APSU Softball plays UT Martin at Cheryl Holt Field, Sunday

Austin Peay vs. UT Martin

Sunday, April 8th, 2018 | 1:00pm CT
Clarksville, TN | Cheryl Holt Field

Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s softball team will host UT Martin, 1:00pm, Sunday at Cheryl Holt Field, to wrap-up its Ohio Valley Conference home weekend.

The Govs enter the matchup versus the Skyhawks with a 22-11 overall record, including a 6-2 mark in OVC play, after splitting a doubleheader with Southeast Missouri on Friday, while Tennessee Martin has authored a 17-20 record, including a 2-4 record in OVC play after dropping a pair of games to SIU Edwardsville on March 30th.

The series versus the Skyhawks is the most-played series in Govs history, with Sunday’s games being the 110th and 111th all-time in the series dating back to their first meeting back on March 5th, 1986 in Martin, Tennessee. The Govs trail in the all-time series 76-33.

Leading the Govs offense attack is junior third baseman — and current Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week — Danielle Liermann, who is hitting at a .388 clip this season, including a team- and OVC-high 14 home runs, to go along with 38 RBIs.

Freshman outfielder Bailey Shorter and junior pitcher/outfielder Morgan Rackel are the other current Govs hitting over .300 on the season with Shorter coming in at .337 — which includes six doubles and two home runs – while Rackel is batting .304, with five doubles, five home runs and 19 RBIs.

Junior outfielders Natalie Schilling (.298, 31 R, 24 SB) and Kacy Acree (.297, 5 HR, 20 RBI) comes in hitting just under the .300 mark this season.

In the circle, the Govs have three pitchers that have posted winning records this spring, led by Rackel’s 11-5 mark, which includes a 1.97 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 103 innings of work. She has also recorded two saves.

Junior Kelly Mardones has posted a 7-3 mark this season, with a 2.02 ERA and 22 k’s in 69.1 innings, while sophomore Kelsey Gross rounds out the trio, coming in at 4-3, with two saves and a 3.79 ERA and 26 k’s in 40.2 innings pitched.

Follow the Govs softball team on Austin Peay’s official athletics website Let’sGoPeay.com or on Twitter @AustinPeaySB for more information or updates.

About the UT Martin Skyhawks

Offensively, UT Martin is batting .265 as a team, with two players hitting over .300, led by Jodie Duncan’s .330 batting average followed by Aeron Smith, who comes in batting .315. Alli Fulcher comes in just under the .300 mark at .296 but leads the team with five home runs and 20 RBIs.

In the circle, the Skyhawks have two primary pitchers that they’ve used this season, led by Caitlin Karo who enters with a 10-7 record, a 2.14 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 108 innings pitched, while Hannah Ridolfi is 7-10, with a 2.45 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 111.1 innings of work.

Govs Hit-and-Run

The Austin Peay-Tennessee Martin doubleheader pits the two-top base-stealing teams in the OVC, with the Skyhawks having 82 stolen bases in 100 attempts, while the Govs have 60 stolen bases in 71 attempts.

With Danielle Liermann hitting her 30th career home run versus Southeast Missouri and Carly Mattson her 20th, it marks just the second time in the program’s history that the Govs have two players with at least 20 career home runs at the same time.

Austin Peay and UT Martin are two of the three OVC teams (Southeast Missouri) to had drawn at least 100 walks this season.

Austin Peay leads all OVC teams with nine home runs in conference play.

Govs pitchers have walked 42 hitters this season, the fewest of any OVC team.