Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s athletic school year is winding down, but there is still plenty on the line this coming week, with the Governors baseball team heading to the Ohio Valley Conference baseball Championship Tournament, while APSU pole vaulter Savannah Amato and sprinter Tymeitha Tolbert head to the NCAA East Preliminary Meet.
Opening the week will be the Governors baseball team (30-25, 17-13 OVC), who will be the OVC Tournament’s fifth-seed, and will open play, 9:00am, Wednesday at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, AL, versus the Jacksonville State Gamecocks (30-23, 18-12 OVC), the tournament’s fourth-seed.
The two teams enter the tournament heading in opposite directions as the regular season ended, with the Govs riding a five-game losing streak – the longest of the season for Austin Peay – while the Gamecocks are carrying a four-game win streak into the postseason.
The two teams played back on March 9th-11th, in the OVC’s opening weekend at Jacksonville State, with the Govs taking two-of-three games in the weekend series.
Overall, this is the third straight year the Govs have made the tournament under coach Travis Janssen and the 26th time overall Austin Peay has appeared in the tournament – taking home the tournament championship six times overall.
The tournament’s championship game is scheduled for 4:00pm Saturday, with a second-championship on Sunday – if needed – scheduled for a noon start.
While the Govs baseball team will be battling it out on a baseball diamond in Alabama for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, Amato and Tolbert will be in Tampa, FL for the NCAA East Preliminary Meet, needing to finish in the Top-12 in their respective events to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Eugene, OR on June 6th-10th.
Tolbert, a sophomore, will be making her first trip to the East Preliminary Meet by earning her spot in the field with a time of 11.51 in the 100-meter dash at the APSU Invitational on April 13th at Fortera Stadium.
The time was not only the school record for the event but ranked her as the 43rd overall qualifier and ninth overall among sophomores.
Tolbert will run her opening round preliminary in the event at 5:55pm (CT), Thursday, May 24th and if she advances, the quarterfinal will be at 5:15pm (CT), Friday, May 25th.
For Amato, a junior, this will be her third trip to the East Preliminary Meet in the pole vault – becoming the fifth Governors to be a three-time regional qualifier under APSU head coach Doug Molnar, joining former Govs Breigh Jones, Kaylnn Pitts, Sherlonda Johnson and Carrie Burggraf.
Amato, who has won the last five gold medals in the OVC Indoor and Outdoor Championships in the pole vault, qualified with a height of 4.17 meters at the Hilltopper Relays on April 6th. The height was a school record and secured her spot in the East Preliminary Meet as the 16th-best height in the region and 33rd overall in the nation. She is scheduled to compete beginning 3:30pm (CT), Friday, March 25th.
