Clarksville, Tenn. – Sophomore infielder Garrett Copeland, of the Austin Peay State University baseball team, has been named the Copies in a Flash APSU Athlete of the Week.
Copeland hit .474 (9-for-19) last week, collecting three game-winning hits and his season’s first three home runs as the Govs went 3-1 with a midweek win against Middle Tennessee and a series victory at Raymond C. Hand Park against Belmont.
Copeland’s week started with a flourish, as he equaled Chad Cunningham’s 2008 APSU single-game hits record with six hits – including his season’s first home run – as the Govs rallied late to topple the Blue Raiders.
Each of Copeland’s hits during the weekend series against the Bruins proved timely. In the series opener, his two-run home run in the fifth inning provided Austin Peay’s winning run, while he contributed a two-run double in a Game Two loss on Saturday. In the rubber match, the Bartlett native hit the game-winning home run to lead off the eighth inning and cap a six-run comeback win for Austin Peay.
Monday, Copeland was named adidas®/Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Player of the Week for his efforts. It’s his first career weekly honor from the conference office and second for an APSU player this season, after Patrick Massoni shared the March 10 award.
The Copies in a Flash APSU Athlete of the Week is selected by the APSU Sports Information staff each Tuesday during the academic year. Copies in a Flash, of Clarksville, sponsors the award.
Other notable performances by Austin Peay athletes included:
- Senior Ornella Di Salvo, of the women’s tennis team, concluded her Austin Peay career with a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles against Jacksonville State’s Claudia Marsala and teamed with fellow senior Vanessa Tavares for an 8-7 win at No. 1 doubles.
- Sophomore pitcher Alex Robles, of the baseball team, went the distance against Belmont in Friday night’s series-opener, scattering seven hits and four earned runs while fanning eight to earn his season’s third win. It was his second complete game this season and second in a row against Belmont.
- Sophomore jumper Kaylnn Pitts, of the track and field team, picked up her third consecutive win in the triple jump with a season-best 12.54m leap at the Hilltopper Relays, equaling the OVC’s best mark in 2015, and set a personal-best in the long jump with a 5.87m leap that netted her fourth-place honors in Bowling Green.
