The 2016 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Tournament got weird.
For Austin Peay, things went off the reservation in the very first game. In the Govs opening-round contest against Belmont—which didn't get underway until 10:06 p.m. from the Ballpark at Jackson after weather caused the first game of the day to be delayed by more than six hours—Austin Peay banged out 18 hits and Alex Robles avenged an earlier drubbing at the hands of the Bruins by tossing seven innings of near-flawless baseball (five hits allowed, two earned runs, one walk, nine strikeouts) to get the win at 1:47 a.m.
Game two was even stranger. After starting their Thursday afternoon contest against Jacksonville State, play was suspended until Friday morning after a torrential downpour wiped out Thursday evening with the game tied 3-3 in the fourth inning; Austin Peay would tack on two more runs in the fourth to take an early Friday lead.
Jacksonville State would score nine unanswered runs to take a 12-5 lead into the ninth inning, thwarting a comeback attempt by the Governors, who plated five runs in the ninth, three coming on bases-loaded walks and two more on a Ridge Smith double.
Dropping into the loser's bracket, Austin Peay faced off against Belmont for the second time in the tournament on Saturday morning and got a pitching performance for the ages from senior Jared Carkuff. Previously ensconced as Austin Peay's all-conference closer, Carkuff tossed 6.2 innings in relief against the Bruins, slamming the door in the 13th inning after run-scoring doubles from Smith and Clayton Smithson finally gave Austin Peay some breathing room.
Although Carkuff's line was stellar (6.2 innings, four hits, one earned run, career-high 11 strikeouts), it's altogether possible everything would've been for naught without Josh Wilson's game-saving, full-extension diving catch with the bases loaded in the 11th inning that preserved the tie in the longest (4 hours, 44 minutes) game in OVC Tournament history.
Against top-seeded Southeast Missouri later that Saturday, the magic finally ran out for the Governors— but not without a fight. Turning to redshirt freshman Josh Rye, the Governors got 5.1 innings of excellent work from the Clarksville native, who exited in the sixth with the game tied. Unfortunately, the well-rested Redhawks were able to wear down Austin Peay, scoring six runs over the final two innings to end a magically bizarre run for Austin Peay.
Carkuff and junior second baseman Garrett Copeland (tournament-best .462 batting average) were later named to the All-Tournament squad; both would be MLB draft picks last than two weeks later.
2015-16 Top 10
No. 10 - Liermann a dynamo for APSU in her freshman campaign
No. 9 - APSU Track battles injury to remain among the OVC's best
No. 8 - Beach volleyball coming to Clarksville
No. 7 - Quartet of Govs picked in MLB draft
No. 6 - Yanes Garcia's historic season bodes well for APSU Tennis
