Austin Peay State University Lady Govs Softball hosts Belmont, Tennessee State

Austin Peay Sports Information

Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s softball team will play host to Ohio Valley Conference opponents Belmont and Tennessee State this weekend for a pair of conference doubleheaders at Cheryl Holt Field.

The Govs (5-22, 1-9 OVC) will open play, noon, Saturday, versus the Bruins (12-23, 5-5 OVC), with the Tigers (7-30, 0-10 OVC) coming in Sunday, also a scheduled noon first pitch.

Both Austin Peay and Tennessee State come into the weekend undergoing struggles the past few weeks, with the Govs losers of nine straight games, while Tennessee State has dropped its last 15 heading into its home Saturday doubleheader versus Murray State.

Belmont, on the over hand, enters a little bit of a roll, having won five or its last six games that included a three-game sweep of defending OVC Tournament champion Tennessee Tech last weekend.

Both doubleheaders will continue two of the most-played series in Austin Peay history, with the Govs and Bruins having played 43 times, dating back to March 22nd, 1998, and the Tigers having played 67 times since March 5th, 1986. Austin Peay leads the all-time Belmont series 22-19-2 and the Tennessee State series 41-26.

A trio of freshmen leads the Govs offensive attack through the first 27 games this season, with redshirt freshman Kacy Acree and Danielle Liermann both hitting at a .368 clip, while Kendall Vedder is hitting .311, with five doubles and 10 RBI.

Acree also leads the team in runs scored (22), doubles (8), triples (2), home runs (3) and walks (9). Meanwhile, Liermann leads the team in hits (35), home runs (3) and RBIs (22).

In the circle, juniors Autumn Hanners and Allie Blackwood have picked up wins for the Govs pitching staff this season, with Hanners coming in with an 3-10 record, a 3.05 ERA and team-best 48 strikeouts in 66.2 innings of work. Blackwood is 2-0 overall, with a 5.12 ERA and 11 Ks in 13.2 innings so far this spring.