NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont baseball team will welcome Austin Peay to the brand new E.S. Rose Park for a non-conference game tonight at 6:00 p.m. Next week's doubleheader against Murray State will be the grand opening of the baseball facility, but tonight's tilts will be the first ever game at the new field.
Austin Peay will come to Nashville on Tuesday with a record of 18-19 and an Ohio Valley mark of 7-4. The Governors have won two of their last three games, topping Jacksonville State and Lipscomb, but falling to SIU Edwardsville in their only game last weekend that was not postponed. Michael Blanchard leads Austin Peay in batting average, hitting .350 with six doubles, three triples and 21 RBI. John Hogan leads the squad with five homers and 34 runs batted in while batting .296.
Austin Peay leads the all-time series against Belmont by a count of 42-23. In the teams' first ever meeting, back in 1954, the Govs came out on top by a score of 17-0. Last season the two squads split a pair of games, as Austin Peay won 17-14 in Clarksville and Belmont won 7-4 in Nashville. BU defeated the Governors earlier in the year, as the Bruins won 17-16 on the road back on April 13.
The Bruins are coming off of their second straight Atlantic Sun Conference sweep, taking all three games on the road at Campbell last weekend. Sophomore Chase Brookshire and junior Matt Hamann each recorded their second complete game of the season, winning games one and two, respectively. In April 21st's 16-1 win, Brookshire allowed no earned runs on five hits, while striking out four and walking none. The left-hander used only 83 pitches with 69 coming as strikes. Hamann helped lead BU to a 7-2 victory on April 23rd after allowing only two runs on seven hits, while striking out seven batters and walking only one.
Game Notes - Belmont vs. Austin Peay
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