COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Rainy weather won’t be an issue this weekend as the Golden Eagles take on the Austin Peay Governors on graduation weekend for their second to last Ohio Valley Conference match-up at Bush Stadium.
Tech has been perfect so far at home against OVC opponents (5-0) and will look to improve their home stats to 8-0 after this series.
This weekend’s series will definitely test both teams’ dedication and training on non-game days. By the time the series commences the Golden Eagles will have gone 10 days between games, as last weekend’s series at Eastern Kentucky was rained out.
On the same token, rainy conditions have been problematic for the Governors – they have been practicing on their football field for the past week due to the post-rain condition of their baseball facilities. APSU will be traveling to Cookeville on Friday to practice on Tech turf. It will be their first practice on a diamond this week.
The Governors (4-8 OVC) are 1-5 this season when visiting conference opponents, but notoriously do well against the Golden Eagles and maintain a 76-68 lead on the lifetime series record.
The two rivals met last April and split a pair of games in Clarksville. The Governors took a 6-2 win with the help of this Saturday’s starting right-hander for game one, senior Ricky Marshall. Marshall (6-4) currently has the lowest ERA for the Governors at 4.34.
Tech came back the following day to grab the second game, 4-3. Golden Eagle batters took on Ryne Harper who was credited with the loss, having given up four runs on three hits and four errors in 4 1/3 innings. Harper (4-2/5.23 ERA) will pitch the second half of Saturday’s doubleheader.
APSU will finish out the series with senior southpaw Stephen Huff (1-1) on Sunday. Tech's starting rotation on the weekend has been Adam Liberatore, Lee Henry and Tristan Archer.