s preseason team – Toney, Harper, Blanchard and Hankins. Austin Peay returns 7 of its 8 defensive starters from last season.

About Murray State

The ‘Breds visit Clarksville with wins in three of their last four outings, including back-to-back outings. Murray State won 2 of 3 against UT Martin last weekend before tripping up Evansville in the final game of a five-game homestand, Wednesday.

The ‘Breds rank third among OVC teams in both batting average (.287) and ERA (5.02) and fourth in fielding percentage (.966). MSU junior first baseman Mike Kozlowski and sophomore outfielder Ty Stetson are each batting .333 this season and rank among the league’s top 15 in the category. Stetson leads OVC in walks (1.09 pg) and ranks third in on-base percentage (.506).

On the mound, junior right-hander Alex Gordon will take the hill in Game 1 and has one of the OVC’s seven complete-game efforts this season in a 4-2 victory against UT Martin last weekend. Senior right-hander Tyler Beers will get the call in Game 2 and will seek to add to a 45-strikeout campaign that ranks second among OVC pitchers. Senior left-handed hurler Bryan Babin will start Game 3 and enters the weekend ranked 13th among OVC regulars in ERA (4.18).

Probable Starting Pitchers

Date	Time (CT)	Austin Peay Starter	Opponent’s Starter	APSU Radio/Internet
Fri.	6:00pm	RHP Ryan Quick	RHP Alex Gordon	WVRY 105.1 FM
		(RSo., 3-0, 3.33 ERA)	(Jr., 2-2, 2.48 ERA)	LetsGoPeay.com
Sat.	2:00pm	LHP Zach Toney	RHP Tyler Beers	WVRY 105.1 FM
		(Jr., 2-2, 4.54 ERA)	(Sr., 3-3, 5.24 ERA)	LetsGoPeay.com
Sun.	1:00pm	RHP Casey Delgado	LHP Bryan Babin	WVRY 105.1 FM
		(Jr., 4-3, 6.07 ERA)	(Sr., 3-2, 4.18 ERA)	LetsGoPeay.com

 

STATISTICAL COMPARISON: GOVS VS. THOROUGHBREDS
TEAM	BA	RPG	HR	RBI	SLG	OBP	SB-A	ERA	H/9	BB/9	SO/9	BAA	FLD
APSU	.279	6.4	27	180	.414	.380	42-61	4.37	8.75	4.80	7.68	.257	.969
MURRAY	.287	6.0	12	184	.393	.379	12-19	5.02	10.38	4.06	5.91	.293	.966