CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – After a successful two-week homestand where they went 7-1 overall, Austin Peay State University's softball team will make its final trek north this weekend as they head to Edwardsville, Illinois to play SIUE in a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series.
The series will begin, 2 p.m., Saturday, with a single game at Cougars Field and conclude, noon, Sunday with a doubleheader.
The Govs (23-9, 18-7 OVC) enter the weekend's matchup sitting in third place in the league's standings, while SIUE (9-21, 9-14 OVC) is in ninth place.
Austin Peay is led offensively by junior third baseman Lexi Osowski (.426, 4 HR, 21 RBI), followed by senior shortstop Brooke Pfefferle (.408, 2 HR, 16 RBI).
Four other Govs are hitting over .300 this season, starting with senior outfielder Bailey Shorter (.366, 4 HR, 19 RBI), senior pitcher/first baseman Kelsey Gross (.330, 4 HR, 36 RBI), senior second baseman Drew Dudley (.308, 3 HR, 14 RBI) and red-shirt junior utility player Emily Harkleroad (.304, 0 HR, 10 RBI).
The Cougars enter the series with four players coming in hitting .300-or-better, led by Ava Bieneman (.378, 0 HR, 5 RBI), Zoe Schafer (.351, 5 HR, 19 RBI), Amber Storer (.323, 3 HR, 16 RBI) and Alana Cobb-Adams (.304, 2 HR, 14 RBI).
In the circle, the Govs pitching staff is led by Gross, who is 8-2 this season, with two shutouts, three saves, a 2.36 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 62.1 innings of work.
She is followed by junior Harley Mullins (7-5, 5.13 ERA, 44 K's) freshman Jordan Benefiel (7-2, 1.39 ERA, 63 K's) and Shelby Harpe (1-0, 6.00 ERA, 2 K's), who made her first start of the season last weekend versus Tennessee State and picked up the win.
Sydney Baalman (4-9, 3.64 ERA, 60 K's) leads the Cougars pitching staff, with Emily Ingles (2-5, 4.52 ERA, 57 K's) and Lexi King (2-5, 6.25 ERA, 13 K's) also seeing a lot of time in the circle for SIUE.
Govs Hit and Run
- Austin Peay is 6-22 all-time versus SIUE but have won three of the last four meetings between the two schools.
- The Governors pitching staff have not given up a run in their last 15 innings of work.
- For the first time in the program's 36-year history, the Govs have three pitchers on the roster who have all won at least seven games in the same season.
- Governor hitters have struck out an OVC low 103 times this season.
- Kelsey Gross needs one more victory to become the seventh pitcher in program history to reach 30 career wins.
