NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University's baseball team pushed Vanderbilt to extra innings before falling 2-1 in 11 innings, Tuesday night, at Hawkins Field.

Vanderbilt (4-0) capitalized on a leadoff walk surrendered by Austin Peay reliever Matt Marsh in the 11th inning. Following a sacrifice bunt, Marsh intentionally walked the next batter before departing the scene. Zach Gerler followed and induced a pop out for the inning's second out but could not record the final out as catcher Andrew Giobbi singled through the right side to score the winning run.

Austin Peay (2-2) struck first when right fielder Adam Browett doubled over the right fielder's head with one out in the fifth inning. One out later, third baseman Reed Harper brought Browett home with a single to shallow left field.

The Commodores tied the game in the seventh but could have done more damage had it not been for timely Governors pitching. Reliever Eric Davis allowed a leadoff single to third baseman Jason Esposito. The Commodores would load the bases following a one out single by Giobbi and a hit batter. Second baseman Riley Reynolds tied the game with a sacrifice fly. However, Davis escaped further damage with another fly out.

Austin Peay had an opportunity to take the lead in the eighth as Harper reached on an error to begin the inning. He then escaped a potential base running mistake when he attempted to advance on a wild pitch and stopped halfway, Giobbi threw to second but no one covered the bag and the ball skipped into the outfield allowing Harper to advance to third. However, the Govs could not take advantage as Vanderbilt was able to record three outs without the ball leaving the infield.

"The turning point was the eighth inning when we had a runner on third and no outs," said Governors head coach Gary McClure. "It was a big opportunity to take the lead and we couldn't get a hit we needed. We weren't competitive at the plate tonight, we struck out too much."

The Govs pitching staff was in fine form in just the season's fourth game, allowing six hits and striking out five over the 11 innings. Starter David Vicini pitched well in his season's first start, limiting the Commodores to two hits over five scoreless innings. Eric Davis came on in relief and surrendered one run on two hits over two innings.

Marsh (0-1), the third pitcher of the night, suffered the loss after allowing one run and one hit and two walks while striking out five over 3.1 innings. Gerler closed out the night, recording one out before surrendering the winning hit.

"Vicini competed really hard tonight even though he was only using his fastball and location to keep batters off balance tonight," said McClure. "Davis had them eating out his hand until we hit the batter and we kind of beat ourselves. Marsh pitched with a lot of guts again tonight and had us in a position to win."

Catcher Trey Lucas and Browett each had two hits to pace the Austin Peay offensive attack which recorded six hits.

Vanderbilt starter Chase Reid surrendered one run on three hits over six innings, striking out five Govs batters. The Commodores used five pitchers on the night, the quintet combined to strike out 14 Governors batters.

Esposito and Giobbi each had two hits to lead the Vanderbilt offense which finished with six hits.

"I told the guys after the game this is the type of game we have to win," said McClure. "We played well enough defensively and got a great pitching performance from our staff. We have to do a better job at the plate executing in key situations."

Austin Peay returns to action with a three-game series against Northern Illinois (0-3), beginning with a 4 p.m., Friday contest at Raymond C. Hand Park.

- AP -