Toledo, OH – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) continues its four-game northern road trip when it meets Toledo in a three-game nonconference series at Toledo. The series begins with a Friday 2:00pm CT contest before the Govs and Rockets meet Saturday and Sunday for noon games.
The APSU Govs split their first two games under interim head coach Trevor Fitts, winning a home tilt against North Alabama, Tuesday, before falling at Bellarmine, Wednesday. Austin Peay State University is 3-3 against Mid-American Conference teams this season, sweeping Bowling Green in Week 2 and suffering a sweep by Kent State the next weekend.
Austin Peay State University is one of eight programs in Division I with 100 or more doubles this season and it is their first 100 double campaign since 2018. Utility man Gino Avros and his 20 doubles leads a group of six Governors hitters with double-digit doubles entering the regular-season’s final month.
Toledo has leaned on a pitching staff that boasts a 4.83 ERA that is 89th among Division I teams and a 3.67 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) that is 52nd in the nation. At the plate, first baseman Mason Sykes has 11 home runs to lead a group that has 42 homers this season.
Follow The Govs
Austin Peay State University fans wishing to follow along with may visit PeayStats.com for live scoring through the series or get important game updates on Twitter by following @GovsBSB.
Toeing The Rubber
GAME 1 | RHP Tyler Delong vs. RHP Kyle Jones
Delong will get the Game 1 nod for the sixth consecutive week, entering this week with a 1-2 record with an 8.34 ERA as a starter. He posted a quality start at UT Martin (4/8) and followed that by holding Eastern Illinois to three runs in 4.2 innings. Jones leads the MAC with 64.2 innings pitched and 81 strikeouts with his 3.90 ERA fifth among MAC pitchers. He snapped a three-game decision-less streak with a win and quality start against Eastern Michigan last week.
GAME 2 | LHP Harley Gollert vs. RHP Jordan Power
Gollert is looking to bounce back after suffering his shortest outing since the opening week at SIUE last weekend (4.2 IP). He ranks second in the OVC with 57.2 innings pitched and 59 strikeouts. Power is 10th among MAC pitchers with 50.2 innings pitched and seventh with his 4.62 ERA. He has wins in two of his last three outings (Ohio and Eastern Michigan), going just 5.0 innings in both those wins.
GAME 3 | RHP Drew McIllwain vs. RHP Camryn Szynski
McIllwain also is looking for a bounce-back performance after suffering the shortest start of his career at SIUE last weekend. The week prior he posted a win against Eastern Illinois, holding the then OVC leaders to four runs over 6.2 innings while striking out eight. Szynski moved into a starting role to begin April and notched a win in his first start against Ball State. He is winless in his last three starts, but Toledo is 3-1 in his four starts this season.
Through The Lineup
The Austin Peay State University offense is on a tear over the past 11 games, posting a .356 batting average (148-416) and averaging 9.7 runs per game (107 runs). They have posted double-digit hit totals in all 11 games.
APSU catcher Jack Alexander saw his reached-safely streak end at 35 games, on April 23rd at SIU Edwardsville, which is tied for sixth-longest in program history. He bounced back with a 1-for-4 outing against North Alabama, Tuesday, before getting his first day off of 2022, Wednesday at Bellarmine.
Ty DeLancey took over at first base when McDonald suffered his injury on March 9th. He brings an 11-game hit streak into the weekend that has him batting .356 (16-45) with 11 RBI and 14 runs scored.
Beginning with his 4-for-4 outing against Eastern Kentucky, on March 13th, utility man Gino Avros is batting .374 (40-107) with 20 RBI and 13 doubles – taking the team lead in doubles (20). He made his 1st career start at second against Southern Illinois, on April 19th, the 6th different position he has played in his career.
Shortstop John Bolton has a hit in 16 of the 20 games since the start of OVC play, including 8 multi-hit outings. He is batting .338 (24-71) with 8 doubles, and 7 RBI in that span.
Third baseman Michael Robinson went 3-for-5 with 7 RBI in Game 2 of the SIUE series, the first 7-RBI outing by a Governor since Parker Phillips had 7 RBI against Eastern Kentucky during the 2018 season.
Right fielder Harrison Brown notched his first career 4-hit day in the SIUE series finale, going 4-for-4 with 4 RBI. It was his fifth multi-hit day in April. He has 23 hits in 16 games during the month, batting .390 (59 AB) with 3 home runs.
Since April 15th, center fielder Skyler Luna has a hit in 6 of 8 games and is batting .360 (9-25) with 5 runs scored during the month’s second half.
Right fielder TJ Foreman has a hit in all 8 games since his return to the lineup, on April 15th. He is batting .520 (13-25) with 2 doubles, a triple, a home run, and 8 runs scored since his return.
Catcher Tyler Cotto was the Govs “Most Interesting Man” during the two-midweek games. He made his pitching debut against North Alabama and picked up the win, Tuesday. Cotto then put back on the catching gear at Bellarmine and was 2-for-5 with 2 RBI and caught a runner stealing.
