CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University's baseball team fell to the Eagles of Eastern Michigan, who were paced by three long balls, Friday, at Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.

How it Happened

Top 1st | Eastern Michigan led the game with a single off the bat of TJ Williams. Cody Airington struck out the next batter before allowing a base hit to center from Devan Zirwas, which scored Williams from first after a fielding error from Paris Pridgen, giving the Eagles an early 1-0 lead.

Top 3rd | Airington threw a shutout second before starting the third with back-to-back home runs from Zirwas and Ty Stecko. DJ Merriweather replaced Airington and retired the next three batters to end the inning and hold the Eagles to a 3-0 lead.

Bottom 3rd | The first two Governor batters were retired on strikes before rallying for a pair of runs. A pitch hit Ray Velazquez to begin the rally, before Ty Wisdom hit his first of two doubles on the day. With Velazquez and Wisdom in scoring position, Cole Johnson hit a ground ball to the EMU shortstop, Williams, who then committed a throwing error, allowing two runners to cross the plate to bring the Govs back within one run.

Bottom 4th | The Governors scratched back and tied up the game on a Trevor Conley single up the middle, following Paris Pridgen's base hit, stolen base, and a wild pitch to put him on third. The Govs tied it up 3-3.

Bottom 5th | Ty Wisdom led off the fifth with a base hit to center field, which was then followed by a groundout to second, moving him up to second. Andres Matias then came through and delivered a single down the right field line to score Wisdom and put the Govs on top, 4-3.

Top & Bottom 7th | Both the Eagles and the Governors scored a run in the seventh inning to keep the Govs up by one. Nathan Borchardt and Johnson both collected RBI singles to make the score 5-4.

Top 8th | John Hale led the inning off with a walk before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt. Zirwas was later intentionally walked, before Drew DeLucia gave up a three-run home run to Stecko, which ultimately would be the game-winning hit for EMU.

Bottom 8th | Austin Peay scratched back for one run in the bottom half of the eighth inning, as Kyler Proctor scored Paris Pridgen from third on a sacrifice fly to deep center field, moving the Govs within one run, 7-6.

Wrap Up

Cole Egan was given the win after throwing two-thirds of an inning in relief. He improved to 1-0 on the season after facing four batters and allowing a run to score on a pair of hits.

Fischer Hendershot picked up his first save of the year after throwing the game's final inning and not allowing a run to score, while striking out and walking one batter each.

DeLucia was given the loss and fell to 0-1 on the season after allowing three earned runs to score on a pair of hits and walked batters, while striking out two in two innings of relief.

Notables

• Merriweather – 18 Batters faced in four innings of relief. Allowed just one run to score while striking out a pair of batters and walking four.
• Wisdom – 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored.
• Conley – 2-for-3 with an RBI and a hit-by-pitch. Picked up his first two hits of the season.

Up Next

The Governors will return to the diamond for the second game of their three-game series with the Eagles, starting at 1 p.m. (CT), Saturday, at Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.

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