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Austin Peay State University Athletics

Logan Gray
Brittney Sparn, APSU Athletics
1
Bradley BRAD 0-1
7
Winner Austin Peay APSU 1-0
Bradley BRAD
0-1
1
Final
7
Austin Peay APSU
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Bradley BRAD 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 2
Austin Peay APSU 1 0 4 0 0 2 0 0 X 7 9 0

W: Robles, Alex (1-0) L: Dennis, Matt (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | By Cody Bush

#GovsGavel: Gray, Robles power Govs to season-opening win, Janssen’s first

THE LEAD
CLARKSVILLE – Junior third baseman Logan Gray had two RBI, including the game-winner, and junior pitcher Alex Robles went seven innings as Austin Peay State University's baseball team won in head coach Travis Janssen's debut, 7-1, against Bradley, Friday afternoon at Raymond C. Hand Park.

THE GOVERNING MOMENTS
With the Govs trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Gray powered his season's first home run in his first at-bat to tie the game. He came to the plate in the third with runners on the corners and reached on an infield single, driving in Copeland for the go-ahead run.

Meanwhile, Robles surrendered a run on a wild pitch in the first but settled in after the miscue. The junior right-hander retired 12 straight before surrendering a one-out infield single in the sixth. He rectified that by picking off the runner then retired four of the last five he faced en route to his first win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Gray's home run in the first was his 23rd career home run. It was a relatively quick start for the preseason All-America pick, he did not record a home run until his 23rd game of the 2015 season.

Freshman catcher Alex Sala began his career with a start behind the plate, and was behind the dish for all seven innings of Robles' sterling outing. Freshman Brett Newberg also made his season's first appearance, facing four batters in a scoreless eighth inning.

Centerfielder Patrick Massoni made a diving catch on a shallow line drive to end the seventh to help bring Robles outing to a close. It was the first "gold star" play of the campaign.

Right-hander Jordan Harmon unveiled his sidearm delivery in the ninth inning. It was his first appearance since May 13, 2014 as he missed the entire 2015 campaign.

THE FULL RECAP
Robles (1-0) got off to a rocky start, hitting a batter and allowing a double with one out in the first inning. He then uncorked a wild pitch to surrender the game's first run. After allowing a one-out walk, Robles ended the threat when he served up a double play ball to end the inning.

Gray helped out his teammate in the bottom of the first as he powered a solo home run against the wind to left field, tying the game. Two innings later he did his part again, reaching on an infield single that pushed home second baseman Garrett Copeland for a 2-1 lead.

That infield hit unleashed Austin Peay's (1-0) offense, with three consecutive RBI-producing at-bats following Gray. Left fielder Cayce Bredlau was next up with a RBI double, Robles helped his cause with a sacrifice fly and first baseman Dre Gleason capped the four-run rally with a RBI single, giving APSU a 5-1 lead.

Robles made the lead stand up, following his three-up, three-down third inning by retiring the side in order in both the fourth and fifth innings. When he retired the leadoff hitter in the sixth it was a stretch of 12 consecutive batters retired by the Govs right-hander. The streak came to an end when the next batter reached on an infield single, but Robles picked off the runner and struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Austin Peay tacked on two more runs in the sixth, scoring on a wild pitch and a passed ball in the inning, extending the lead to 7-1. Robles ended his outing by facing four batters in a scoreless seventh inning. Freshman right-hander Brett Newberg and redshirt sophomore righty Jordan Harmon tossed scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth, respectively, to end the game and hand APSU head coach Travis Janssen a win in his first game at the helm.

Gray led the Govs with a 2-for-3, two RBI performance that included a pair of walks. Centerfielder Patrick Massoni went 2-for-4, the duo part of seven Govs who recorded a hit in the contest.

Robles picked up the win after allowing one run on four hits over seven innings. He struck out six batters and walked one.

Bradley (0-1) was held to six hits, with left fielder Evan Gruener pacing the effort with a 2-for-4 performance. Starting pitcher Matt Dennis (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on six hits and four walks over four innings. Dennis did strike out seven of the 23 Govs he faced.

Austin Peay and Bradley will resume their three-game season-opening series with a 1 p.m., Saturday contest at Raymond C. Hand Park.

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