LEADING OFF

• Austin Peay State University's baseball team continues its four-game road trip with its first ASUN Conference road series. The Govs meet ASUN preseason favorite Liberty in a three-game series, slated to begin with a 3 p.m. (CT), Friday contest at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
• APSU began the road trip with a wire-to-wire victory at Murray State, Wednesday. The Govs opened a 5-0 lead against their former conference foe with catcher Travis Conley posting a four-hit, four-RBI day.
• Meanwhile, the Governors brief return home was a success as they won their first-ever ASUN Conference series against North Florida, 2-1. The three-game stretch provided Austin Peay its only home games in a 20-game stretch that began Feb. 24 and ends with Sunday's game at Liberty.
• Austin Peay revamped its baseball program during the offseason, with head coach Roland Fanning hired in May. His hiring and a new staff sparked a near-complete flip of the Governors' roster. The Govs' 2023 lineup includes 27 transfers – the most of any Division I program – with 17 transfers coming from a previous Division I roster.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

ipTV: ESPN+ / ESPN App
    TALENT: Allan York (PxP), Zach Clinton & Josh Barrick (Analyst)
RADIO: ESPN Clarksville (104.1 FM or via the TuneIn Radio App)
    TALENT: Van Stokes (PxP) and Cody Bush (Analyst)
LIVE STATS: PeayStats.com

SERIES HISTORY

THE SERIES: First Meeting.
NOTABLY: Liberty if one of six first-time opponents on Austin Peay's 2023 schedule… This is Austin Peay baseball's first-ever trip to the state of Virginia.

CLIMBING THE HILL

• Lyle Miller-Green enters this weekend still seeking his first victory on the mound. He has allowed three or fewer earned runs in four of his five starts this season but is receiving 4.4 runs of support. Last weekend, he allowed four runs in 3.2 innings against North Florida and suffered the loss as the Govs were held to one run.
• Campbell Holt made his first start as a Governor against North Florida last weekend. He went three innings and allowed four runs on six hits and three walks. Holt didn't qualify for the win in a game APSU won 9-7 to level the series against UNF. He tossed five innings of scoreless relief the week prior against Purdue Fort Wayne in an emergency relief outing.
• Jacob Kush notched his second straight win in the No. 3 role last weekend against the Ospreys. He allowed two runs on two hits and four walks over 5.2 innings against UNF. He has started back-to-back 4-2 victories for the Govs, tossing 11.2 innings in the two starts and allowing only three earned runs (2.31 ERA).

FIRST HACKS

• Utility man Matt Aribal went 2-for-4 in Sunday's series finale against North Florida, his first action since March 11. He improved to 6-for-12 at The Hand this season.
• Outfielder Nathan Barksdale has started in each of the last four games and has a hit in each one. He is batting .500 (6-12) with 4 RBI as a starter. Barksdale went 3-for-3 with a walk in his starting debut against UNF last Friday.
• Outfielder Harrison Brown returned in a starting role against Murray State Wednesday, making his first start at first base. He went 1-for-4 with a RBI double against the Racers. Brown has an RBI in six of his last seven games.
• Infielder Jaden Brown has a hit in eight of his last nine games. He is batting .297 (11-37) with nine RBI over those nine games. During the stretch, Brown has two-hit outings against Oklahoma State, Purdue Fort Wayne, and North Florida.
• Catcher Trevor Conley had four hits and four RBI at Murray State Tuesday. It was his first four-hit day and four-RBI day as a Governor. He is batting .636 (7-11) with 7 RBI in his last three starts.
• Infielder/catcher Gus Freeman went 2-for-3 with a walk, two stolen bases, an RBI, and a runs cored in Game 2 of the North Florida Series. It was his first multi-hit outing as a Governor.  
• Infielder Jon Jon Gazdar brings a three-game hit streak into this weekend's series. He was 1-for-2 with three walks, a stolen base, and a run scored against Murray State Tuesday.  
• Outfielder Clayton Gray is batting .385 (5-13) during his active three-game hit streak, including a 2-for-6 outing against Murray State Tuesday. He opened Wednesday's game with a triple and scored the game's first run.
• Outfielder Garrett Martin extended his reached safely streak to 10 games at Murray State Wednesday. He was 2-for-4 with a walk, RBI, and three runs scored. It was his team-leading ninth multi-hit game of 2023.
• Designated hitter Lyle Miller-Green looks to snap a two-game hitless streak entering this weekend. The odds are good as he entered the UNF series without a hit in four straight games and went 2-for-3 in the opener. Miller-Green is batting .474 (9-19) in games he starts on the mound this season.
• Infielder Michael Robinson returned to action against Purdue Fort Wayne and has a hit in five of his nine games since his return. He had a hit in each of the Govs' wins against North Florida and scored three runs.
• Third baseman Ambren Voitik is batting .400 (4-10) during his three-game hit streak. He was 2-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored at Murray State. He also had four stolen bases against the Racers, one shy of the program record.

NEXT UP FOR APSU

Austin Peay returns home to start a five-game homestand – its longest of 2023. The Govs host the second half of the home-and-home set against Murray State with a 6 p.m., Tuesday game on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.