CLARKSVILLE – (CLARKSVILLENOW) First baseman Dre Gleason had four hits and a career-high seven RBI, leading Austin Peay State University’s baseball team to a 21-8 rout of Middle Tennessee, Tuesday night at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Trailing by a run entering the bottom of the first, Austin Peay (5-3) wasted little time getting its offense in gear. After a leadoff walk and one-out hit batsman, Gleason got his day started with a two-out, two-run double past the first baseman. Left fielder Alex Robles would follow with a run-scoring single and the Govs opened up a 3-1 lead.
The Governors piled on another six runs in the third inning, Gleason delivering the biggest blow of the frame with a three-run home run after the first two batters were walked. Austin Peay’s next three runs came on two wild pitches and a sacrifice fly to extend the advantage to 9-1.
Middle Tennessee (3-5) would push the Govs in the fifth and sixth frames. The Blue Raiders plated five runs in the fifth inning, two via Governors errors and another two coming on first baseman Aaron Aucker’s home run. MTSU closed the gap further with two runs in the sixth, including Aucker’s RBI single.
But Austin Peay head coach Travis Janssen gathered his troops in the dugout and the message resounded clearly as the Govs got a run back in the sixth before breaking the game open with a nine-run seventh inning and closing the scoring with two runs in the eighth.
The Govs nine-run seventh frame lasted 49 minutes and saw 15 batters take a turn. Second baseman Garrett Giovannelli had a double to start the frame and added another double later in the inning. Center fielder Imani Willis and pinch hitter Malcolm Tipler hit back-to-back home runs in the frame as the Govs extended their lead to 19-8.
Austin Peay starter Josh Rye (2-0) recovered from allowing a home run in the first inning to pick up the win in a three-inning outing that saw him allow two hits and a walk while striking out five.
Gleason finished the day 4-for-5 with a double, home run and seven RBI with each of his four hits supplying a run. Three Govs finished with three-hit outings while another three had two hits each as the Govs pounded out 22 hits.
In that 22-hit total the Govs hit four home runs, bringing their season total to 22 in the season’s first eight games. Austin Peay also hit a program record-tying nine doubles, nearly doubling their total for the season.
Austin Peay continues its four-game homestand when it hosts Mercer in a three-game series, beginning with a 6 p.m., Friday contest. It will be a matchup between two of Division I top three teams in home runs per game.