CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Fresh off its season-opening series victory, Austin Peay State University's baseball team gears up for a midweek test when it faces Mississippi State in a pair of 4 p.m. midweek outings, Tuesday and Wednesday, on Dudy Noble Field at Polk-Dement Stadium.
ON THE MOUND FOR THE GOVS
Lyle Miller-Green looks toward his first start of the 2024 campaign to opening the series against the Bulldogs. He is one of the Govs' two returning pitchers with 10 or more starts in 2023. Miller-Green made 13 starts last season, pitching in all three weekend spots.
Austin Peay has not announced a probable starting pitcher for Wednesday's game in Starkville.
NOTES AND NOTABLES
PRESEASON NODS: Pitcher/outfielder Lyle Miller-Green enters the year as the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic Sun Conference's Player of the Year honor. The league's head coaches and D1Baseball.com tapped him for the preseason honor in early February. In addition, outfielder Clayton Gray was named to the Preseason All-ASUN team by the league's coaches. The coaches picked Austin Peay to finish sixth in the league's preseason poll.
SILKY SMOOTH SHORTSTOP: Jon Jon Gazdar may not have earned a spot on the Preseason All-ASUN team, but the shortstop did not go without recognition. D1Baseball.com listed the Walnut Creek, California product among its Top 50 shortstops nationally – the only ASUN shortstop listed. Miller-Green (No. 83) and Gray (No. 90) also were listed on the website's Top 100 Outfielder list.
BIG OFFENSE ON TAP: Austin Peay returns nearly all the regulars off an offense that posted one of the best seasons in program history. Of the nine hitters with 100 or more at-bats last season, only one will not return. Outfielder Garrett Martin is the Govs' lone departure after graduation and signing as a free agent with the New York Yankees. Offensive Breakdown on page 4.
CHANGE ON THE MOUND: While the offense returns the bulk of its output, the situation on the mound will be drastically different. Austin Peay saw 10 letterwinners depart from last season's pitching staff, leaving only six returnees. Each of those six returnees supplied 27 or more innings in 2023. Eleven newcomers bolster the Govs' bullpen, including five transfers from other Division I programs. Pitching Breakdown on page 5.
BULLDOGS BRIEFING
Mississippi State looks to rebound following a 27-26 record in 2023 that saw them miss the SEC Tournament with a 9-21 league mark… Mississippi State was picked to finish seventh in the SEC West Division… The Bulldogs opened 2024 with a three-game series victory against Air Force. MSU won the season opener, 8-4, before dropping a 3-2 pitchers' duel on Saturday. The Bulldogs rebounded with a 10-2 Sunday win to clinch the series… Outfielder Dakota Jordan was named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List and the Preseason All-SEC Second Team. He opened 2024, batting .417 against Air Force with two home runs and three RBI… Cam Schuelke was named to the NCBWA Preseason Stopper of the Year Watch List. He picked up the save in MSU's season-opening win, striking out two of the six batters he faced in a two-inning outing.
SERIES DETAILS
THE SERIES: MSU leads the series, 5-2.
CURRENT STREAK: MSU, four wins.
IN STARKVILLE: MSU leads, 4-0
NOTABLY: The Govs and Bulldogs meet for the first time in more than a decade after meeting seven times in a nine-season span (2005-13) during the height of the Govs early 2000s success. Famously, Austin Peay swept a midweek pair from Mississippi State at Raymond C. Hand Park in 2008 during a season that saw both teams reach the NCAA Tournament. Three years later, the teams met in the winner's bracket of the 2011 Atlanta Regional hosted by Georgia Tech.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Both games at Mississippi State are available online through the SEC Network+, provided by ESPN. The Governors Radio Network also will broadcast both games, with Van Stokes providing the play-by-play, in the Clarksville area on ESPN Clarksville 104.1 FM and online.
FOLLOW ALONG
Keep up to date with all Governors baseball on the official website of Austin Peay Athletics - www.LetsGoPeay.com. Follow @GovsBSB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for all Governors Baseball updates and ticket information as they happen.
