Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) baseball team makes its way to Conway for week two of Atlantic Sun Conference play against Central Arkansas.
The Governors will face the Bears after coming off a hot week at the plate, where they scored 58 runs over five games.
The three-game series opens up with game one starting on Friday at 6:00pm CT, at Bear Stadium in Conway, Arkansas.
Leading Off
Austin Peay State University opened up Atlantic Sun Conference play last weekend against Lipscomb and won their fourth-weekend series after going 2-1. The APSU Govs outscored the Bisons 30-16 over the series but fell in the finale by a score of 6-8.
Ray Velazquez stayed hot at the plate and batted .455 in the series, hitting his first pair of career homers. Brody Szako, John Bay, and Trevor Conley each had two home runs in the series. Those four Govs combined 14-for-39 (.359) at the plate and tallied 18 RBI over the three-game series.
Governors Bullpen
The Governors as a team last weekend had a combined 5.76 ERA, striking out 21 batters. Cody Airington and Lyndon Glidewell both recorded quality starts on the mound. They threw 12.0 innings combined and had 10 strikeouts, allowing just two earned runs on seven hits and seven walks.
First Hacks
Austin Peay State University has won four of their last five games, including three run-rule victories, and have scored 58 runs on 61 hits in that span. 19 of those hits have been home runs, and 30 have been for extra bases. Last week against Lipscomb in the ASUN opening series, the Govs batted .309 and slugged .649 with a .427 on-base percentage.
Infielder Ray Velazquez continued his success at the plate, batting .455 (5-for-11) in the weekend series against Lipscomb. He hit his first pair of career home runs and tallied four RBI. Over the last five games, he has batted .333 (7-for-21) and has recorded two multi-RBI performances.
APSU center fielder John Bay is batting .360 on the season and pairs with Cameron Nickens as the co-leader for home runs in the ASUN. Over the last four games, Bay has hit five home runs and tallied 11 RBI. With his stellar performance at the plate last week, Bay now ranks first in five offensive ASUN categories: Slugging, OPS, Runs, Doubles, and home runs. He also ranks fourth in the nation in runs scored, totaling 34 on the season.
First baseman/catcher Gus Freeman batted .400 (4-for-10) with a solo home run and a double in the Lipscomb series. Freeman walked three times and was hit by a pitch, earning himself a .571 on-base percentage over the weekend. The highest of any player who started all three games last in the series.
Austin Peay State University infielder Andres Matias is batting .333 on the year after batting .400 (8-for-20) in his last five games. He had three multi-hit performances, including a three-RBI day against Southern Indiana (March 19th), where he hit a three-run homer for his third of the season.
Outfielder Cameron Nickens struggled at the plate against Lipscomb, going 2-for-11 with two doubles and a pair of RBI. Despite the struggle, he bounced back and had a career day against Southern Indiana (March 19), where he went 4-for-5 with two home runs and six RBI. He leads the Govs in batting average (.375), home runs (8), and RBI (27) and ranks in the top 10 of 11 ASUN offensive categories. He leads the ASUN in hits (33), RBI, doubles (8), and home runs.
APSU infielder Kyler Proctor entered the Govs’ first ASUN series with a 10-game hitting streak. He extended it to 12 games after collecting a hit in the first two games of the series before going hitless in the series finale. He turned it around at Tennessee Tech, where he went 3-for-5 with a home run, double, and pair of RBI.
Catcher Trevor Conley has turned things around at the plate over the last few weeks and is now batting .224 on the season. He batted .500 (3-for-6) against Lipscomb last weekend and hit a home run in back-to-back games he played in. He carries a seven-game hit streak coming into the weekend series.
Facing The Bears
Series History
Austin Peay State University leads the all-time series 4-3 after winning two of three last season in Conway. In their last matchup, the Govs took game three in the series by a score of 11-6.
Preseason Honors
Junior right-handed pitcher Charlie Christensen was named to the preseason All-ASUN team. So far this season, Christensen has started five games on the hill with a 1-1 record. He has thrown 24.2 innings, punching out 28 batters, and has allowed 20 runs, 19 earned, on 36 hits and 11 walks.
In his last appearance on March 14, Christensen faced North Alabama in the series opener, throwing six innings and striking out four batters. He did not get a decision in the game, after allowing four runs, three earned, to score in the 5-6 Bears loss.
About the Central Arkansas Bears
At The Plate
The Central Arkansas offense is currently hitting .272, ranking sixth in the ASUN. As a team, the Bears have recorded 47 extra-base hits, including 12 home runs, 30 doubles, five triples, and have tallied 84 RBI.
Bryce Cermenelli has led the charge for the Bears, batting .403 on the year with a home run and a team-leading 15 RBI. He has collected 31 hits, which totals nine more than the next Bear.
Sam Reynolds has a team-leading five homers and has a .233 batting average through 17 games.
Zeb Allen leads the Bears in stolen bases, going 5-for-6 in stolen base attempts. He has played in every game for the Bears this year and bats .304 with a .462 on-base percentage.
On The Mound
Central Arkansas has a team ERA of 8.07, ranking ninth in the ASUN. Over 18 games, the Bears have allowed 152 runs, 142 earned, and have held opponents to a .320 batting average.
Jacob Pannell has led the way for the Bears’ staff with a 2-0 record over four starts on the mound. He has a 2.95 ERA through 21.1 innings of work. He has struck out 15 batters and has allowed eight runs, seven earned, this season.
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.
