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HomeSportsAPSU Baseball travels to Murfreesboro to take on Middle Tennessee

APSU Baseball travels to Murfreesboro to take on Middle Tennessee

APSU Sports Information

APSU BaseballClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s baseball team brings a four-game road trip to an end when it meets Middle Tennessee for a 6:00pm, Tuesday contest in Murfreesboro Tennessee.

Tuesday’s contest is the second game of a home-and-home series between the two Tennessee-based squads.

Austin Peay Baseball plays Tuesday game against Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro. First pitch is at 6:00pm. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Baseball plays Tuesday game against Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro. First pitch is at 6:00pm. (APSU Sports Information)

The Blue Raiders handed the Governors a 9-0 loss in Clarksville, March 13th.

Austin Peay returns to action after winning an Ohio Valley Conference series at Morehead State last weekend. The Governors became the first OVC team since 2013 to win a series at Morehead. Austin Peay will look to continue a recent hot streak that has seen it win five of seven while averaging 11.3 runs per game.

Middle Tennessee returns home after dropping a three-game Conference USA series at nationally-ranked Southern Miss last weekend. The Blue Raiders are 11-11-1 at home this season, including a 2-1-1 record during their last homestand.

First Hacks

Austin Peay is ranked No. 79 in the NCAA’s April 19th RPI rankings. The Govs have recorded six or more walks 18 times this season and they rank 11th nationally with 219 base on balls (5.48 per game). Austin Peay also is ranked among the nation’s Top 20 in both doubles per game (2.35, 6th) and scoring (7.6 runs per game, 12th) entering the week.

First baseman Parker Phillips has enjoyed the arrival of April, batting .486 with seven home runs and 20 RBI in 10 games during the month; he has vaulted into the Division I ranking in homers (29th, 11) and RBI (25th, 45). Second baseman Garrett Giovannelli batted .600 (9-15) with four doubles during the Morehead State series and also made a big move in the Division I rankings in both total doubles (5th, 18) and batting average (54th, .377).

Shortstop Garrett Kueber is batting .418 (21-51) with 15 RBI in his last 14 games with an at-bat, opening with back-to-back four-hit outings on March 18th and 2th, but has missed the last five games due to injury. Infielder Bobby Head made all three starts at shortstop during the Morehead State series and now has started and reached base in each of the Govs last six games.

Third baseman Malcolm Tipler became the regular third baseman in the Govs OVC opener at Jacksonville State, March 9th, and is batting .290 (31-107) with a team-best 27 runs scored in the 27 games since. Center fielder Imani Willis has batted .360 (9-25) with 11 RBI in the Govs last seven games, including five extra base hits (two homers).

Left fielder Kyle Wilson owns a four-game hit streak entering the midweek, batting .389 (7-18) with four RBI, two doubles and a home run during the streak. Right fielder Nick Walker had a home run in each game of the Morehead State series, finishing the weekend batting .357 (5-14) with three homers and seven RBI.

Catchers David Martinez and Alex Sala have split starts behind the plate since March 6th, Martinez and Sala each making 13 starts while Phillips has three starts in that 29-game span; they have combined to hit .250 with five home runs (three by Sala, two by Martinez) and 20 RBI in starts at catcher.

The 2018 Govs offense is a collectively young group with only 15 years of Division I experience between the 20 available position players entering the season. Since the start of OVC play 16 different Govs hitters have started a game and only Tipler has started each of the 27 games since the March 9 OVC opener and only Tipler and Willis have played all 27.

Toeing The Rubber

Lefty Josh Rye is scheduled to make his fourth start this season. While he has not posted a win in his first three starts, he has held opponents to a .278 batting average over his 8.2 innings of work as a starter. Govs pitchers have 307 strikeouts in 349 innings (7.92 K/9) this season after amassing a record-tying 466 strikeouts (8.07 K/9) last season.

On Deck

Austin Peay returns home to host a four-game homestand, its longest since mid-March, which begins with a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series against UT Martin, Friday-Sunday. The Govs have won five of their six OVC series this season, including four straight series victories.

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