SKYHAWKS BATTLE WITH AUSTIN PEAY BUT COME UP SHORT IN GAME 1 ON FRIDAY

Friday, April 8

Martin, Tenn.

5 p.m.

UT Martin

8-19, 1-6

Austin Peay

11-20, 4-3

Austin Peay

UT Martin

SKYHAWKS BATTLE WITH AUSTIN PEAY BUT COME UP SHORT IN GAME 1 ON FRIDAY

4/8/2022 9:06:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score PDF BOX SCORE

MARTIN, Tenn. – Limiting a balanced Austin Peay lineup to a scoreless output through the first six innings of Friday evening's series opener at Skyhawk Field, the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team maintained a 1-0 advantage on the Governors for the majority of the Game 1 contest before ultimately taking the defeat by a 5-2 margin.

Scoring the bout's first run in the bottom of the 3^rd before duplicating that in the final frame as the bottom of the order valiantly attempted to rally from a four-run deficit, UTM (8-19, 1-6 OVC) matched APSU in the hits department on Friday by notching eight connections, aided on the other side of the field from a tremendous pitching performance by junior Seth Petry.

Tossing the first six innings and only allowing three hits, Petry and the rest of the Skyhawk defense kept countering the Governors' swings to keep them at bay and retain possession of the lead, a 1-0 deficit that was gained off the bat of senior shortstop Casey Harford in the opening half of the outing.

With designated hitter Jack Culumovic and leftfielder Will Smith already occupying two bases in the 3^rd stanza, Harford's single up the middle provided the avenue for the latter to find home plate, a lead that the Skyhawks would keep ahold of for the next 14 Austin Peay batters.

Following the 19^th RBI of the season for Harford – a statistic that leads all other UTM players since February – the pitching work of Petry and solid outfield projection ensured the lead stayed where it began. Of Petry's 83 pitches in the third league opener of 2022, 61 of them landed in the strike zone, continually frustrating the majority of the visitors' trips to the plate.

Once APSU managed to find a crease and take the lead for the first time, the catcher/third-baseman combo of Chance Merithew and Nate Self gave the Skyhawks the momentum back in the 9^th, where the former scored his sixth run of the semester on an RBI-ground out from centerfielder Reid Halfacre.

Unfortunately for UTM, that's where the flurry came to a close in the first of three matchups against the Governors over a three-day period. Baylor Jones and Trey Ricko stepped onto the mound to finish out the final 2.2 innings of play, as seven different Skyhawks tallied at least one hit in the tight loss.

Hoping to rebound from the seesaw decision in Game 1, the navy and orange will turn right around for the midway section of the weekend trilogy, all set for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch on Saturday.