Jacksonville, FL – Right fielder John Bay hammered a 2-0 pitch deep into the Jacksonville night for a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning, catapulting the Austin Peay State University (APSU) baseball team to a 9-3 ASUN Conference victory at Jacksonville, Saturday night at John Sessions Stadium.
Austin Peay State University (21-19, 12-5 ASUN) is tied for first place in the ASUN baseball standings. The Govs ended the night tied with Florida Gulf Coast and Lipscomb at 12-5 in league play with 13 games remaining in the regular-season conference slate.
However, things did not look good for the Governors through six innings. Jacksonville starting pitcher Dakota Stone stonewalled Austin Peay State University, allowing one hit and a walk while striking out eight batters through six scoreless innings.
Stone started to wear down in the seventh after a ground out to start the inning he hit Austin Peay State University first baseman Harrison Brown, who had to leave the game for precautionary reasons. Stone then allowed back-to-back walks to second baseman Jayden Brown and third baseman Ambren Voitik, loading the bases before leaving the game.
Bay needed three pitches to greet reliever Blake Barquin with a 423-foot grand slam, his first home run for APSU, to left-center field, giving APSU a 4-3 lead. Catcher Gus Freeman followed with a double and left fielder Clayton Gray reached on catcher’s interference. Designated hitter Lyle Miller-Green cleared the bases with his 375-foot home run to right-center field, extending the APSU lead to 7-3.
That was enough for the Austin Peay Sate University bullpen. Reliever Kyle Magrans faced three batters in the bottom of the seventh, walking a batter, as part of his 2.0-inning outing. Campbell Holt took over and recorded the final out in the seventh before closing the game with scoreless eighth and ninth innings.
Magrans (3-1) notched the win with 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out a batter. APSU Govs starter Lyle Miller-Green went 4.2 innings and allowed three runs on five hits and four walks.
Miller-Green led the APSU Govs at the plate with a 2-for-5, three-RBI outing. Bay was 1-for-4 with four RBI. Center fielder Garrett Martin and replacement first baseman Conner Gore had an RBI in the ninth inning.
Jacksonville (24-16, 9-8 ASUN) saw an early 3-0 lead go for naught. Designated hitter Josh Steikdl had an RBI single as part of the two-run second inning and was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Third baseman Kris Armstrong hit his 20th home run of the season to lead off the third inning.
Barquin (2-3) suffered the loss after facing four batters and not recording an out in the seventh inning, allowing four runs on three hits. Stone finished the night with 6.1 innings pitched and allowed three runs on one hit and three walks while striking out eight batters.
Next Up For APSU Baseball
The Austin Peay State University baseball team and Jacksonville close their three-game ASUN series with a Sunday 1:00pm game at Sessions Stadium.