CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – With an opening at catcher looming on its 2017 roster, Austin Peay State University’s baseball team moved quickly, with Knoxville’s Tucker Pate signing a letter of intent during the early signing period.
Pate, a 6-1, 220-pound catcher, is preparing for his senior year at Karns High School playing for head coach Matt Hurley. After a slow start to his junior campaign, he closed strongly to finish with a .394 batting average, 24 doubles and three home runs for a .541 slugging percentage. Pate helped Karns advance to a runner-up finish in the District 3-AAA tournament.
“We’ve recruited Tucker to come in and compete for the starting job early in his career,” said Governors head coach Travis Janssen. “He has had an accomplished high school career, including competing for Team Tennessee in last year’s prestigious Sun Belt Games in Oklahoma. He is a tough kid, and we think he has a really bright future as a student-athlete at APSU. We believe he’ll represent our program and our values both on and off of the field in a great way. We couldn’t be more excited about him joining the APSU baseball family.”
He continued play during the summer with the Diamond Simcox Academy with Brian Hochevar. There, he batted .450 with six home runs and participated in the Power Showcase Home Run Derby as the Tennessee representative. Competing in the home run derby at Marlins Park, the home of the Miami Marlins major league team, where he hit a 393-foot home run.
A two-time first-team all-conference selection, Pate batted .322 as a sophomore at Karns, leading the team in doubles (13), RBI (37) and home runs (three).