CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University's baseball team won in run-rule walk-off fashion against Southern Indiana by a score of 15-5, Wednesday, in their midweek matchup at Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Chance Cox had his second start of the season for the Govs and earned his second win after five innings of work on the hill.
How it Happened
Top 1st | Cox struggled early in the contest, allowing two runs in the first. It started with a leadoff single from Patrick McLellan, who would advance to second on a passed ball. After a deep flyout to center field, he would advance to third with just one out in the inning. A pitch then hit Cole Kitchens to put runners on the corners. Kannon Coakley would single to left field, scoring McLellan for the first run of the game. Two batters later, BJ Banyon had a two-out RBI single through the right side of the infield, scoring Kitchens, who advanced home on an error by Brody Szako in right.
Bottom 1st | The Govs would answer back and cut the USI lead in half early in the bottom half of the first. Kyler Proctor led the inning with a groundout to second, but John Bay stepped up and hit his eighth homer of the year 450 feet to dead center.
Top 2nd | Southern Indiana responded with a solo shot in the second when Micajah Wall stepped up to the plate. He hit his first of the year over the center field fence to extend the USI lead, 1-3.
Bottom 2nd | Austin Peay exploded at the plate in the second, putting up five runs to take the lead. Szako led the inning off with a hit-by-pitch and later reached second on a passed ball. Andres Matias then singled to center, putting runners at the corners. Keaton Cottam laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Szako and advance Matias into scoring position. Matias then stole third and scored after a throwing error on the second baseman, Noah Smallwood. Bay would follow the play with an RBI single to left, scoring Proctor. Cameron Nickens then capped off the inning with a two-run home run down the right field line for the 6-3 Govs lead.
Top 5th | Cox limited the Screaming Eagles offense up until the fifth inning when Kitchens homered to left, putting the score at 6-4 in favor of the Govs.
Bottom 6th | Camden Dimidjian began the inning on the mound for Southern Indiana and had success early on. But the two-out Govs offense came to life with Cottam on base and two gone in the inning. Bay doubled to left center, scoring Cottam. He would advance to third on a passed ball and then scored on an RBI single from Nickens, extending the lead to 8-4.
Top 7th | Southern Indiana would get base runners in scoring position with less than two outs in the seventh, and they would score a run off of an error, putting the score at 8-5. This would be the final run the Screaming Eagles produced in the game.
Bottom 8th | The Govs would score seven in the eighth and put the game away on the run rule. Bay was hit by a pitch with one out and would come around to score on another Nickens home run for his eighth of the season. A pitch then hit Gus Freeman before a USI pitching change. Paris Pridgen pinch-ran for Freeman and stole second right away, making him 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts. He would come in to score on a Cody Johnson double down the left field line. Matias homered down the left field line a few batters later for a three-run shot, putting the Govs within one run to end the game. Cottam and Proctor would go back-to-back with singles to the outfield, then advancing after Bay was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With Nickens at the plate, he saw four straight balls to draw the walk and bring in the winning run.
Wrap Up
Cox picked up his second win of the season to improve to 2-0. He threw five innings with three strikeouts, allowing four runs, three earned, on eight hits and one walk.
Porter was given the loss after allowing six runs, four earned, in just two innings of work. He allowed five hits and a walk while striking out two batters.
Kade Shatwell picked up his first save of the season after entering before the seven-run Govs eighth. He threw the final inning, striking out one batter and not allowing a single batter to reach safely.
Notables
Nickens: 4-for-5, 2 HR, BB, 6 RBI, 4 R – Set a career-high six RBI in a single game and matched previous best two homers in a single game.
Bay: 3-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 HBP, 3 RBI, 4 R – Has hit five home runs in his last four games.
Matias: 2-for-5, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R – Recorded his third multi-RBI performance of the season.
Solomon Washington: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K – Set a new single-game high, five strikeouts in relief.
Up Next
The Governors travel to Arkansas to face Central Arkansas in their second Atlantic Sun Conference series, starting at 6 p.m. (CT), Friday, at Bear Stadium in Conway, Arkansas. All games will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast on ESPN Clarksville 104.1 FM or through the TuneIn app.
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