CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay's baseball team brings a five-game run against ASUN Conference foes comes to a head this weekend when it hosts former Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Kentucky in a three-game series. The series begins with a 3 p.m., Friday contest on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park. The Govs and Colonels then play at 1 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting.

The weekend set is a study in teams currently trending in different directions. Austin Peay has lost its last six games, including both ends of a midweek home-and-home pair with Lipscomb. Eastern Kentucky has won its last six games, sweeping Bowling Green last weekend before downing Western Kentucky and Marshall during the week.

Catcher Jake Alexander has paced the Austin Peay offense through the season's first quarter, batting .400 with seven doubles and 13 RBI – leading the Govs in all three categories. Third baseman Michael Robinson has added to the offensive attack with a .327 batting average, five doubles and 11 RBI.

Eastern Kentucky catcher Will King is leading his group with six doubles and 16 RBI while batting .280 this season. Meanwhile, shortstop Logan Thomason is batting .340 with 13 runs scored and outfielder Max Williams has 13 walks and a .492 on-base percentage, that duo leading the team in those respective categories.

NEW TO THE HAND

Austin Peay's athletics department made two major changes to improve the fan experience this spring at Raymond C. Hand Park. First, new netting was installed that extends from dugout to dugout and is 30 feet high to protect the seating area and hillsides behind both dugouts. Fans are reminded foul balls may still enter the seating area but the new netting should provide a safer experience.

In addition, new chairback seating was installed behind home plate. The new reserved seating area provides additional seating space for fans along with cup holders for their ice-cold Coca-Cola products.

TICKET INFORMATION

Season and single-game tickets are still available for the 31-game home slate. Fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets in advance by visiting LetsGoPeay.com/BuyTickets or by calling the APSU Athletics Ticket Office at 931-221-PEAY (7329). The ticket window at Raymond C. Hand Park opens one hour prior to first pitch each day.

FOLLOW THE GOVS

This weekend's series against Kent State is available on ESPN+ with Van Stokes providing the play-by-play, which will also be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio Clarksville (104.1 FM) and available on the TuneIn app. Fans wishing to follow along more discreetly may visit PeayStats.com for live scoring through the series or get important game updates on Twitter by following @GovsBSB.

ON THE MOUND

GAME 1 | LHP Harley Gollert vs. RHP Michael Schuler
Gollert will make his fourth start as the Govs No. 1 this season but has battled through up-and-down outings in his first three, including a quality start and victory against Bowling Green in Week 2 before lasting five innings in a loss to Kent State last weekend. Schuler will make his third start as EKU's No. 1 and will be following up a win against Bowling Green last weekend where he allowed one run in five innings.

GAME 2 | TBA vs. RHP Rese Brown
Drew McIllwain was the No. 2 starter in the first two weeks before moving into the No. 3 role during the Kent State doubleheader last weekend. McIllwain saw 1.2 innings of relief action in Tuesday's game against Lipscomb. EKU's Brown has allowed one earned run in back-to-back starts and struck out 13 batters in a win against Bowling Green last week.

GAME 3 | TBA vs. RHP Rian Yates
Luke Brown opened the season at No. 3 but moved into the No. 2 spot in last weekend's doubleheader against Kent State. Brown started Wednesday's outing at Lipscomb and went three innings. Yates climbs the hill for the Colonels for his fourth start of the season. He has not made it through five innings in his first three starts, but has 15 strikeouts in 12.2 innings.

THROUGH THE LINEUP

• Catcher Jack Alexander extended his hit streak to 10 games with a hit in each Lipscomb contest. He is batting .485 (16-for-33) with 9 RBI and 9 runs scored during the streak. He has caught 97 of the Govs 123 innings this season (79 percent).
• First baseman John McDonald's reached-safely streak stands at 35 games (14 in 2022), which is the 5th longest streak at APSU since 1996, tying Lance Wampler's 35-game stretch (2000). Next up is Ryan Kane's 40-game reached safely streak during the 2006 season.
• Second baseman Jonah Beamon notched a hit in each of his final at-bats in Tuesday's Lipscomb game then came off the bench Wednesday and reached safely (BB and HBP) in his two plate appearances, finishing the midweek pair with a .667 on-base percentage.
• Shortstop John Bolton also posted a .667 on-base percentage against Lipscomb during the week, including a 2-for-3 Wednesday outing. He has a walk in 5 straight games and a team-best 9 walks in March.
• Third baseman Michael Robinson has 5 walks and a .600 on-base percentage in his last three games, including two walks in each game against Lipscomb. He is 3-for-9 with 2 doubles and 4 runs scored in thos three games.
• Center fielder Skyler Luna had hits in each Lipscomb outing, going 2-for-6 with 2 RBI. It is the second time he has had hits in back-to-back games this season (Boston College, Feb. 19-20).
• Gino Avros was held without a hit against Lipscomb but had an RBI in each game. He led off Wednesday's game with a walk, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an error to start the scoring.
• Jeremy Wagner has pieced together a 4-game hit streak. He is batting .438 (7-for-16) with 2 doubles, 2 RBI, and 4 runs scored during the streak. Earlier this season, he had 5 hits during a 3-game hit streak (Feb. 26-March 1).
• Ty DeLancey has an RBI in 3-straight games while only going 1-for-6 at the plate. He is second on the team with 12 RBI despite starting only 6 games in 2022 (13 games played).
• Harrison Brown is 3-for-5 with 5 RBI in his last 3 games played. He was 2-for-3 with a double and 4 RBI in the Kent State series finale, last Saturday. That was his first multi-hit and multi-RBI effort of 2022.
• Govs pinch hitters are batting .280 (7-for-25) with 6 walks and 4 HBPs – a .486 on-base percentage. Matt Joslin leads the team with seven pinch-hit opportunities in 2022 and is 1-for-3 with three walks and an HBP (.714 on-base percentage) as a pinch hitter.

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