Austin Peay Sports Information
Jackson, TN – Junior utility man Logan Gray led a group of four Austin Peay State University baseball players named to the 2016 All-Ohio Valley Conference teams and recognized during Tuesday’s banquet preceding the OVC Baseball Championship.
Gray was the only Governors player to receive first-team recognition in a vote of league’s baseball coaches and sports information directors. Junior right fielder Chase Hamilton, junior starting pitcher Alex Robles and senior relief pitcher Jared Carkuff were each named to the league’s second team.
The junior also had 13 doubles, 36 RBI and was walked 23 times to finish the year with .711 slugging and .446 on-base percentages.
It is the third consecutive season an Austin Peay player has been named to the league’s first team at the utility spot. Junior Ridge Smith received recognition there in 2014 followed by junior Alex Robles, last season.
Hamilton, from Arlington, TN, received his first-ever postseason honor after enjoying his finest season in a Governors uniform. The junior ranked sixth among league hitters with a .641 slugging percentage thanks to 12 home runs (seventh-most in OVC). Hamilton’s .335 batting average was 20th best in the league. He also had 13 doubles and 42 RBI. Hamilton posted a .369 batting average in league play that was 13th best and his nine OVC home runs were third.
Robles, from Tucson, Arizona, was a second-team selection as a starting pitcher after earning first-team nods in his first two seasons at Austin Peay. The junior was one of only two pitchers to record both seven OVC wins and nine overall victories in 2016 – joining Southeast Missouri’s Joey Lucceshi, the league’s Pitcher of the Year. He finished 10th among league pitchers in earned-run average (4.52) and opponent’s batting average (.268) while his 78 strikeouts were seventh most.
Carkuff, of Bell Buckle, TN, also received his first-ever postseason honor after moving into the Governors closer’s role in 2016. He finished the regular-season leading the league in appearances (29) and games finished (22). The four-year senior posted a 5-1record, six saves and a 3.95 ERA during the regular season – ranking third in saves, seventh in ERA and 13th in wins while his .237 opponent’s batting average was fourth among OVC hurlers.
