EDINBURG, Texas – Austin Peay State University's baseball team begins a critical stretch of three consecutive road weekend series when it meets Texas Rio Grande Valley in a three-game series, Friday-Sunday, at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. The Govs make their second trip into Texas during the Roland Fanning Era, after meeting Dallas Baptist last season..

ON THE MOUND FOR THE GOVS

Jacob Weaver notched his season's first win against UMES last weekend. He put together a quality start with six innings pitched while allowing two earned runs. Weaver's seven strikeouts against the Hawks upped his season total to 13 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched.

As mentioned above, Andrew Devine enters the weekend as the reigning ASUN Pitcher of the Week. He held UMES to one hit and one walk in addition to the 12 strikeouts he tossed over seven innings. Devine enters the weekend with 17 Ks in 12 innings pitched.

Austin Peay's Game 3 starter is in the air for Week 3 at UTRGV. The Govs opened the season with Josh Howitt on the mound in Game 3. However, he missed last week for precautionary reasons and the Govs turned to Adam Walker, who made his APSU debut in the start against UMES..

FIRST HACKS

• Center fielder John Bay has a hit in the season's first nine games, with 12 of his 18 hits going for extra bases (1.081 SLG). He led the Govs with eight RBI against UMES, going a team-best 7-for-12 (.583) at the plate.
• Right fielder/first baseman Harrison Brown has used a 3-for-5 outing against Mississippi State on Feb. 21 to jump start his current a five-game hit streak. He is batting .500 (11-for-22) during the streak with six doubles and six RBI.
• Infielder Jaden Brown found his stroke at the plate against UMES with a hit and RBI in all three games. He finished the series batting 5-for-13 (.385) with four RBI.
• Catcher Trevor Conley, the reigning ASUN Player of the Week, extended his hit streak to five games against Gonzaga. He is batting .529 (9-for-17) with three doubles, a home run, and four RBI during the streak.
• Catcher Keaton Cottam made his first start as a Governor against UMES, Sunday, and promptly went 2-for-4 at the plate. He is 3-for-6 batting this season.
• Catcher Gus Freeman started Games 1 and 3 of the WIU series behind the plate but has not played since the opening weekend for precautionary reasons.
• Shortstop Jon Jon Gazdar bounced back from his hitless finale against UMES to go 2-for-4 against Gonzaga, Monday. He is the team leader in runs scored (16) thanks to his team leading .586 on-base percentage.
• Right fielder Clayton Gray extended his hit streak to eight games against Gonzaga Monday. His 2-for-3 outing against the Zags was his team-leading sixth multi-hit game in 2024.
• Infielder Andres Matias did not play in the series against UMES. He returned to the starting lineup against Gonzaga on Monday but did not reach base in four plate appearances. .
• Lyle Miller-Green, the ASUN Preseason Player of the Year, provided five RBI in Friday's UMES series opener. The Hawks then tread lightly the rest of the series. He walked three times and was hit by a pitch twice in the final two games.
• Justin Olson hit the walk-off home run in Sunday's run-rule victory against UMES, one of two home runs in a 2-for-5, five-RBI performance. He followed that with a 1-for-3 outing against the Zags that saw him reach and score twice.   
• Infielder Brody Szako's pinch-hit two-run home run kickstarted the Govs' late-inning rally in the 13-10 win at Mississippi State. He has reached safely in all five games he has played this season, with four walks in his last three games.
• Infielder Ambren Voitik became the first Governors hitter to hit for the cycle since 2017 in his 4-for-4, three RBI outing against Gonzaga on Monday. His at-bats went triple, solo home run, double, and single to complete the feat. .
• Infielder Mateo Hernandez and outfielder Nathan Barksdale have been part of the Govs' "Hands Team," each entering the game with the Govs leading late. Hernandez made his first start against UMES, Feb. 24, and went 1-for-4 at the plate.

GOVS TOP NOTES AND NOTABLES

GOVS SWEEP ASUN WEEKLY AWARDS: Catcher Trevor Conley and pitcher Andrew Divine swept the Atlantic Sun Conference's Week 2 baseball awards. Conley was the starting catcher in four of the Govs' five games during the week and led the team with a .615 batting average. In the Govs' 13-10 come-from-behind win at Mississippi State, his two-out ninth-inning double provided the game-winning RBI. Devine tossed a complete game one-hit shutout in APSU's Game 2 win against UMES, His 12 strikeouts in the seven-inning win were the most by a Governors' pitcher since the 2019 season.

GOVS RECEIVE VOTES IN NCBWA POLL: APSU was among the teams receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's Poll, released Monday. It is the first time since 2013 Austin Peay has received votes in any the four national collegiate baseball polls.

STREAKING BACK TO 2013: The 2024 Govs' eight-game win streak is the longest since a 16-win streak during a perfect month of May during the 2013 season. In addition, Austin Peay's 8-1 start is its best since that 2013 team which went on to win a program-record 47 games, completed a Three-Peayt of conference championships, and advanced to the NCAA's Bloomington Regional Final.

STARKVILLE SPLASH: Austin Peay completed its second all-time midweek sweep of Mississippi State on Feb. 20-21. The Govs led wire-to-wire in Game 1's 3-2 win that featured a three-RBI day by shortstop Jon Jon Gazdar. Game 2 of th e series was a different story as MSU led by scores of 5-0 and 10-5 before APSU scored the game's final eight runs, including three in the eighth and four in the ninth, to win 13-10. This season's midweek sweep joins the 2007 Govs, which swept the Bulldogs in a two-game midweek set in Clarksville.

VAQUEROS' VOICE

UTRGV was picked to finish sixth in the Western Atheltic Conference's Preseason Coaches Poll. Grand Canyon was tabbed as the league's preseason favorite, receiving nine of the 11 first-place votes... Senior right-handed pitcher Angelo Cabral was UTRGV's lone representative on the Preseason All-WAC squad. The Vaqueros Opening Day starter, he began 2024 with five shutout innings against Rhode Island but did not see action last weekend against Milwaukee... UTRGV boasts one of the nation's top pitching staffs through two full weeks. The Vaqueros boast the nation's second-best ERA (1.57) behind only Texas A&M infinitesimal 0.95 ERA. That ERA is thanks largely to ranking among the nation's top 15 in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (13th, 6.29) and fewest walks allowed per nine innings (13th, 2.86). With that combination UTRGV ranks eighth nationally in WHIP (1.02)... The Vaqueros have not allowed more than four runs in a game this season. Rhode Island put up four runs in the opener before scoring three in the final two games of the series. Milwaukee scored three runs but fell to UTRGV in a run-rule affair last week... The UTRGV offense has run hot and cold this season. They have scored 13 or more runs three times in seven games this season. However, in the other four games they have scored four or fewer runs, including in a season-opening loss to Rhode Island (4-3 in 11 innings) and Wednesday against Texas A&M Corpus Christi (2-1)... Catcher Steven Lancia paces the UTRGV offense with his .458 batting average (11-for-24) while also leading the team with four doubles.
Infielder CJ Valdez's 11 RBI and two home runs leads UTRGV and he is batting .333 (8-for-24)  this season.  ..

SERIES DETAILS

THE SERIES: First Meeting.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Fans unable to make it to UTRGV Baseball Stadium can listen to Games 2 & 3 of the series on ESPN Clarksville 104.1 FM in the Clarksville area or online. Van Stokes, who begins his 24th season as the Govs play-by-play voice will have the call on for the last two games of the series. All three games of the series are avaiable on ESPN+ courtesy the UTRGV Atheltics Department.

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.