CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – After winning its fifth Atlantic Sun Conference series at FGCU over the weekend, Austin Peay's baseball team opens a five-game homestand by hosting Middle Tennessee in a 6 p.m. Tuesday contest on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park. It is the second game of the home-and-home series, which Middle Tennessee opened with a 16-15 extra-inning victory last Tuesday. 

SCENE SETTER

Austin Peay: Austin Peay moved up to fourth in the ASUN standings after winning its series at Florida Gulf Coast to finish its four-game road trip, which started with last Tuesday's loss at MTSU, with a 2-2 record. The Govs have hit 39 home runs and 35 doubles and are averaging 10.9 runs per game during April's 12 games.

Middle Tennessee: After defeating the Govs last week, the Blue Raiders fell to Tennessee Tech Wednesday before suffering a three-game sweep at Sam Houston State. MTSU's 16-run outburst against the Govs was a run shy of their best offensive output this season.

FIRST HACKS

• Center fielder John Bay hit his 17th home run of 2024 at FGCU on Sunday. He has an 11-game streak of reaching safely that includes 18 hits (.473 BA), 12 walks, and 3 HBP (.623 OBP).
• First baseman/right fielder Harrison Brown brings a 10-game hit streak into the week. He's batting .405 (17-42) with five home runs, nine RBI, and 14 runs scored during the streak. Brown had two hits in all three FGCU games.
• Utility man Jaden Brown became the fifth different Govs batter to hit a grand slam this season, getting his in the FGCU series finale Sunday. He enters the week on a 14-game hit streak and a 23-game reached safely streak. He is batting .400 (22-55) with 15 RBI and 12 runs scored during his hitting streak.
• Catcher Keaton Cottam scored 2-for-5 with two RBI and three runs at Middle Tennessee last Tuesday. It was his seventh start at catcher (sixth midweek start), and he had a hit in five of those starts.
• Catcher Gus Freeman caught all 26 innings at FGCU and caped his stay in Fort Myers with a career-best 4-for-5 effort, including a double, RBI, and three runs scored. He is batting .414 with two home runs in April.
• Shortstop Jon Jon Gazdar is batting .435 (20-46) with eight RBI and 13 runs scored during his 10-game hit streak. He began the streak with six straight two-hit games, and he had two three-hit games at FGCU last weekend.
• Infielder Conner Gore has started at five positions (1B, 2B, 3B, RF, DH). He started at third against Middle Tennessee last Tuesday and in the FGCU series opener, going 3-for-9 with a double and home run in the two games.
• Right fielder Clayton Gray hit his second grand slam of the season at Middle Tennessee on Tuesday and finished the game with a season-best six RBI. His hit streak was halted at 14 games in the FGCU series opener, but he bounced back with back-to-back two-hit outings.
• Two-way man Lyle Miller-Green, the ASUN Preseason Player of the Year, went 6-for-6 in the FGCU series finale Sunday, becoming only the third Govs hitter to finish a game with a 6-for-6 mark. He also had a career-high tying six RBI and hit his 20th home run of the season, becoming only the second Govs hitter to reach the 20-homer milestone.
• First baseman Justin Olson had a double and home run during his Saturday start at FGCU, his only action of the series. He has a hit in four straight games dating back to an April 6 outing against Bellarmine. 
• Third baseman Brody Szako returned to the lineup with a splash at FGCU. He went 2-for-5 in Games 2 and 3 with a double and RBI in his return before adding a home run and two RBI in Sunday's finale. 
• Second baseman Ambren Voitik saw his modest four-game hit streak end in the FGCU series opener. He is batting .519 (14-27) with three home runs, two doubles, nine RBI, and 10 runs scored over his last seven games.
• Infielders Andres Matias, Mateo Hernandez, and outfielder Nathan Barksdale have been part of the Govs' "Hands Team," each entering the game defensively when the Govs are leading late.

GOVS TOP NOTES AND NOTABLES

HOME RUN 100

This month, the Govs 39-home run outburst has pushed the program's single-season home run record into rarified air. Austin Peay broke its single-season record against Jacksonville on April 14 when second baseman Ambren Voitik hit a three-run homer for the record-breaking 86th home run. In just four games after breaking the record, the Govs have hit 13 home runs and enter Tuesday's outing one homer shy of the 100-home run mark. The NCAA record with the current BBCOR bat standard (introduced in 2011) is 158 home runs set by Tennessee during the 2022 season.

THESE GOVS ABSOLUTELY RAKE

Entering this weekend's action, Austin Peay's offense is producing at a historic pace. Austin Peay enters the week leading Division I with 107 total doubles and is third in total home runs (99). The Govs lead the ASUN, rank among the NCAA Top 10, and are on pace to set program records in each of the following categories:

BEWARE THE K

Meanwhile, Austin Peay's pitching staff maintains its program record pace, averaging 9.67 strikeouts per nine innings. That rate is second-best in program history behind the 2019 staff's 9.92 strikeout rate (556 Ks/504.1 IP). This season's strikeout rate ranks 47th among Division I teams and leads all ASUN squads.

FOLLOW ALONG

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