Austin Peay (16-18, 8-10 OVC) at Lipscomb (17-17, 3-6 ASUN)
Tuesday, April 18th, 2017 | 6:00pm CT
Nashville, TN | Dugan Field
Clarksville, TN – The season’s second five-game road trip comes to an end when Austin Peay State University’s baseball team hits the road for a pair of midweek contests. The Govs first travel to Lipscomb for a 6:00pm, Tuesday contest before heading back into the Bluegrass State for a 5:00pm, Wednesday matchup with Western Kentucky.
Series Notes
The Govs series with Lipscomb is one of its oldest, dating back to 1931, with this week’s contest the 135th meeting all time. The home team has won the last four meetings in the series, Lipscomb claiming an 8-7 victory at Dugan Field last May. Austin Peay and Western Kentucky will meet for the 156th time, Wednesday, in a series that dates back to 1933.
The Govs won the last meeting, 16-2, on March 22 to end the Hilltoppers four-game win streak in the series. WKU has won 10 of the last 13 meetings dating back to 2009.
Probable Starters
APSU: LHP John Sparks (1-1, 12.00 ERA)
LU: RHP Adam Stewart (1-2, 7.77 ERA)
APSU: RHP Tyler Thompson (0-1, 14.29 ERA)
WKU: TBA
First Hacks
Senior first baseman Dre Gleason became the first Governors player named to the Golden Spikes Award Watch List, and followed up that announcement with four hits and four RBI during the Eastern Kentucky series. Junior left fielder Cayce Bredlau had a hit in each game of the Eastern Kentucky series (4-for-13) but suffered an upper-body injury in Saturday’s finale and is day-to-day.
Junior second baseman Garrett Giovannelli is batting an impressive .522 (12-for-23) during his six-game hit streak that also has seen him amass eight walks (.645 on-base percentage). Senior right fielder Chase Hamilton is batting .391 (9-for-23) during his own five-game hit streak which includes three home runs.
Sophomore catcher David Martinez has reached base safely in each of his seven starts in April and has posted a .379 on-base percentage (5 hits, 6 walks) during the month. Redshirt freshman designated hitter/catcher Parker Phillips has a hit in four of his six games since returning from injury.
Redshirt freshman infielder Max Remy did not have a hit in Saturday’s finale at EKU but walked with the bases loaded and scored twice. Senior third baseman Alex Robles had two home runs during the Eastern Kentucky series and now has a career-high seven home runs in 2017. Freshman designated hitter Malcolm Tipler had six RBI in his 2-for-5 outing against Eastern Kentucky, Saturday, including a three-run home run.
Sophomore Imani Willis had a double and home run in his 2-for-3, two-walk outing at Eastern Kentucky, Saturday. Junior shortstop Kyle Wilson had a hit in each of the first two games at Eastern Kentucky.
Power Performance
With six homers during the Eastern Kentucky series, the Govs maintained their No. 5 ranking in home runs per game (1.59) among Division I teams.
Freshman Tyler Hubbard became the 13th different Govs batter to hit a home run in 2017, breaking the program record for most players with a home run in a season. Austin Peay’s 54 home runs ranks 10th on the team single-season record list with 14 regular-season games remaining. The Govs record pace is 1.25 home runs per game set in 1999 (70 HR/56 GP). APSU hit a Raymond C. Hand Park record six home runs against Tennessee Tech, March 25.
Toeing The Rubber
Junior left-hander John Sparks will make his first start of 2017, Tuesday, at Lipscomb. He made five starts last season, posting a 1-2 record with the win coming against Lipscomb in Clarksville.
Freshman right-hander Tyler Thompson is penciled in to make his first collegiate start in Wednesday’s contest at Western Kentucky. He has made eight relief appearances this season, striking out 11 batters in 11.1 innings.
APSU pitchers continue to record strikeouts, racking up 286 Ks through 307.1 innings this season. Their 8.38 strikeouts per nine innings would break the program record and ranks 73rd nationally.
Up Next for APSU Baseball
The Govs return home for a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series against Morehead State. Austin Peay enters the weekend seventh in the league standings but are just three games behind the second-place Eagles.
Follow APSU Baseball
For additional coverage of Austin Peay’s baseball team, follow the Govs on Twitter @AustinPeayBSB. Austin Peay’s athletics department also maintains several social media accounts @LetsGoPeay (Twitter), /LetsGoPeay (Facebook) and /LetsGoPeay (Instagram).