CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ? The Bat Govs looked like a well-oiled machine against Iowa, Sunday. More like a diesel engine ? taking a while to get started, but not slowing down once they did ? en route to a 20-9 romp of Iowa to close out the three-game series.
Austin Peay took the series against Iowa with back-to-back wins after dropping game one 15-9, Friday.
“We starting to swing the bats pretty well and more importantly, they're doing it against some good pitching,” Govs head coach Gary McClure said. “Hitting is something that comes and goes, but right now we're taking a lot of walks and that shows that we're swinging at good pitches. It's great to score some runs and take the pressure off the pitchers.”
The Hawkeyes led 6-0 heading into the Govs half of the fourth inning. The previous three innings had went slow for Austin Peay as the Iowa starter seemingly had things in control, allowing only three hits to that point. Adam Browett opened with a double to right and Matt Kole laced an RBI single up the middle to put Austin Peay on the board. From there, the Govs piled it on, putting the first six batters on base before Iowa's Nick Brown could record an out.
Nick Erdman replaced Brown with the bases loaded and enticed Austin Peay's Jared DeLong into a ground ball back to the mound. However, the Iowa catcher missed home plate with the tag, allowing the Govs to score on the error. Then sophomore Greg Bachman drilled a two-RBI double down the left-field line, scoring Chris Lewellyn and Daniel Baggett, bringing Browett back to the plate. Browett, on cue, ripped another two-RBI single up the middle to put Austin Peay ahead, 8-6.
“It was good to see our guys respond after spotting them six runs,” McClure said. “We had a couple of tough innings where we hit into some tough luck, but we kept pushing offensively and it just happened."
The Govs gave up two more runs to Iowa in the top of the fifth, but got out of the inning on good defense. Reliever Dylan Ray picked off a runner at first, catcher Trey Lucas threw out a base-stealer at third and a strike out ended the inning.
Austin Peay continued to hammer the Iowa bullpen, scoring in each of the last four innings. They plated five runs in the fifth on a two-RBI single by Zach Gerler and three-run home run by DeLong. A double sandwiched between an error and a fielder's choice scored one run in the sixth. Bachman homered to lead off the seventh and two batters later Kole smashed his fourth home run of the series.
Iowa took advantage of a throwing error and an RBI-ground out to score in the seventh, but the Govs continued to rake. A montage of Austin Peay pinch-hitters tacked on three more runs in the eighth to set the final margin.
The bullpen was stellar for the Govs, with the last four pitchers combining to allow one unearned run on three hits over 4.2 innings while striking out six. Junior David Vicini (1-2), who came on in the fifth, picked up the win, allowing one hit in 1.2 innings of work.
“I thought the keys today were that we played really good defense today and we added runs on late in the game,” McClure said of the Govs late-game energy. “To shut them down in the last four innings was really doing something in these conditions. It was a tough day to keep the ball in the park.”
Six Govs had two or more hits. DeLong finished 2-for-6 with four RBI, Bachman 2-for-4 three RBI, Kole 2-for-5 three RBI and Gerler 2-for-4 three RBI. Austin Peay totaled 20 runs on 17 hits.
Kole more than enjoyed the Hawkeye's visit, returning from an undetermined illness to hit four home runs in three games. The junior lefty hit one homer on Friday, two on Saturday and then added a two-run shot, Sunday.
“I had a pretty good weekend,” Kole said. “It felt good to come back and get on the field again. That's what I wanted to do the whole time. This was one of those weekends that you'll always remember. It was good to see the team get going.”
Like a big diesel, Austin Peay's offense struggled in the early going, dropping four games at Lamar to open the season. Kole is one of many Govs looking forward to getting deeper in the schedule, excited to see what this fairly new team is capable of doing.
“Lamar was tough,” Kole continued. “They were a good team with good pitching and we just weren't swinging it well. Then we came back home, where we're comfortable and where we know how to play. We got strong pitching the past couple of days and the 20 runs today shows that were hitting the ball. We're coming along and it feels good.”
Erdman (0-2) was tagged with the loss in relief, pitching 0.2 innings, allowing seven runs on four hits. Chett Zeise led the Hawkeys with a 3-for-4 effort. Wes Freie went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
The Govs face another challenge, returning to the road for a Spring Break trip to Oxford, Miss., facing Mississippi in a 6:30 p.m., Tuesday contest.
The question is, how long can this truck run?
“We've got a tough week coming up,” McClure said. “Ole Miss is very good. Coming off this weekend, where we basically had to use our whole (pitching) staff, it's going to be a real challenge. We're going to have to play good defense and not give away any extra outs. We're going to find out a lot about our team this week.”
-AP-
