Southeast Missouri vs. Austin Peay Governors
Friday-Sunday, April 11th-13th
Clarksville, TN | Raymond C. Hand Park
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay’s baseball team (13-20, 5-7 OVC) will meet the Ohio Valley Conference-leading Southeast Missouri (22-10, 13-2 OVC) in a three-game series, beginning Friday, at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Austin Peay enters the weekend with wins in three of its last four outings, including a 2-1 OVC series win at Tennessee Tech last weekend.
Southeast Missouri is the OVC’s hottest team with an eight-game win streak that is third longest in Division I. The Redhawks have posted a sweep in four of their five OVC series this season.
Austin Peay Governors
Austin Peay is in its busiest stretch of the 2014 campaign, playing 16 games in a 22-day stretch that will conclude with the Easter Holiday, April 20th; they are 3-6 during that stretch.
The Govs are 9-10 at Raymond C. Hand Park this season after being swept by Murray State in OVC play, March 29th-31st. APSU is 4-10 away from the friendly confines in 2014 and has won 3 of its last 4 road contests.
Two-way man Alex Robles (3B/P) ranks sixth among all OVC hitters and second among freshmen with a .352 average; he has a 3-2 record and 3.83 ERA on the mound. Utility man Ridge Smith has reached base safely in 26 consecutive games dating back to February 25th; he ranks 13th among OVC hitters with 27 RBI this season.
Outfielder Cayce Bredlau leads APSU with a .316 batting average and .490 on-base percentage during OVC play. Infielder Garrett Copeland batted .417 (10-for-24) during his 7-game hit streak that ended vs. Memphis, Wednesday.
Shortstop Logan Gray has 8 hits (.615) and 5 RBI in his last 3 games. First baseman Dre Gleason supplied the game-winning RBI in Wednesday’s win vs. Memphis and has 5 hits (.385) and 5 RBI in his last 4 games.
Austin Peay has 91 extra-base hits this season and 32.9 percent of its hits have gone for extras, the second-highest such percentage among OVC teams.
APSU has seen 7 freshmen start at least half of its games this season and 8 have taken an at-bat this year and they have combined to hit .261 (183-for-702) and drive in 114 of the team’s 170 RBI.
The Govs defense has battled inconsistency with 69 errors this season (.946 fielding percentage), but its 5 errorless outings have come in the last 16 games. Head coach Gary McClure is one of 28 active Division I coaches with 800 wins and he is APSU and the OVC’s all-time wins leader.
This season, Austin Peay was picked to finish 2nd in the OVC’s preseason poll behind Tennessee Tech. The Govs did not have a player selected to the preseason All-OVC squad; only senior catcher P.J. Torres returns after receiving All-OVC honors (2nd team) last season.
First Pitch
For the second consecutive week and sixth time this season, Austin Peay will field a different weekend rotation.
Right-hander Alex Robles has been a member of the weekend rotation each week of the campaign and is 3-2 with a 3.91 ERA in his 8 starts. He notched his second road win at Tennessee Tech, last Friday, holding TTU to 4 runs in a season-best 8 innings. Robles is 2-1 with a 3.21 ERA in 4 OVC starts.
Right-hander Jared Carkuff is scheduled to make his first start in 2014 after 14 relief appearances, including a stint as the Govs closer. It will be his first start of any kind since May 14th, 2013 at Memphis and his first career OVC start. He was 0-0 with a 6.55 ERA in 6 starts last season.
Austin Peay will enter the weekend with a Game 3 starter to be announced. It is the second straight weekend the Govs have waited to name a Game 3 starter.
Probable Starting Pitchers
| Date/ Time |
Austin Peay Starter vs. Opponent’s Starter |
| FRI. 6:00pm |
RHP Alex Robles (Fr., 3-2, 3.83 ERA) RHP Tyler Iago (Jr., 4-1, 4.26 ERA) |
| SAT. 2:00pm |
RHP Jared Carkuff (So., 1-2, 4.09 ERA) RHP Ryan Lenaburg (Jr., 3-2, 3.99 ERA) |
| SUN. 1:00pm |
TBA RHP Travis Hayes (Jr., 4-0, 2.15 ERA) |
Inclement Weather
Inclement weather is forecast in the Clarksville area during this weekend’s series. Austin Peay athletics will update this story in a schedule change is necessary. In addition, fans may see updates on the athletics official Twitter feed (@LetsGoPeay) and the baseball team’s official Twitter feed (@APSUBaseball).
Media Center
Radio: WVRY 105.1 FM
Play by Play: Van Stokes
Online Audio: www.LetsGoPeay.com
Live Statistics: www.LetsGoPeay.com
Twitter: @APSUBaseball
