Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) baseball team hosts the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in its fourth Atlantic Sun Conference series.
The series opens with a doubleheader starting on Friday at 2:00pm at Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Leading Off
The Governors have been on a hot streak as of late, winning nine straight games, and have the second-longest win streak in the nation coming into the weekend series against Eastern Kentucky. Austin Peay State University is tied with the University of Georgia and Lamar University, just two games behind #12 UC Irvine, who has a 10-game win streak, going into their three-game series against #5 Oregon State.
Governors Bullpen
Austin Peay State University, as a team against Bellarmine last weekend, had a combined 3.24 ERA while striking out 27 batters. The starting rotation on the hill of Cody Airington, Jacob Weaver, and Lyndon Glidewell was dominant, with each starter earning the win in each of the games they started.
Cody Airington threw five shutout innings against Bellarmine, striking out seven batters and allowing just two hits. Airington ranks first in the APSU Govs’ lineup amongst regular starters with a 3.52 ERA. He is currently tied for sixth in the ASUN for batters struck out with 38.
Jacob Weaver made one of his better starts of the season against Bellarmine in Game 2 of the series. He also threw five shutout innings, striking out seven batters and allowing five hits. He picked up his second win of the season and improved his ERA to 6.07.
Lyndon Glidewell has had four straight appearances, throwing five innings or more. In his outing at Bellarmine, he threw 5.1 innings in the win while striking out three batters. He allowed just one run in the contest on five hits and a walk.
First Hacks
Austin Peay State University has won their last nine games, including three run-rule victories against Tennessee Tech, Southern Indiana, and Bellarmine, scoring 99 runs on 117 hits in that span. 23 of those hits have been home runs, and 46 were for extra bases. Last weekend against Bellarmine, the Govs batted .382 and slugged .673 with a .503 on-base percentage.
APSU center fielder John Bay had a big weekend at the plate last weekend, batting .455 (5-for-11) with a pair of home runs and a triple. He is batting .348 on the season and has ten homers to his name this season. He is just 15 home runs away now from being the all-time home run leader at Austin Peay.
Outfielder Cameron Nickens had another outstanding week at the plate, batting .529 (9-for-17) over four games. He hit a pair of homers and three doubles while tallying nine RBI. He was named the ASUN Player of the Week for the second time this season and was also named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Player of the Week Wednesday. He is the first Gov to earn the honor since Harrison Brown on May 7th, 2024.
Austin Peay State University outfielder Brody Szako struggled last weekend, batting .250 (3-for-12), but his slugging numbers keep going up every week. Last week, he hit a home run and a double. On the season, 10 of his 14 hits have been for extra bases, and he is tied for fifth in the ASUN with seven home runs.
Infielder Andres Matias had another good weekend at the plate against Bellarmine, batting .333 (3-for-9) while tallying three RBI. He found his way on base twice by walking and another by being hit by a pitch. He had a .462 on-base percentage and had a sacrifice fly and sacrifice bunt.
APSU first baseman/catcher Gus Freeman batted .200 (3-for-15) with a home run in the Bellarmine series. He also swiped two bags in two attempts on the bases. Despite the struggle at the dish in the series, he still bats .314 on the season and ranks in the top 10 of seven offensive ASUN categories.
Infielder Kyler Proctor batted .471 (8-for-17) last weekend against Bellarmine. He had two 3-for-6 performances in the series, adding to his multi-hit games number of 15, which leads the Govs.
Infielder Ray Velazquez was in the same boat as Johnson last weekend, batting just .200 (2-for-10). He reached base on balls four times and was hit by a pitch for a .467 on-base percentage. He was 1-for-1 in stolen base attempts and crossed the plate four times.
Catcher Trevor Conley tore it up at the plate in the two games he played against Bellarmine, batting .667 (4-for-6) with a home run and three RBI. He had the highest on-base percentage of any Gov over the weekend with a .778 percentage after walking three times.
Facing The Colonels
Series History
Austin Peay State University leads the all-time series 62-61. APSU swept Eastern Kentucky last year in Clarksville. In the series finale last season, the APSU Govs fell behind three runs in the top of the first inning, but they responded by putting up two in the first and three in the second. Once they took the lead, they did not look back, keeping the lead for the remainder of the game and winning 11-9.
About the Eastern Kentucky Colonels
At The Plate
The Eastern Kentucky offense is currently hitting .211, which ranks last in the ASUN. The Colonels have recorded 48 extra-base hits, including 18 home runs, 26 doubles, and four triples, and have tallied 85 RBI over 29 games.
Junior infielder Diego Alana leads the Colonels in batting average, hitting .317 with a home run and eight RBI.
Junior first baseman Nazir Mendez and senior outfielder Julius Scearce have been the duo powerhouse at the plate this year, each hitting five home runs a piece. The two of them are the only players on the EKU roster with double-digit numbers in the RBI column. Mendez has 15, and Scearce has 13 on the season.
On The Mound
Eastern Kentucky ranks tenth in the ASUN with a team ERA of 7.68. Over 29 games and 236.2 innings, the Colonels have allowed 249 runs, 202 earned, and opponents are batting .306 against their pitchers.
Redshirt sophomore southpaw Bradley Gagen has been the most effective arm in the Colonels’ bullpen of pitchers who have met the minimum requirement of an inning pitched per game. He leads the EKU staff with a 4.30 ERA over 29.1 innings in his seven starts. He has allowed 17 runs, 14 earned, and is holding batters to a .295 batting average.
Ticket Information
Single-game tickets are available now on Ticketmaster.com.
Broadcast Information
All games will be streamed on ESPN+.
Follow Along
Keep up to date with all Governors baseball on the official website of Austin Peay State University Athletics – www.LetsGoPeay.com. Follow @GovsBSB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for all Governors Baseball updates and ticket information as they happen.
