Mesa, AR – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) baseball team was unable to make the comeback and fell to New Mexico, 9-6, on Opening Day, Friday, at Sloan Park in the 2025 MLB Desert Invitational.
Head coach Roland Fanning sent junior Kade Shatwell to the mound as the opening day starter for the Govs; he went 3.1 innings and struck out four batters – including the first man he faced. Shatwell allowed five earned runs on six hits and a walk.
New Mexico started Dayne Pengelly, who went 3.2 innings and allowed two runs while collecting four strikeouts and walking a pair.
How it Happened
Bottom 1st | Brody Szako drew a two-out walk and was moved into scoring position by a single from Gus Freeman. The Govs struck first after an RBI single through the right side of the infield off the bat of Austen Jaslove. With runners on the corners, Cole Johnson reached on a fielders choice to score Freeman.
Top 2nd | The Lobos responded quickly and crossed their first run of the game after an RBI double from Akili Carris. Then with bases loaded, Khalil Walker drove in the Lobos’ second run to tie the game on a ground ball to third. With runners on second and third, Tye Wood tripled to right field to clear the bases and put the Lobos ahead by two.
Top 4th | New Mexico would build on their lead after an RBI double to right field from Karsen Waslefsky. With the Lobos up 5-2, the APSU Govs brought in DJ Merriweather to get out of pressure. Merriweather escaped the inning with no damage after drawing a pop-out in foul territory and a groundout.
Top 5th | Solomon Washington came into the game for Austin Peay State University after Merriweather’s inning of work. He only threw a third of an inning after striking out the first batter he saw and then walking and hitting the next two batters. Campbell Holt then came in for relief and hit the first batter he faced, putting the Lobos up 6-2.
Bottom 6th | John Bay led off the inning with a triple off the top of the right field wall and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Szako to cut the lead in half 6-3.
Top 7th | Brody Lanham entered the game replacing Holt and struck out the first batter he met at the plate. He then gave up a solo shot to left field off the bat of Josh McAlister, which put the score at 7-3 and was the game-securing RBI for New Mexico. Kade Foulke entered with a runner on first and walked the first two batters he faced. He escaped pressure after striking out Jordy Oriach to end the inning.
Bottom 7th | The Governors did their best to regain their runs after a two-run homer from Szako and a solo shot from Gus Freeman. The pair went back-to-back and cut the lead to one run, 7-6.
Top 8th | Landon Slemp entered the game after Foulke struck out a pair of batters and walked another pair. Waslefsky tripled to center field to score Ethan Ott and McAlister and put the Lobos up 9-6. Slemp got the next batter to line out and then struck out three of the next four batters he faced in the ninth.
Wrap Up
Shatwell was credited the loss after 3.1 innings with four strikeouts, a walk, and five runs. Josh Barnhouse picked up his first win of the season for New Mexico after going 1.1 innings, striking out a batter, and allowing a run.
Daxton Purser earned the save after 4.0 innings of work with five strikeouts, a walk, and allowing three runs.
Notables
Freeman: 3-for-5, HR, 2B, RBI, 2 R – Triple away from the cycle.
Szako: 1-for-3, HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB.
Jaslove: 1-for-4, RBI – Drove in first run of the season.
Andres Matias: 2-for-3 – Collected his first hit since Western Illinois (2/18/24).
As a team: The Austin Peay State University struck out a total of 15 batters, which is the most by a team since they struck out 15 against Western Illinois (2/16/24).
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Next Up For APSU Baseball
The Austin Peay State University baseball team are matched up against the Seton Hall Pirates on Saturday at 2:00pm CT. Both teams will enter the game 0-1 after Seton Hall fell to San Diego State, 16-11, Friday. Tomorrow’s game will be streamed on MLB.com and televised on MLB Network.
