Clarksville, TN – After coming off an Atlantic Sun Conference series win at Central Arkansas, the Austin Peay State University (APSU) baseball team returns to the diamond in Southeastern Conference competition against Tennessee, with midweek action starting on Tuesday at 5:00pm CT, at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Leading Off
The Ausitn Peay (14-14, 5-4 ASUN) recently came away with their second ASUN series win of the season after taking two games from Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas. Their first series win came in week one of ASUN play in Louisville, Kentucky, when the Governors won two games against Bellarmine. The Governors still sit a game behind Nashville foe, Lipscomb, who is 6-3 in conference play after three weeks.
The Tennessee Volunteers (18-10, 3-6 SEC) come into Tuesday’s contest 14th in the SEC standings after being swept in their weekend series against Vanderbilt. Tennessee was walked off against in every game of the series, with the first two games of the weekend going into extra innings. Their most recent loss on Sunday was capped off by a six-run ninth from the Commodores, as Vanderbilt’s Tommy Goodin hit a pinch-hit grand slam to put the game away.
Despite coming into Tuesday’s game on a cold streak, the Volunteers are 15-4 at home this season, losing two games to Kent State (Feb. 21 & 22), another to Wright State (March 8), and their most recent to Missouri (March 20) in their home conference opener. The Governors look to move to .500 on the road this year, as they are 9-10 away from Stacheville up to this point of the season.
Tennessee is led by first-year head coach Josh Elander, who spent the previous three years as the associate head coach and the five years before that as an assistant coach for the Volunteers. He is the 26th head coach in Tennessee baseball history.
Pitching Probables
Redshirt senior southpaw Chance Cox is slated to take the hill for the Governors for his sixth start of the season. He did not get the nod in the Tuesday midweek against Alabama a week ago, but was called on with no outs and the bases loaded in the first inning against the Tide. He threw four innings before giving up his first hit of the appearance, where Alabama tacked on three runs against the Oklahoma City native in the fifth.
Cox is matched up against freshman right-hander Ethan Baiotto, who comes into the game with a 1-0 record this year and a 7.20 ERA with four strikeouts across five relief appearances and five innings of work. He picked up his only win this season against Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee Tech, where he threw 1.2 innings of shutout work.
Series History
Tennessee leads the all-time series 22-5. The series dates back to May 1st, 1972, when the Volunteers won 6-1 in Knoxville. The last time Tennessee beat Austin Peay was in their last meeting, on May 9th, 2023, when Tennessee won 9-4.
April 24th, 2012, was the last time the Governors came away with a win, when they beat the Volunteers 8-4 in Knoxville.
Four of the five wins against Tennessee have come on the road, as Austin Peay State University is 4-20 in Knoxville, and 1-0 in neutral site games.
Broadcast Information
The series will be broadcast on SEC Network+, with Zack Nelson on the call as the play-by-play voice. He is joined by Redmond Walsh, who is Tuesday’s analyst.
Follow Along
Keep up to date with all Governors baseball on the official website of Austin Peay State University Athletics – www.LetsGoPeay.com. Follow @GovsBSB on X and Instagram for all Governors Baseball updates and ticket information as they happen.