Clarksville, TN – As the 2022 regular season winds down, the Austin Peay State University (APSU) baseball team will host Western Kentucky in a Tuesday 6:00pm contest on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park in the season’s final nonconference tilt.
Both the Governors and Hilltoppers enter the midweek outing after picking up conference series victories, last weekend. Austin Peay State University won its first series in nearly a month as it defeated Murray State, 2-1.
Shortstop John Bolton made the most of the weekend series against Murray State, batting .556 with three doubles, three RBI, and three stolen bases. Center fielder TJ Foreman continued his last season push with four hits, a double, and four RBI against Murray State.
Left fielder Matthew Meyer paced WKU’s offense against UAB with two hits in each game of the series to finish the weekend batting .545 with a home run and five RBI. Second baseman Tristan Garcia batted .385 with two doubles during the weekend.
New To The Hand
Austin Peay State University’s athletics department made two major changes to improve the fan experience this spring at Raymond C. Hand Park. First, new netting was installed that extends from dugout to dugout and is 30 feet high to protect the seating area and hillsides behind both dugouts. Fans are reminded foul balls may still enter the seating area but the new netting should provide a safer experience.
In addition, new chairback seating was installed behind home plate. The new reserved seating area provides additional seating space for fans along with cup holders for their ice-cold Coca-Cola products.
Ticket Information
Single-game tickets are still available for remaining 13 games on the home slate. Fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets in advance by visiting LetsGoPeay.com/BuyTickets or by calling the APSU Athletics Ticket Office at 931.221.PEAY (7329). The ticket window at Raymond C. Hand Park opens one hour prior to first pitch each day.
Through The Lineup
After maintaining a break-neck pace over the first 32 games, Austin Peay State University catcher Jack Alexander has seen his pace slow over the past 15 outings. He ended April 9th batting .417 after a 3-for-5, 4 RBI outing at UT Martin. Since then, he has 12 hits in 15 games.
John McDonald returned to the lineup on April 15th and batted .450 (9-20) in his first seven games, pushing his average to .333 – a 45-point improvement. He also is battling through a rough spot with 3 hits in his last 7 games.
Ty DeLancey saw his an 12-game hit streak – tied for longest by an APSU Gov this season – end in Game 2 at Toledo. He is batting .318 (21-66) with 20 RBI in 17 games since April 9th, including a team-best 6 RBI during the Toledo set. After starting at third base in the Toledo series finale, he started at second base in all three games of the Murray State set.
Beginning with his 4-for-4 outing against Eastern Kentucky on March 13th, utility man Gino Avros is batting .346 (45-130) with 23 RBI and 15 doubles – taking the team lead in doubles (22).
Shortstop John Bolton has a hit in 20 of the 26 games since the start of OVC play, including 10 multi-hit outings. He is batting .330 (30-91) with 11 doubles, and 10 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.
Outfielder TJ Foreman has a hit in 13 of the 14 games since his return to the lineup, on April 15th. He is batting .460 (23-50) with 4 doubles, a triple, a home run, and 15 runs scored since his return.
Outfielder Jeremy Wagner started all three games in right field against Murray State – his first starts since the UT Martin series (May 8th-10th).
Post Season Talk
Austin Peay State University clinched a spot in the eight-team 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship with its Friday victory against Murray State.
The Govs enter the weekend tied for fifth with SIUE and would be the No. 6 seed in the tournament due to losing the series against the Cougars.
With six games remaining, Austin Peay State University is just one game behind co-third place holders Eastern Illinois and Morehead State. EIU has to face co-leaders Belmont and Southeast Missouri in its final two weekends.
Morehead State has SIU Edwardsville and Austin Peay State University in its final two weekends.
Follow The APSU Govs
Tuesday’s game is available at PeayStats.com for live scoring through the series or get important game updates on Twitter by following @GovsBSB.
