Edinburg, TX – Center fielder Clayton Gray and designated hitter Lyle Miller-Green had three hits and four RBI each, leading the Austin Peay State University (APSU) baseball team to an 8-3 victory at UT Rio Grande Valley, Sunday at UTGRV Baseball Stadium.
Austin Peay (10-2) won the three-game set against UTRGV, 2-1, and claimed its first-ever series in the state of Texas. In addition, the APSU Govs tie their best 12-game start to a season, matching both the 1958 and 2013 teams.
UTRGV (6-4) scored the game’s first runs, with first baseman Martin Vazquez hitting a two-run home run to left field in the first inning. The Vaqueros maintained that 2-0 lead through three innings behind starter Zach Tjelmeland (1-1), who held the Govs scoreless through the first three innings while striking out five batters.
The Governors started to solve Tjelmeland in the fourth inning. Center fielder John Bay opened the inning with a single and later advanced on a balk. Tjelmeland got the second out with Bay on second base but could not close the inning. Govs’ second baseman Ambren Voitik singled, and catcher Gus Freeman earned a walk to load the bases and turn the order over.
Gray dealt the game-tying blow with a two-run double into the left-center gap. In the next at-bat, Miller-Green broke that tie with a double down the right-field line to drive in two runs and give Austin Peay State University a 4-2 lead.
After splitting the fourth inning between two pitchers, Austin Peay State University brought Miller-Green (3-0) to the mound to start the fifth inning. His outing started off with a walk and a single, and he ultimately surrendered a run on a wild pitch in that fifth inning. Miller-Green quickly got that run back with insurance in the sixth, hitting a two-run double to give APSU a 6-3 lead.
Miller-Green continued on the mount and forced UTRGV to leave the bases loaded in the sixth and retired the side in order in the seventh without allowing a run. He returned to start the eighth, but sandwiched a strike out between a walk and a single that ended his outing.
The APSU Govs then turned the ball over to Titan Kennedy-Hayes, who pieced together his longest outing of the season. He stared down a bases-loaded situation later in the eighth but escaped without allowing a run. Kennedy-Hayes opened the ninth by hitting a batter and later allowed a two-out single, but closed the game with a fly out to record his fourth save.
Miller-Green finished the day 3-for-5 with four RBI while also clinching the win on the mound with his 3.1-inning outing. Gray added a ninth-inning two-run single to complete his 3-for-5, four-RBI outing. Voitik went 2-for-4 and scored three runs.
UTRGV third baseman CJ Valdez and right fielder Hank Warren had two hits each to lead a nine-hit outing by the Vaqueros. Tjelmeland lost after allowing four runs on six hits in his four-inning outing.
Next Up For APSU Baseball
The Austin Peay State University baseball team has the upcoming week off as it prepares for a weekend series at Southeastern Conference foe and nationally-ranked Auburn (9-2), which won its series against Connecticut this weekend. The APSU Govs’ series against the Tigers is scheduled for a Friday 6:00pm start at Plainsman Park.
