MURRAY, Ky. – Starting pitcher Luke Brown went eight innings, providing seven scoreless, and Austin Peay State University opened its Ohio Valley Conference series against Murray State with a 7-3 victory, Thursday night at Johnny Reagan Field.
Brown's outing didn't start auspiciously as he ran into trouble in the first inning after retiring the first two batters he faced. Murray State began a rally with double and a walk before three consecutive singles, each scored a run. Brown would get the third out on a ground ball to end the frame but Austin Peay trailed 3-1.
Yet it was that ground out – simple as it seemed – that appeared to turn Brown's night around. He would not allow a base runner again until the sixth inning, retiring 14 consecutive batters. He would allow two singles in that sixth inning, but then retired seven straight batters to finish his seven-inning scoreless stretch.
Austin Peay (21-30, 15-13 OVC) took advantage of Brown's scoreless stretch by battling back to regain the lead. Left fielder TJ Foreman led off the second with a home run, narrowing the deficit to 3-2. Two innings later, Foreman's single drove in catcher Jack Alexander to tie the game, 3-3.
But the game turned in the sixth inning as the Govs chased Murray State starter Shane Burns and solved stopper Jacob Pennington quickly for a four-run outburst. Burns walked the first two batters he faced, ending his outing. Pennington took over and quickly struck out two batters but could not get pinch hitter Ty DeLancey to end the inning.
DeLancey's single loaded the bases and sparked the two-out rally. Third baseman Gino Avros singled in a run, second baseman Malcolm Tipler added two more with a single and center fielder Garrett Spain added a fourth run with another single. By the time the Govs recorded the third out they led 7-3.
Austin Peay threated to truly break the game open in the seventh, loading the bases with no outs. However, the Murray State defense rallied by recording two outs at home. The first came on a swinging bunt that third baseman Bryson Bloomer fielded and scooped to catcher Alex Crump for a force out. Right fielder Brock Anderson turned a fly ball into another fielder's choice when he allowed it to drop and threw home for a second force out. Reliever Alec Whaley then notched a strikeout to end the frame without a run scoring.
Murray State (29-22, 17-11) threatened one final time in the ninth, again with two outs. Three consecutive pinch hitters reached base safely – two walks and a single – bringing up the top of the Racers order.  However, Govs reliever Harley Gollert, who began the inning, induced a fly out to left to end the game.
Brown (4-1) went eight innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out a career-high nine batters to notch the win. After tossing 32 pitches and facing eight batters in the first inning, he needed just 80 over his seven scoreless frames to face 23 batters.
Alexander went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and was followed in the order by Foreman who was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Avros also was 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored
Burns (1-2) allowed five runs on five hits and four walks in the loss. Crump went 2-for-4 with a RBI to pace the Racers offense, which was held to seven hits.
Austin Peay and Murray State conclude the regular season with a 1 p.m., Friday OVC doubleheader at Johnny Reagan Field. The Govs reduced their magic number for OVC tournament qualification to two games against Eastern Illinois.
