CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University's baseball team became the fastest team in program history to reach 40 wins in a single season, beating the 2013 team by a single game, doing so in just 52 games. The Govs won the series finale against Central Arkansas in run-rule fashion to close out the 2025 homestand, Sunday, at Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
How it Happened
Bottom 2nd | The Govs struck first in the bottom of the second and got on the board before Central Arkansas for the first time in the series. Cole Johnson singled through the left side of the infield before the next two batters were recorded out. Then the Govs went on a tear, scoring five runs with two outs. Andres Matias singled to right field, scoring Johnson from second. Keaton Cottam did the same to move Matias to second base. Kyler Proctor came up next and delivered an RBI single to left field, before John Bay doubled to bring in another run. Cameron Nickens capped off the scoring with a two-RBI single up the middle, making it a 5-0 lead for the Govs.
Bottom 3rd | Aden Velasquez began the third inning on the mound for the Bears, pitching in relief of the Central Arkansas starter, Jacob Pannell. Brody Szako collected a one-out triple before being driven in on an RBI single from Ray Velazquez.
Top 4th | Preston Curtis led the inning with a double to left field, and Jagger Schattle followed up with a single up the middle to score the Bears' first run of the game, making the score 6-1.
Bottom 4th | Bay led off the fourth with a solo-shot for his ASUN-leading 20th home run of the season.
Top 5th | Zeb Allen led the fifth with a double to the left center gap before moving to third on a groundout to second base. Schattle came up later and collected an infield single to the pitcher, scoring Allen for the first run in the inning. After loading the bases, Noah Goodshield was hit by a pitch, which brought in another run to make it 7-3.
Bottom 6th | Jackson Schwank relieved Jake Jones, who had come into the game in relief for the Bears earlier in the game. He was greeted by Nickens at the plate, and he hit his 18th home run of the season over the fence in right center. Gus Freeman then laid down a bunt for a hit down the third base line. After advancing to second on a groundout, Szako singled to left field, allowing Freeman to score and extend the Govs' lead to 9-3.
Top 7th | Schattle began the top of the seventh with a solo home run over the center field fence for the Bears' fourth run of the game.
Bottom 7th | Matias led off the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run for his eighth on the year. Proctor walked, and Bay was hit by a pitch to allow a pair of runners to reach base. Freeman followed with a two-out single to left field, scoring Proctor to extend the lead to 11-4.
Bottom 8th | The Govs were able to rally and piece together some more offense to put away the game. Szako and Velazquez reached base safely to begin the inning, before Cottam hit a single into shallow center field to bring in a run. Cottam and Velazquez had the double-steal on, and Velazquez scored easily on the throwdown to second. A few batters later, Nickens came up and hit an RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Cottam and walked it off to end the game in run-rule fashion.
Wrap Up
Lyndon Glidewell picked up the win after throwing the game's first five innings. He improved to 7-0 on the season after allowing three earned runs to score on seven hits, a walk, and five hit batters.
Pannell fell to 3-1 on the season after just two innings of work in his start. He allowed five earned runs to score on eight hits.
Up Next
The Governors take a short trip down I-24 to face Lipscomb in their final conference series starting at 6 p.m. (CT), Thursday, at Dugan Field.
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