APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) baseball team begins a four-game road stretch when it faces Lipscomb in the second game of this season’s home-and-home series in a 3:00pm, Tuesday contest at Ken Dugan Field in Nashville.
The Governors return to the road after posting a 3-2 record during last week’s five-game homestand.
The week included a key Ohio Valley Conference series victory against Belmont that helped the Govs jump into a four-way tie for first place in the league standings.
Lipscomb will wrap up its four-game homestand with Tuesday’s affair. The Bisons also picked up a key conference series win over the weekend, sweeping Kennesaw State to level their ASUN record at 3-3.
In the season’s first meeting between the Govs and Bisons, Austin Peay scored eight runs in its final two innings to come back from a seven-run deficit for the win. Centerfielder Garrett Spain had two hits and four RBI in the win, including his first collegiate home run which provided the game-winning runs.
First Hacks
Fifteen different Governors have started a game in the season’s first 24 games. Only two players have started every game in 2019: center fielder Garrett Spain and utility man Parker Phillips.
Senior catcher David Martinez went 7-for-12 (.583) against Belmont, pushing his season batting average to .393, second best in the OVC. He jumped to 10th among NCAA catchers in batting average and 46th overall.
Center fielder Garrett Spain has reached base in all 26 games as a Governor. His .337 batting average leads all OVC freshmen and is 14th among OVC hitters.
Junior utility man Parker Phillips hit his 40th career home run against Belmont, Sunday, and his nine home runs in 2019 ranks 17th nationally. He also was hit by a pitch for the 45th time in his career. Phillips is APSU’s career leader in home runs and times hit by pitch.
Sophomore Bobby Head extended his hit streak to eight games with a 5-for-11 (.455) performance during the Belmont series. He also had a home run in three straight games during last week’s homestand.
Redshirt senior Garrett Kueber has made 13 consecutive starts at shortstop and coincidentally has a hit in 12 of those 13 games. He has batted .278 (15-for-54) during the streak, primarily as the Govs No. 2 hitter.
Freshman Gino Avros has reached base safely in his last seven games, posting five hits and four walks during the streak. He has scored 14 runs over his last 12 games.
Junior outfielder Malcolm Tipler earned six walks during the Belmont series and has reached base safely in each of his last 12 games.
Sophomore first baseman John McDonald saw a six-game hit streak end against Murray State, Wednesday. He was held to one hit – an RBI single in Game 2 – during the Belmont series.
Senior outfielder Aaron Campbell and junior outfielder Tyler Hubbard have both been late defensive substitutes for the Govs over the past two weeks.
Toeing The Rubber
Right-hander Tyler Thompson has been the Govs midweek starter all season. He is 1-0 with a 5.48 ERA in his five midweek starts with 19 strikeouts in 21.1 innings pitched.
Weekend starters have combined to post a 2.60 ERA this season with 117 strikeouts in 103.2 innings pitched (10.16 K/9) while limiting opponents to a .246 batting average.
APSU Govs vs. Lipscomb Bisons
Austin Peay’s win in the season’s first meeting was its second straight victory in the series. The Govs have not won three straight against the Bisons since a 10-game win streak from 2009-13.
The Govs own a 72-66-1 lead in the all-time series which began in 1931.
