Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) baseball team travels to West Lafayette to face Big Ten opponent, Purdue Boilermakers, in a midweek matchup starting on Tuesday at 5:00pm CT, at Alexander Field.
Leading Off
Austin Peay State University returns to the diamond after a short turnaround after facing Eastern Kentucky and sweeping the Colonels for the second time this season. With its sweep over EKU, this year’s team is the fastest in program history to record 30 wins in a season, doing so in 40 games.
The Govs swept the Atlantic Sun Conference Weekly Award recognitions for its second consecutive week, with Jacob Weaver and Ray Velazquez winning the ASUN Pitcher of the Week and Player of the Week awards, respectively.
Governors Bullpen
Austin Peay State University, as a team against Eastern Kentucky last weekend, had a combined 5.03 ERA while striking out 30 batters. Senior right-handed pitcher Jacob Weaver highlighted the staff, as he became the second Gov to throw a no-hitter this season. He did it just six days after junior right-handed pitcher Lyndon Glidewell did against North Alabama last Sunday (April 13th). The pair is the first duo in program history to throw two no-hitters in the same season since 1970.
Jacob Weaver struck out five batters and walked three batters in the contest, with two of those baserunners being retired in a double play. He completed his seven innings of work in just 83 pitches.
Lyndon Glidewell struck out five batters in his appearance and only allowed one baserunner in the first inning of the ballgame. He was just one batter away from throwing Austin Peay’s first-ever perfect game.
First Hacks
After struggling the week prior against North Alabama, the Governors turned things around against Eastern Kentucky, sweeping the series and becoming the fastest team to reach 30 wins in program history. Last week, the Govs batted .252 as a team, hitting 11 home runs and seven doubles, and tallying 28 RBI over four games. The Governors currently rank in the top 10 nationally in hits, runs, home runs, doubles, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging.
Austin Peay State University center fielder John Bay enters the week leading the nation in runs scored (65). The senior slugger struggled at the plate last week, batting .125 (2-for-16) with a home run last week. His homer came in the Governors midweek against Morehead State on Tuesday, where he went 1-for-4 in the contest. That now puts him at just nine home runs away from the all-time home run record at Austin Peay.
Outfielder Cameron Nickens also struggled at the plate last week, where he batted .133 (2-for-15). Going into the weekend series against EKU, he had a 37-game reached base safely streak. That streak ended in the series finale against the Colonels on Saturday at 39 games. That is the sixth-longest streak in program history, where he ties John McDonald for his streak from the end of the 2021 season into 2022. Nickens comes into the week leading the nation with 130 total bases.
APSU outfielder Brody Szako had a solid week at the plate, batting .286 (4-for-14), with all four hits being for extra bases. He hit three home runs, including his third career grand slam, just after hitting his second career slam in the series finale against North Alabama the weekend prior.
Infielder Andres Matias batted .267 (4-for-15) last week, with a home run and a pair of RBI. His average dropped below .300 on the season two weekends ago, but still bats .295 while being productive in his role at the bottom half of the order.
First baseman/catcher Gus Freeman was one of the hotter bats at the dish last week, batting .385 (5-for-13) with a homer and two doubles, while tallying three RBI. Freeman currently ranks in the top 10 of nine offensive ASUN categories.
Austin Peay State University infielder Kyler Proctor had a slower week at the plate last week, batting .200 (3-for-15). But, he helped power the APSU over EKU in the series finale, where he hit a solo home run, which helped in the one-run win over the Colonels.
Infielder/designated hitter Cole Johnson batted just .188 (3-for-16) with a home run over four games last week. The redshirt-freshman is still batting .311 this season with a total of seven homers and 41 RBI.
Infielder Ray Velazquez was named the ASUN Player of the Week after batting .429 (6-for-14) with three home runs and a pair of doubles. He led the Govs in all three triple-slash categories, slugging 1.214 with a .556 on-base percentage. He had a go-ahead three-run home run to the opposite field, which was the deciding factor in the series finale against EKU.
APSU catcher Trevor Conley has another great week at the plate, batting .333 (3-for-9). He has completely turned his season around after batting .040 in 25 at-bats into the season. He is hitting .304 coming into the week, and bats .408 in conference play, which ranks fifth in the ASUN.
Facing The Boilermakers
Series History
Purdue leads the all-time series 4-1. It is the first time these two teams have met since February 25th, 2001, in Clarksville for the Austin Peay Invitational. Purdue won the contest by a score of 1-2. The only time that the APSU Govs have won over the Boilermakers was March 6th, 1996, where the Govs won 15-8.
About the Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue currently sits 15th in the Big Ten standings, 9.5 games back from the first-place Iowa Hawkeyes, who have a 17-4 conference record. The Boilermakers have a 6-12 record in conference play and are 24-15 overall. They took one of three games against Penn State over the weekend, winning in Game 3 of their conference series by a score of 11-8.
At The Plate
Purdue comes into the week with a .288 batting average as a team, which ranks seventh in the Big Ten. As a team, the Boilermakers have recorded 129 extra-base hits, including 42 home runs, 82 doubles, and five triples, while tallying 267 RBI over 39 games.
Senior infielder Logan Sutter has paced the Boilermakers offensively this season, batting .376 with 10 home runs and 47 RBI. He is responsible for driving in just under a fifth of all runs for Purdue this season, while also leading the team in slugging and on-base percentage.
On The Mound
Purdue ranks sixth in the Big Ten with a team ERA of 5.22. Over 39 games and 341.1 innings, the Boilermakers have allowed 228 runs, 198 earned, and opponents are batting .268 against their staff, which is the ninth highest in the Big Ten.
Graduate left-handed pitcher Michael Valone leads the Purdue staff with a 3.43 ERA out of a reliever role. He has appeared 16 times this season and has a 2-1 record up to this point. Opponents are batting .205 off him, and he has only allowed 16 earned runs to score while striking out 51 batters.
Broadcast Information
The midweek contest will be streamed on the Big10+ Network.
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.
