Clarksville, TN – The final weekend before the start of Ohio Valley Conference play will see the Austin Peay State University baseball team travel to face Jacksonville in a three-game series, Friday-Sunday, at John Sessions Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.
The weekend set is the return trip of a home-and-home series that saw the Govs host the Dolphins in 2019. APSU won the three-game set played last May in Clarksville.
Austin Peay State University has shown bursts of its potential during the season’s first two weeks. The Govs offense is averaging 7.0 runs per game and boasts a .386 on-base percentage – both best in the OVC. Meanwhile, APSU’s pitching staff is still looking to find its footing after the graduation of its entire starting rotation, setup man and closer from 2020.
Jacksonville is off to a slow start as well, dropping weekend series to West Virginia and Southeastern Louisiana. The Dolphins will enter the weekend fresh off their third win of the season, an 8-3 victory at Bethune-Cookman, Wednesday night. The JU pitching staff has been an early strength, boasting a 3.84 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 79.2 innings (10.56 K/9).
| 5 p.m., Fri., Feb. 28 | 1 p.m., Sat., Feb. 29 | Noon, Sun., March 1 |
| PROJECTED STARTERS APSU: Harley Gollert (LHP | 0-0, 5.40 ERA, 9.90 K/9) JU: Trent Palmer (RHP | 0-1, 1.64 ERA, 13.09 K/9)Gollert went 6 innings in his 2nd start of 2020 against Samford, striking out a career-high 8 batters. He allowed 4 runs on 9 hits and walked only the leadoff batter of the game, but did not receive any run support in the Govs shutout loss. |
PROJECTED STARTERS APSU: Hayden Josephson (RHP | 0-1, 7.94 ERA, 6.35 K/9) JU: Tyler Santana (RHP | 0-1, 5.40 ERA, 10.80 K/9)Josephson tossed a scoreless 1st inning in a spot start at WKU, Tuesday. It followed a rough start against Bradley, Feb. 22, where he was unable to escape the 1st inning, allowing 6 hits and a walk to the 10 batters he faced. |
PROJECTED STARTERS APSU: To Be AnnouncedJU: Austin Temple (RHP | 1-1, 1.50 ERA, 10.50 K/9)Austin Peay has not named a starter for Sunday’s series finale at Jacksonville. Senior RHP Tyler Thompson was APSU’s Sunday starter in each of the past two weekends. |
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First Hacks
Transfer freshman Skyler Luna posted his second 3 RBI outing of 2020 at Western Kentucky, Tuesday. He has 10 RBI this season – one of four OVC hitters with double-digit RBI.
Sophomore third baseman Gino Avros extended his reached safely streak to 22 games with a single at Western Kentucky, Tuesday. He has a hit in 7 of this season’s 8 games and a walk in 4 games.
Junior transfer catcher Alex Hay’s enjoyed his first multi-hit game – a 3-for-4, 3 RBI effort – against Evansville, Sunday, and is one of five Govs regulars batting over .300 after 8 games.
Junior shortstop Bobby Head went 1-for-2 and scored 3 times and leads the Govs with a .379 batting average. He also leads the Govs with 9 runs scored after back-to-back 3-run outings. Among OVC hitters he is ranked among the Top 10 in average, slugging (9th, .586) and on-base percentage (4th, .471).
Senior second baseman/outfielder Malcolm Tipler is 5-for-9 in his last two games, including a 2-for-4 outing at the plate against WKU, Tuesday. He is ranked 10th among OVC hitters in average and 6th in on-base percentage (.457).
Sophomore center fielder Garrett Spain has a hit in back-to-back games for the first time this season after going 1-for-3 at WKU, Tuesday. He hit his season’s first home run against Evansville, Sunday.
Sophomore Matt Joslin snapped a season-opening 3-game hitless streak with a double against Bradley, Saturday, before turning in 2 hits and 2 RBI against Evansville, Sunday.
Freshman Reid Brown has started 5 of the season’s first 7 games (3 DH/2 1B). He has a hit in 4 of his first 8 games played and has scored in each of his last 4 times reaching base (3 BB, 1 H).
Senior Max Remy has started the last 2 games at second base. Remy went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI in his first start against Evansville, Sunday, and reached base in 1 of his 3 plate appearances at WKU, Tuesday.
Off the bench, Austin Peay pinch hitters are batting .333 (4-for-12) a home run (senior Tyler Hubbard) and two RBI.
Out Of The Bullpen
Setup: Tucker Weaver (LHP | 2-0, 0 SV, 0.00 ERA, 4.50 K/9)
Weaver has appeared in each of the Govs last 3 games, accumulating 4.1 innings, allowing 2 hits and striking out 2 batters. He tossed 2 scoreless innings against Western Kentucky, Tuesday.
Closer: Austin Carder (RHP | 0-0, 1 SV, 3.00 ERA, 15.00 K/9)
Carder has finished the game in each of his 3 appearances this season. He allowed his first runs of 2020 at WKU, Tuesday, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits in 1 inning of work.
