Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s baseball team has been putting up some impressive numbers the past couple of weeks, as a big showdown with Ohio Valley Conference favorite Southeast Missouri looms this weekend.
The Governors (16-10, 8-4 OVC) enter the week having won seven of their last eight games, averaging 10.8 runs per games, with mid-week matchups at Middle Tennessee on April 5th, followed by a home game versus Western Kentucky on April 6th at Charles C. Hand Park before Southeast Missouri comes to Clarksville for a Friday-Saturday-Sunday (April 8th-10th) OVC series.
But as the week opens big offensive numbers have become the norm for the Governors, with Austin Peay being ranked among the best in several offensive categories in Division I.
The Govs entered this past weekend’s series at Tennessee Tech ranked sixth in the NCAA in batting average (.330), 2nd in slugging percentage (2nd/.554), doubles (1st/2.83 per game), triples (10th/0.52 per game), home runs (5th/1.35 per game) and runs per game (4th/8.8 per game).
But in being able to score all of the runs they do, they must also excel in playing some small-ball too, ranking in the top-third in the nation in walks, sacrifice bunts and overall on-base percentage.
Finally, the Govs have been great at scoring runs with two outs this season, batting .327 with two outs – including 20 doubles, four triples and 14 home runs – driven in 86 runs out of 190 total RBIs; or just over 45 percent of all of their RBIs this season.
And there aren’t many easy outs up and down the Govs line up, with all five players this season (Dre Gleason, Alex Robles, Garrett Copeland, Clayton Smithson, Ridge Smith) with at least 75 at bats hitting .329 or better and five more (Kyle Blackburn, Patrick Massoni, Cayce Bredlau, Logan Gray, Chase Hamilton) with at least 34 at bats hitting .327-or-better.
That offense has been helped, in what has been more than solid pitching, from their weekend starters in Robles (4-2), Michael Costanzo (4-1) and Caleb Powell (3-1), who have not only combined for 11 wins this season, but also a respectable 3.94 ERA, with 76 strikeouts to only 27 walks in 93.2 innings pitched.
So if you’re a fan of Austin Peay baseball, or a baseball fan in general, this weekend’s series with Southeast Missouri looks to be one of the best matchups in the OVC this season.
