CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – After opening Ohio Valley Conference play with seven straight road games the past two weeks, Austin Peay State University's softball team finally will play its first conference home games by playing host to Tennessee Martin this weekend for a three-game OVC series at Cheryl Holt Field.
The Governors (5-19, 1-6 OVC) open the series, noon, Saturday with a doubleheader versus the Skyhawks (18-15, 3-5 OVC), while concluding the weekend's matchup with a noon, Sunday, single game.
The Austin Peay-Tennessee Martin series is the most played in the APSU program's 31-year history -- dating back to their first meeting on March 5, 1986 – with Saturday's first game being the 104th all-time in the series, 14 more that the next closest rival Tennessee Tech.
Saturday's first game also will end Austin Peay's longest road stretch to open OVC play since 1996 when it played the first eight conference games on the road.
Offensively, the Govs are led by redshirt freshman Kacy Acree's .403 batting average, which includes eight doubles, two triples and three home runs. She also leads the team in runs scored with 21.
True freshmen Danielle Liermann and Kendall Vedder follow Acree, with Liermann batting .365, with six doubles, a triple, three home runs and a team-best 21 RBIs, while Vedder is batting .299 with four doubles.
In the circle, juniors Autumn Hanners and Allie Blackwood have picked up wins for the Govs pitching staff this season, with Hanners coming in with an 3-8 record, a 3.09 ERA and team-best 34 strikeouts in 56.2 innings of work. Blackwood is 2-0 overall, with a 5.12 ERA and 11 k's in 13.2 innings so far this spring.
--AP--
