CLARKSVILLE
- Austin Peay State University's baseball team dropped a 3-1 Ohio Valley
Conference finale to Jacksonville State, Sunday at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Jacksonville State won the three-game series, 2-1, after the teams split
Saturday's doubleheader.
Jacksonville
State (20-16, 8-4 OVC) scored first in the third inning when outfielder Wes
Cunningham reached base on a wild pitch after striking out. He stole second and
third base on successive pitches and scored on designated hitter Bert Smith's
single, giving JSU a 1-0 lead.
Austin
Peay (18-18, 4-8) leveled the score in the fourth after centerfielder Jared DeLong led off the inning with a single and advanced to third as the right
fielder misplayed the ball. He would score on designated hitter Matt Kole's
single.
But
the Govs saw RBI opportunities rarely throughout the contest, putting a runner
in scoring position just three times, including DeLong's play in the fourth.
Meawhile,
Jacksonville State kept putting men on base and figuring out how to push them
home. The Gamecocks added a run in the sixth after APSU starter Stephen Huff
walked the bases loaded. Reliever David Vicini surrendered a run when shortstop
Jake Sharrock avoided a double play to keep the inning alive before striking
out the second batter he faced to end the inning. JSU added an insurance run in
the ninth inning.
Huff
(3-4) suffered the loss despite holding Jacksonville State to two runs on three
hits while striking out four over 5.1 innings.
JSU
starter Austin Lucas allowed the one unearned run and struck out five over 6.2
innings to pick up the victory. Closer Todd Hornsby induced three-straight
groundouts - following Kole's leadoff double in the ninth - to pick up his season's
second save.
DeLong,
Kole and third baseman Chris Lewellyn were the only Govs to record hits in the
contest. Kole finished 3-for-4 with an RBI while DeLong added a 2-for-4 effort
and Lewellyn chipped in a fifth-inning single.
Smith
led Jacksonville State with a 1-for-3, two RBI outing - one of five JSU hitters
to record a hit in the contest.
Austin
Peay continues its eight-game home stand with a 6 p.m., Tuesday contest against
Belmont.
- AP -
