Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) baseball team starts a four-game homestand when it hosts Western Kentucky in a Tuesday 6:00pm game on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park. It is the final Taco Tuesday of the 2023 baseball season, with Tuesday’s game the final Tuesday home game of the year.
Austin Peay State University won its fifth ASUN series and fourth straight by taking two of three from Jacksonville. The APSU Govs return to The Hand seeking to extend their three-game home win streak, all courtesy of its three-game ASUN sweep of Queens, April 14th-16th.
The Governors remained tied for third place in the ASUN race after winning its series at Jacksonville, 2-1. The APSU Govs are one-game behind co-leaders Florida Gulf Coast and Lipscomb, who they will face at home in the season’s final month. APSU is tied with Stetson and one game ahead of Jacksonville State, two teams it does not have on its schedule this season.
Broadcast Information
LIVE STATS: SIUSalukis.com
Series History
THE SERIES: 163 previous meetings. WKU leads 97-65-1.
NOTABLY: The WKU series is one of Austin Peay State University’s longest-running series, extending back to 1933 – the second season of Governors baseball. Austin Peay State University won five of six meetings from 2016-19, but WKU has won the last three matchups, including this season’s earlier 8-2 loss in Bowling Green. High scoring is a feature of the series, with one team scoring 10 or more runs in 14 of the last 27 games. That includes three games where the winner scored 20 runs (WKU 29 in 2005, WKU 22 in 2017, and APSU 20 in 2019).
Climbing The Hill
Ashton Smith makes his third-straight start in the Govs’ midweek role. He has gone 2.2 innings in each of his first two starts – 5.1 innings total – and the Govs are 1-1 in his starts. APSU won his debut at UT Martin on April 12, then dropped his start at Southern Illinois last Tuesday.
First Hacks
Austin Peay State University outfielder John Bay has five consecutive starts in right field. has five consecutive starts in right field. On Saturday, he hit his first home run in an APSU uniform, with his seventh-inning grand slam putting the APSU Govs ahead for good.
Utility man Jaden Brown is batting .361 (13-36) in the 11 games since his return to the starting lineup on April 11th. He has four doubles, a home run, and eight RBI in those 11 games.
APSU catcher Trevor Conley is batting .500 (6-12) in his last three games, with a home run, two RBI, and three runs scored. His batting average sits at a season-best .330, up 85 points since March 19th.
Catcher Jacob Curtis made his third start of 2023 at Southern Illinois on April 18 and was 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI, and three runs scored.
Catcher Gus Freeman has three hits (.429 batting average) in his last three starts, including a 1-for-4 outing in Game 2 of the Jacksonville series. Two of those three hits have gone for doubles.
Shortstop Jon Jon Gazdar suffered his first hitless weekend of 2023 at Jacksonville and saw his 22-game reached-safely streak end in Sunday’s series finale. Before the weekend set, he had been held hitless in back-to-back games only twice this season.
Austin Peay State University infielder Conner Gore appeared in all three games of the Jacksonville series, including a start in the series finale, replacing Harrison Brown, who suffered an injury in Saturday’s game.
Outfielder Clayton Gray is on a month-long tear at the plate, batting .466 (41-88) with 10 doubles, 10 stolen bases, and 31 runs scored in 19 games. He ranks fifth among Division I hitters with 19 doubles and has 17 stolen bases (68th in Division I). He’s seeking to become the first Govs hitter with 20 doubles and 20 stolen bases in a season since Garrett Giovannelli in 2018.
APSU outfielder Garrett Martin ranks eighth among Division I players in runs scored (53) and is 22nd in the country with 15 home runs. He had a hit in all three Jacksonville games, batting .357 (5-14) with two doubles and three RBI.
Lyle Miller-Green brings a nine-game hit streak into this week’s action and is batting .450 (18-40) with four doubles, four home runs, and 12 RBI. He also has a seven-game RBI streak entering the week.
Third baseman Ambren Voitik has a four-game hit streak entering the week. He is batting .333 (6-18) during the streak with a double, home run, four RBI, and two runs scored.
Designated hitter/pitcher Lyle Miller-Green and shortstop Jon Jon Gazdar were named to national watch lists on April 17th. The College Baseball Foundation named Miller-Green to the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Watch List, while it named Gazdar to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List, recognizing the nation’s top shortstop.
Next Up For APSU Baseball
The Austin Peay State University baseball team hosts ASUN co-leader Florida Gulf Coast in a three-game series at The Hand, Friday-Sunday. It is the first-ever meeting between the Governors and Eagles.
