LEADING OFF

• Austin Peay's baseball team begins a four-game road trip when it heads north for a 6 p.m. Tuesday game against Southern Illinois at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois.  
• RECENT FORM: Austin Peay notched its first ASUN Conference series sweep over the weekend, taking down Queens University in a three-game set at Raymond C. Hand Park. The sweep pushed the Govs to 9-3 during April, including three ASUN series victories.
• ASUN BEAMING: With its three-game sweep of Queens, Austin Peay moved into a tie for third place in the ASUN Conference standings. The Govs are one-game behind co-leaders Florida Gulf Coast and Lipscomb. Austin Peay will face both those teams at home in the second half of league play.
• REVAMPED GOVS: 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

RADIO: ESPN Clarksville (104.1 FM or via the TuneIn Radio App)
    TALENT: Brian Rives (PxP) and Cody Bush (analyst)
LIVE STATS: SIUSalukis.com

SERIES HISTORY

THE SIU SERIES: 47 previous meetings. SIU leads, 27-20.
EARLIER: Right fielder Garrett Martin hit two home runs and third baseman Michael Robinson supplied a grand slam as Austin Peay rallied for a 14-13 nonconference victory against Southern Illinois on April 21.
NOTABLY: The home team has won the last seven meetings in the series… Itchy Jones Stadium has been a house of horrors for the Govs the past two seasons… They suffered through a no-hitter during last season's trip to Carbondale… SIU shut out APSU in their 2021 trip north… The Govs have not scored a run in 24 consecutive innings at Itchy Jones Stadium, dating back to a two-run third inning in their 2019 loss.

CLIMBING THE HILL

• Ashton Smith makes his second start of 2023 after debuting at UT Martin last week. He went 2.2 innings in that outing against the Skyhawks, allowing four runs on four hits to the 16 batters he faced. Smith ultimately did not factor into the decision as the Govs scored 10 runs in the final three innings for a 14-9 victory..

FIRST HACKS

• Designated hitter Lyle Miller-Green is the reigning ASUN Conference Player of the Week. He batted .650 (13-20) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, and five RBI. Miller-Green also scored 10 runs while posting a .731 on-base percentage.
• Utility man Matt Aribal has four starts at second base this month, primarily as a backup for Jaden Brown. He is 1-for-15 at the plate with two walks and two runs scored this month.
• Outfielder Nathan Barksdale saw his streak of 15 consecutive starts snapped against Belmont on April 11. He came off the bench at UT Martin and supplied a two-run single in the ninth inning to help break the game open.
• Outfielder John Bay moved into the starting right field role during the Queens series, starting Games 1 & 3. He had a double in Game 3, his first as a Governor, walked twice, and scored a run.
• Outfielder/first baseman Harrison Brown leads the Govs in ASUN play with a .435 batting average (20-46). He also has 17 RBI (2nd on the team) and two home runs in league action.
• Utility man Jaden Brown returned from injury against Belmont on April 11 and has started each of the past five games – two at second base and right field. He is batting .417 (7-17) with six RBI during his four-game hit streak.
• Catcher Trevor Conley hit his first collegiate home run in the Govs' victory against Queens Sunday. His average is up 95 points (to .304) since March 14, when it hit .209 after the Purdue Fort Wayne finale.
• For the third-straight week, catcher Gus Freeman did a little bit of everything in Saturday's win against Queens. He hit the walk-off double to cap a 2-for-3, two-RBI day, including a sac hit and a sac fly.
• Infielder Jon Jon Gazdar extended his reached-safely streak to 19 games with a three-walk outing in Sunday's series finale against Queens. He is Division I's third-toughest hitter to strike out with a 3.7 percent K percentage (6 Ks in 164 PAs).
• Infielder Conner Gore had six hits in his first two games since his return from injury, April 2 against Bellarmine. He is batting .333 (9-27) with a double and five RBI in six games since his return.
• Outfielder Clayton Gray ranks fifth among Division I hitters with 17 doubles this season, and he also has 17 stolen bases to rank 44th among Division I base runners. He's seeking to become the first Govs hitter with 20 doubles and 20 stolen bases in a season since Garrett Giovannelli in 2018.
• Outfielder Garrett Martin ranks second among Division I players in runs scored (50) and is 11th in the country with 15 home runs. He has a double in his last four games and is batting .381 (8-21) during that stretch.
• Third baseman Ambren Voitik saw his streak of six consecutive games with a stolen base end Sunday against Queens. He moved to fifth among ASUN baserunners with 14 stolen bases this season.

NEXT UP FOR APSU

Austin Peay starts the second half of ASUN Conference play with a crucial three-game series at Jacksonville, Friday-Sunday. The Govs, who are 10-7 in league play, face a Dolphins team that is one game behind it in the standings..