Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University baseball right-handed pitcher Lyndon Glidewell picked up his sixth win after collecting a career-high nine strikeouts, and catcher Keaton Cottam collected a career-high four hits to help the Govs sweep their eighth series this season against Bellarmine, Sunday, at Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Austin Peay State University took game one from Bellarmine 11-1 and then game two of the doubleheader 14-4.
Game 1 of DH
How it Happened
Bottom 1st | Following a leadoff out, John Bay collected Austin Peay State University’s first hit of the ballgame, with a line drive short hop to the Knights’ shortstop. Gus Freeman came up to bat with two outs, two batters later in the inning, and singled through the right side to move Bay to third. Cole Johnson then dropped a single into shallow right field to score Bay and give the Govs a 1-0 lead.
Bottom 3rd | Bay led off the third with a four-pitch walk before moving to third base on a Cameron Nickens double to right field. Johnson came up with an out in the second inning, two batters later, and hit a fly ball deep enough to score Bay on the sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 2-0.
Bottom 4th | The APSU Govs were able to get another run in the fourth off a solo shot from Ray Velazquez on a 1-1 count to begin the inning, making the score 3-0.
Bottom 5th | Nickens led the fifth with a four-pitch walk and advanced to third on a double to left center off the bat of Gus Freeman. Arren Hash came into the game to relieve the Knights’ starting pitcher, Aaron Ragat, with a pair of runners on base. He got Johnson to line out to center field, but it was deep enough to score Nickens from third for his second sacrifice fly of the game. Then Velazquez came up and singled to left field, scoring Freeman from second to make it 5-0.
Bottom 6th | The Govs exploded at the plate for six runs in the sixth inning to put the Knights in run-rule threat, beginning with a leadoff single from Keaton Cottam. He was followed by Kyler Proctor, who was hit by a pitch. Then Bay hit his Atlantic Sun Conference leading 17th home run to straightaway center. Nickens then came up and went back-to-back, hitting his 16th homer of the season down the left field line.
With two outs in the inning, Brody Szako drew a walk, and Velazquez followed with a four-pitch walk, putting two runners on base. Andres Matias then delivered with an RBI single to right field to bring the order back around to Cottam. He also delivered an RBI single up the middle to score Velazquez. Cottam set a new single-game high for hits in a game with that base hit, setting the mark at four.
Top 7th | Solomon Washington began the seventh in relief of Glidewell and struck out the first two batters in the inning. But a pair of singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Bellarmine. Washington’s second pitch of the at-bat got by Cottam behind the plate, allowing the Knights to score a run on the passed ball. But that would be all that Bellarmine could stir up in the final inning, falling 11-1 to the APSU Govs in run-rule fashion.
Game 1 Wrap Up
Glidewell improved to 6-0 on the season after six shutout innings of work with a career-high nine strikeouts in the contest. He allowed just two hits, a hit batter, and four walks in 99 pitches, with a 67.7 percent strike rate.
Ragat fell to 0-8 on the season after throwing the first four innings for the Knights, allowing five earned runs to score. He struck four batters in his work on the mound, while allowing nine hits and a pair of walks.
Game 2 of DH
How it Happened
Bottom 1st | Austin Peay State University did not take long to make a statement in the series finale, scoring four runs before an out was recorded. They scored six runs total in the inning. Proctor led the inning with an infield single to first base. He stole the Govs’ first of nine stolen bases in the game before advancing to third on a wild pitch.
Bay then drew a five-pitch walk to bring Nickens up to the plate. He singled up the middle to score Proctor for the game’s first run and then stole second base with Freeman at the plate. With both runners in scoring position, Freeman singled to left field to score Bay. Freeman then stole second base before he and Nickens scored on a double to right center from Johnson.
Without recording an out in the game, Zach Horwith was replaced by Mike Sokol on the mound for Bellarmine. After retiring the first batter he faced, Velazquez reached on a fielding error from Luke Scales at shortstop. Trevor Conley came up to the plate and laid down a sacrifice bunt, which allowed Johnson to score on the safety squeeze play. Matias stepped up and then collected a two-out RBI with a single to right, extending the Govs’ lead to 6-0.
Bottom 3rd | Johnson led the second inning with a base hit up the middle before stealing second and third base. Velazquez followed up with a two-run home run over the center field fence, giving himself a home run in back-to-back games. Conley was the next batter, and he ripped a double to left field on the first pitch he saw. He came in to score on a single from Proctor. Proctor advanced to second base on the throw in from the outfield before stealing third base. Bay saw three straight balls before being given the green light on 3-0. He then singled through the left side of the infield to score Proctor and extend the lead to 10-0.
Top 4th | Jacob Weaver, the starting pitcher for the Govs, allowed his first base hit of the game to the leadoff batter, Landon Akers. He struck out the next two batters, but allowed another base hit up the middle before Scales collected an RBI single to left field, scoring Akers for Bellarmine’s first run.
Bottom 4th | Cooper Hellman began the fourth in relief for Sokol on the mound for the Knights. He was greeted by Freeman at the dish and gave up a leadoff double down the right field line. Johnson came up and hit his ninth home run of the season to put the APSU Govs up by 11 runs. After drawing a four-pitch walk later in the inning, Velazquez stole second and third base before scoring on a wild pitch, extending the Govs’ lead to 13-1.
Bottom 6th | Following three straight one-out singles, Matias hit a bases-loaded RBI single through the right side of the infield, giving the Govs a comfortable 14-1 lead.
Top 7th | McKay Whitaker pinch hit for Eli Watson to lead off the seventh. He singled down the third base line before advancing to second on a groundout. Nick Gnardellis then came up to the plate and hit a two-run home run over the left center field fence. That would only get the Knights back within 11 runs, which would not be enough to extend the game, as the Govs closed out the inning for a 14-3 win.
Game 2 Wrap Up
Horwith fell to 0-4 on the season after allowing five runs, four earned, to score on four hits and a walk, while not recording an out in the start.
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Next Up For APSU Baseball
The Austin Peay State University baseball team travels to Kentucky to face Morehead State in their final midweek contest of the season, starting on Tuesday at 5:00pm CT at Allen Field in Morehead, Kentucky.
