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APSU Softball hits the road to play in Western Kentucky University Hilltopper Spring Fling Tournament

APSU Athletics

APSU SoftballClarksville, TN – With two wins to close the Central Arkansas Tournament, Austin Peay State University’s softball team looks to continue that momentum into this weekend, at the Western Kentucky University Hilltopper Spring Fling Tournament, as they push to get over the .500 mark.

The Governors (3-5) will open-up play in the tournament, 10:00am, Friday morning versus Evansville, followed by a 3:00pm afternoon contest against tournament host Western Kentucky.

Austin Peay Women's Softball plays in the Western Kentucky University Hilltopper Spring Fling Tournament this weekend. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Women’s Softball plays in the Western Kentucky University Hilltopper Spring Fling Tournament this weekend. (APSU Sports Information)

Saturday will see the Govs open play, 10:00am, versus Dayton, with their second game opponent and start time depending on their seed – with the #1 and #4 seeded teams playing at 3:00pm, while the #2 and #3 seeded teams play at 5:30pm.

The tournament concludes on Sunday with a 11:00am consolation game, followed by the championship game at 1:30pm.

Danielle Liermann leads the Govs offense with a .440 batting average, which includes three double and four home runs among her 11 hits this season, while driving in 14.

Kacy Acree, who sat out that weekend’s tournament with the flu, is batting .385 this season, while Natalie Schilling and Bailey Shorter are both hitting at .333 clips.

In the circle, Morgan Rackel and Kelly Mardones top the Govs pitching staff, with Rackel posting a 2-2 record so far, with a 3.11 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched. Mardones is 1-1 this season, with a 3.00 ERA.

Follow the Govs softball team on Austin Peay’s official athletics website Let’sGoPeay.com or on Twitter @AustinPeaySB for any other information, updates and possible schedule changes.

Scouting the Opposition

Dayton

The Flyers are currently 4-6 but have a game at national-ranked Kentucky on Thursday, having gone 2-3 last weekend at the UC-Santa Barbara Gaucho Classic.

Kailee Budicin lead Dayton’s offense with a .353 batting average, while Manda Cash (1-2, 2.07 ERA) tops the Flyers pitching staff.

Evansville

The Purple Aces enter this weekend’s tournament struggling with a 2-11 record, including dropping their last 10 in a row.

Eryn Gould is the only Evansville hitter batting over .300, entering the weekend batting .378. Morgan Florey (1-5, 2.71 ERA) has headed the Purple Aces pitching staff.

Western Kentucky

The Hilltoppers are off to a great start in 2018 having posted an 11-4 mark so far, including going 4-1 at home last weekend in the WKU Hilltopper Classic.

Western Kentucky has been an offensive juggernaut this season, batting .349 as a team and averaging right at 7.5 runs per game.

Topping that offensive charge has been Paige Carter, who is batting .512, with 21 RBIs and 13 runs scored. In the circle, Shelby Nunn has a 7-3 record, with a 2.94 ERA.

Govs Hit-and-Run

This is the third straight season the Govs have played in the WKU Spring Fling Tournament.

The Hilltopper Spring Fling Tournament is the only in-season tournament in 2018 where the Govs won’t have a first-ever meeting versus an opponent.

The game versus Evansville will move the series into the ninth most-played in Austin Peay’s program history (48 games).

This weekend’s tournament is the third of five in-season tournament’s the Govs will play in during the 2018 season.

The Govs ae 3-0 this season in games where they record more hits than their opponents.

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