Richmond, KY – Designated hitter Ty DeLancey hit a pair of home runs for the second time this season and the Austin Peay State University (APSU) baseball team eased to a 15-9 Ohio Valley Conference series-opening victory against Eastern Kentucky, Friday night, at Earle Combs Stadium.
Austin Peay (8-15, 5-5 OVC) scored a season-high 15 runs, but it took a four-run fourth inning and another solid relief outing by Harley Gollert to bring the game under its control.
After Eastern Kentucky scored seven runs in the first three innings, Gollert held the Colonels scoreless for five consecutive innings, long enough for APSU to wrest away the momentum.
The Govs four-run fourth got jump-started by center fielder Garrett Spain’s triple down the right-field line, allowing second baseman Malcolm Tipler to score. Shortstop Bobby Head then drove in Spain with a single to shallow right field. Then DeLancey followed with his second home run of the day, the two-run blast giving the Govs an 8-7 lead.
Tipler would add two more runs to the APSU Govs tally with a double in the fifth inning, extending the lead to 10-7. Austin Peay broke the game open in the seventh, scoring four times without using a base hit driving in a run.
Eastern Kentucky (8-16, 3-7 OVC) lost its sixth straight despite an impressive start that saw it lead 3-0 after one and 7-4 after three. Left fielder Caleb Upshaw had a two-run home run in the first inning. In the third, Right fielder Kendal Ewell hit a single to center field that eluded the Govs defense, leading to three runs. However, the Colonels used six pitchers in the game, four of them surrendering runs.
Gollert (2-3) entered the game in the fourth inning and for a second consecutive outing shutdown the opposing team’s bats. He held EKU scoreless through five innings and only a two-run home run in the ninth marred his six-inning outing, which saw him strike out eight batters and scatter five hits.
DeLancey went 3-for-6 with four RBI, with home runs in the first and fourth innings. Spain went 2-for-4 with four RBI, including a home run and a triple. Tipler had three RBI as part of his 1-for-3 outing that also saw him score three times.
Ewell, Upshaw and pinch hitter Manny Jackson each had home runs for their lone hits to lead the EKU offense. Reliever Jacob Abbott (1-1) suffered the loss after allowing six runs on six hits in two innings of relief for starter Louis Davenport, who was lifted after 2.2 innings.
Box Score
Austin Peay 15, Eastern Kentucky 9
| R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 15 | 2 | |
| 9 | 13 | 0 |
W: GOLLERT, Harley (2-3) L: ABBOTT, Jacob (1-1)
Austin Peay State University and Eastern Kentucky continue their three-game OVC series with an 11:00am CT, Saturday doubleheader at Earle Combs Stadium.
